Textile Artist: Layered Cloth

Ann lives and works in Hertfordshire, and has exhibited widely in the UK, America and Canada. She trained in Canada, and also at Goldsmith’s College, London. She has a Fine Art degree, and with her love of colour and design, she has developed unusual and exciting techniques in her current textile art work. Ann now devotes her time to mentoring and making, developing her work for exhibitions and galleries. She will be a featured artist in the Knitting and Stitching Show 2017.

At first sight the techniques described here seem to target machine and hand sewers. But delve deeper and you may see clear potential for fabric and yarn to be dyed or woven specifically to include in art pieces, interior items or costume using these methods. The layering of colour and pattern, also known as reverse applique, involves stacking cloth, stitching to form a design, then slashing or cutting away to expose cloth beneath. Starting with the basic technique to create a small sample, the author introduces ways of producing more complex effects, then shows how these might be combined and embellished: it is the nuances of how layers are prepared, treated and finished that create the lively effects described here. A section on finding and developing design ideas includes some refreshing tips and widely applicable advice on scaling up and sampling, then finishing and care of work. Not a book for everyone, but if you have come to dye or weave from other textile crafts, this may well inspire you to look again at how your knowledge of a variety of textile skil ls may be combined and explored further.

• Introduction 6Tools and materials 8All about layering 14Hand stitch embellishment 36Inspiration and Design 44Finding ideas 46Textile art 64Creating with colour 76Pushing the Boundaries 84Trapunto 86Trapunto carving 92Step-by-step projectBook stacks 98Sculptural book stacks 102Step-by-step projectTwisted spirals 110Twisted blooms and buds 116Step-by-step projectPuffs 122Flower puffs 126Step-by-step projectThree-dimensional appliqué 84Handbag 134Step-by-step projectBrooch 138Step-by-step projectScarf 140Step-by-step projectGoing further 142Index 144