May Morris

May Morris (1862 - 1938) and her father William Morris (1834 – 1896) were both significant figures of the British Arts and Crafts Movement. While William Morris's place in art history is well established, May's place is less well known. This is changing, thanks to a special exhibition of her work that was organized by the William Morris Gallery, and two recently published books on her life and work.

May was born into a creative family, setting the tone for her life's work. William Morris is known for his involvement in the Arts and Crafts Movement. The Movement was focused on hand-made and hand-crafted items, rejecting the mass produced products of the Victorian period. Morris is widely acknowledged for his masterful designs which feature images of organic growth - of leaves, branches, and flowers. He is also known as a craftsman, designer, poet, printer, socialist, novelist, and environmentalist. His legacy remains important today.

Jane Burden Morris, May's mother, was an embroiderer. She was also a muse and a model to her husband and to Dante Gabriel Rossetti, the English painter, poet, and illustrator who founded the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. Elizabeth Burden, May's aunt, was an embroiderer and teacher.  

In 1861, William Morris founded the firm Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Co., along with the artists Edward Burne-Jones and Dante Gabriel Rossetti, the architect Philip Webb, and others who were responding to the shoddy practices of much of Victorian manufacturing. Morris designed wallpaper, fabrics, tapestries, furniture, and stained glass windows. He assumed total control of the company in 1875, and renamed it Morris & Co.

May Morris was born in 1862. Her mother and aunt taught her to embroider; her father taught her textile design. At age 16, she enrolled at the National Art Training School (NATS) in South Kensington, London - the precursor of the Royal College of Art. She was part of the first generation to study crafts in art schools such as the NATS. Her focus in school was on textiles and embroidery, with a special interest in Opus Anglicanum - a form of fine needlework developed in medieval England that was used primarily for making church vestments.

Designed by May Morris: Specimen of 'Arcadia' wallpaper, a pattern of intertwined flowers and foliage, cream and brown; color woodblock print, on paper via Mary (May) Morris; Part of 'Volume 2', a pattern book containing 27 Morris & Co. patterns from 1882-96 (E.530-608-1919); England; ca. 1886. Height: 68.5 cm size of volume, Width: 53.3 cm size of volume.  Photo via © Victoria and Albert Museum, London

Arts and Crafts in the Victorian Age

The Arts and Crafts Movement flourished in Europe and North America between about 1880 and 1920. 

“The Arts and Crafts movement was an international trend in the decorative and fine arts that developed earliest and most fully in the British Isles and subsequently spread across the British Empire and to the rest of Europe and America.

Initiated in reaction against the perceived impoverishment of the decorative arts and the conditions in which they were produced, the movement flourished in Europe and North America between about 1880 and 1920. In Japan it emerged in the 1920s as the Mingei movement. It stood for traditional craftsmanship, and often used medieval, romantic, or folk styles of decoration. It advocated economic and social reform and was anti-industrial in its orientation. It had a strong influence on the arts in Europe until it was displaced by Modernism in the 1930s, and its influence continued among craft makers, designers, and town planners long afterwards.

The term was first used by T. J. Cobden-Sanderson at a meeting of the Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society in 1887, although the principles and style on which it was based had been developing in England for at least 20 years. It was inspired by the ideas of architect Augustus Pugin, writer John Ruskin, and designer William Morris. In Scotland it is associated with key figures such as Charles Rennie Mackintosh.”   Wikipedia

In 1878, at age 23, May became the Director of the Embroidery Department of her father’s company. She managed the embroidery division until his death, in 1896. From 1885 until 1896, the Morris & Co. embroidery workshop operated from May Morris's house at Hammersmith Terrace. After 1896, it may have been run out of the Oxford Street shop, using craftspeople to make the orders. As Director of the Embroidery Department, May supervised the production of items commissioned by clients and made in the Morris & Co. style - overseeing the making of altar cloths, portières, fire screens, cushion covers, tablecloths, table runners, wall hangings, card cases, sachets, and bed covers. 

As a designer and embroidered who had studied historical needlework as an art student, May elevated embroidery to an art form. She worked with needlework that emphasized freehand stitching and delicate color shading. Her art embroidery was in sharp contrast to the style of Berlin wool work, which was popular until the 1880s.

Embroidered book bag by May Morris and Jenny Morris c. 1880s - 1890s. Hand embroidered silks and gold thread on linen. 22.8 x 15.4 cm. "This bag was designed and made by William Morris's two daughters, May and Jenny. It was designed by May to contain a 'Psalter' (a book of psalms), from William Morris's extensive collection of medieval manuscripts. The bag is made of indigo linen and embroidered by Jenny in silk with the word "Psalterium" in Gothic script. Stitches include back stitch, stem stitch, long & short stitch, loop stitch, satin stitch, couching and buttonhole stitch; round edges with words filled in with chain stitch; pomegranate is padded laid work; surface couched in gold thread."  William Morris Gallery  Photo © William Morris Gallery, London Borough of Waltham Forest

Embroidered bag by May Morris c. 1932. Wool on canvas. Photo © William Morris Gallery, London Borough of Waltham Forest

Small Evening Bag designed by May Morris. © William Morris Gallery, London Borough of Waltham Forest

Nightdress sachet embroidered silk, with Apple Tree. Designed by May Morris for Morris & Co. Colored silks on green. Said by donor to have been embroidered by Caroline Phillips, Lady Trevelyan. ca. 1890-1892  Photo via © Victoria and Albert Museum, London

Embroidery design by May Morris; worked by May Morris and Theodosia Middlemore for Melsetter House, Orkney, c.1900

The Importance of Embroidered Textiles for Morris & Co.

“Embroidered textiles were the first furnishings designed and produced by William Morris, enabling him to decorate his homes with the historically inspired textiles he desired, and providing an outlet for his intellectual and physical need to make things by hand. 

After Morris’s interests moved on to designing and manufacturing other products, the Morris & Co. embroidery studio, managed by his daughter May from 1885 to 1896, functioned as one of the most commercial areas of the company, producing kits and finished embroideries, which were popular with the middle classes and wealthy aristocrats and business people.

Embroideries available ranged from cushions and tea cosies to panels for folding screens, and large scale decorative hangings. May Morris introduced many new designs, and was responsible for the success of the embroidery department, as a highly skilled designer and embroiderer, and effective manager."  V & A Museum

"Embroidery kit, Morris & Co., 'Anemone' design, purchased c.1904. Cotton ground or 'Manchester cloth,' painted with design, partly worked with silk thread. Worked areas with stem stitch, darning stitch, satin stitch and laid work. Ground fabric edged on three sides with a double hem, with tacking stitches. Selvedge at left hand edge."  Image via V&A Museum

William Morris is known mostly for his wallpaper designs today. But the embroidered items and embroidery kits, created under May's guidance, were a significant source of income for the company.

"As a screen panel, 'Anemone' appears nine times in the Morris & Co. embroidery workroom daybook in the NAL collections (MSL/1939/2636), in which May Morris listed all embroidery work commissioned for the years 1892-96. This indicates the continued popularity of the embroidered screen panels and this particular design. This 'started' panel, including the cotton ground, painted design, and coloured silks, with areas completed so that the recommended technique could be followed at home, cost £1 and one shilling in 1896. In this case, the panel was never worked, and the threads were also given to the Museum (T.159-2016 to T.190-2016). The embroidery kit was passed to the donor, Jill Ford, by her mother, Elsie Winifred Couper (1906-1948), the daughter of the Scottish civil engineer Benjamin Blyth II (1849-1917).”  V & A Museum

Panel, Small Rose embroidery kit (started) with embroidered cotton in silks, designed by May Morris for Morris & Co., England, ca. 1890. Width: 15 in, Length: 19.5 in. Worked in darning stitch, stem stitch, long and short stitch and satin stitch. Photo via © Victoria and Albert Museum, London

English Wild Flowers gathered near Newbury Berks and painted by Mary Elizabeth Morris (Sketchbook) circa 1890. Watercolor and pencil, on wove paper, bound in half-calf and red cloth, lettered in gold. Photo via © Victoria and Albert Museum, London

May taught at Hammersmith College of Art, Birmingham School of Art, and the Leicester School of Art, and went on a lecture tour in the United States between 1909 and 1910. She was also active in the Royal School of Art Needlework, which was founded in 1872 under the patronage of Princess Helena, a daughter of Queen Victoria. In contrast to government schools of design for women which were teaching through theory, the school, now the Royal School of Needlework (RSAN), was set up to help students learn needlework through practical, hands-on technical training. Students studied collections of ancient embroidery in the South Kensington Museum in order to better understand and learn the techniques used in historical textile works, and got pragmatic experience through structured apprenticeships. 

May’s aunt, Elizabeth Burden, was a chief technical instructor at RSAN. Read more about Elizabeth via the Morris Society. 

May Morris's notes and sketches for embroidery lectures c. 1899 - 1902. "This lecture note dates from May Morris's time teaching embroidery at Birmingham Municipal School of Art and the Central School of Arts and Crafts in London. The notes and sketches set out her plans for practical lessons, covering design, technique and materials." William Morris Gallery © William Morris Gallery, London Borough of Waltham Forest

Organizing Women Crafts-Makers

London’s Art Workers’ Guild was founded in 1884 by a group of architects and designers, and many of the prominent figures of the Arts and Crafts Movement were among the Guild’s members. The Guild was formed to bring architects, designers, and craftsmen together under the shared idea of the importance of handicraft as machine-driven industry was threatening to replace traditionally hand-crafted pieces made by designer-makers. The movement promoted an aesthetic of high-quality designs inspired by pre-industrial examples, produced by hand.

“The ideas of Pugin, Ruskin and Morris encouraged much questioning of both industrial society and of the state of art and architecture. Men seemed to be separated from the products of their hands; art seemed the product of convention rather than the creative craftsman. One answer was the idea of the Guild, a re-creation of the social organisation of the Middle Ages, those craft societies which, apparently, built the cathedrals.” Art Workers’ Guild History

In 1888 several members of the Guild organized the Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society, which was created to show handicrafts.  According to Walter Crane, one of the Society’s founders, the purpose of the Society was:

“We desired first of all to give opportunity to the designer and craftsman to exhibit their work to the public for its artistic interest and thus to assert the claims of decorative art and handicraft to attention equally with the painter of easel pictures, hitherto almost exclusively associated with the term art in the public mind. Ignoring the artificial distinction between Fine and Decorative art, we felt that the real distinction was what we conceived to be between good and bad art, or false and true taste and methods in handicraft, considering it of little value to endeavour to classify art according to its commercial value or social importance, while everything depended upon the spirit as well as the skill and fidelity with which the conception was expressed, in whatever material, seeing that a worker earned the title of artist by the sympathy with and treatment of his material, by due recognition of its capacity, and its natural limitations, as well as of the relation of the work to use and life” Walter Crane "Of the Arts and Crafts Movement"

Photo of May Morris (circa 1886).  Photo © William Morris Gallery, London Borough of Waltham Forest

Rose Wreath embroidery (c.1890) 51 x 51 cm "Rose Wreath was designed by William Morris and this example embroidered by May Morris as a cushion cover for her friend Amy Carruthers Tozer. The design was exhibited at the Arts and Crafts Exhibition in 1890." William Morris Gallery

May was involved in the Arts and Crafts Movement throughout the 1890s and 1900s. She exhibited works at the Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society's exhibitions in London in 1893, 1896, 1899, 1903, and 1906, alongside members of craft Guilds - which excluded women.

The male architects, designers, and craftsmen who were involved in the Arts and Crafts Movement had a social network for meeting and sharing ideas in the form of the Art Workers’ Guild. But the the women May worked with were barred from this Guild, which served as a social networking and meeting place. 

In 1907, at the age of 45, in direct response to this exclusion, May co-founded the Women’s Guild of Arts with Mary Elizabeth Turner, creating a supportive network for the professional craftswomen of the period. May wanted “to keep to the highest level the arts by which and for which we live” in an “atmosphere of camaraderie.” Members of this women’s group included some of the most prominent figures in the Arts and Crafts Movement: painter Evelyn De Morgan, jeweler Georgie Gaskin, bookbinder Katherine Adams, sculptor Mabel White, watercolourist and engraver Mary Annie Sloane, Agnes Garrett, Mary Lowndes, Marianne Stokes, Evelyn De Morgan, Mary Seton Watts, and Mary J. Newill.

The Women’s Guild of Arts mission was to “keep to the highest level the arts by which and for which we live, to keep ever fresh and vital the enthusiasm, the belief – all the things which are the impetus of human endeavor.”

The Art Workers’ Guild remained a male-only institution until the 1960s, when it finally welcomed its first female crafts-maker – Joan Hassall, a wood engraver and book illustrator.

May was a designer, an embroiderer, a pioneer of art embroidery, a teacher, a writer, a political activist, an historian, a socialist, and a supporter of Women's Suffrage. Today, many of May’s works are held in museums – including the William Morris Gallery, the National Museums of Scotland and Wales, as well as regional museums and galleries, National Trust properties, and university collections.

In the winter of 2017 – 2018, the William Morris Gallery raised funds for a special exhibition of May’s works, which showcased her contribution as a designer of the Arts and Crafts Movement, and recognized her important role in elevating needlework from a domestic craft to an art form.

The exhibit, May Morris: Art & Life, was one of the highest attended in the Gallery’s history. It marked an advance in placing May in art and design history.

‘Spring and Summer’ panel, designed and probably embroidered by May Morris. c. 1895–1900. Colored silks on silk damask, 130.8 x 71.9 cm. Embroidered motto translates as: “When the summer’s gentle season makes leaves and flowers and field green again."

Tablecloth, linen with silk embroidery, probably designed by May Morris, 1896, worked by Mrs Laurence Hodson or in the Morris and Co. workshops, ca.1896, England. Silk thread on linen ground, silk lining.
Worked in darning stitch, stem stitch and satin stitch.
Silk lining attached with running stitch. Height: 108 cm, Width: 108 cm, Weight: 0.58 kg Photo via © Victoria and Albert Museum, London

Embroidered wall hanging featuring May Morris’s Maids of Honour design, c.1890s

Acanthus Wall hanging depicting acanthus designed by William Morris, ca. 1880. Worked by May Morris and others, c. 1900-1910 (probably). Height: 249.5 cm, Width: 169.3 cm, Weight: 2.7 kg
Felted woolen cloth, colored silk thread, silk cord Photo via © Victoria and Albert Museum, London

Embroidered book cover to The Tale of King Florus and Fair Jehane, thought to be embroidered by May Morris. Photo © The University of Manchester Library

Resources - Free to Download

From May's Dedicatory Note:

"These pages are written for and dedicated to those who, without much previous knowledge of the art of embroidery, have a love for it and a wish to devote a little time and patience to its practice. The booklet does not profess in any way exhaustive, but should be useful as a keynote to further study, having been written from practical knowledge of the subject.

I have tried to show that executive skill and the desire of and feeling for beauty, realized in a work of definite utility, are the vital and essential elements of this as of all other branches of art, and that no one of these elements can the embroideress neglect or overlook if her work is to have life and meaning.  If she pursues her craft with due care, and one might even say with enthusiasm, however, she will not only taste that keen pleasure which every one feels in creative work, however unpretending, but the product will be such as others will be careful to preserve: this in itself being an incentive to good work. For work done at the demand of fashion or caprice and that done inevitably, that is, for its own sake, are as widely dissimilar as can be: the first being discarded in a month or so as ridiculous and out of date, and the other remaining with us in all its dignity of beauty and fitness, to be guarded as long as may be against the unavoidable wear and tear of time." May Morris 

Explore More Textile Art

For Your Library

Below are some books about May Morris, William Morris, and embroidery. Click on the buttons to see more and to purchase on Amazon. Please note that as an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases (at no extra cost to you).

Hygge: Cozy and Comfy 

Hygge is all about comfort. From the Danish concept of coziness, It's a way of reclaiming time and space for yourself and your family - time to relax, reflect, and enjoy life.

The essence of Hygge as a part of living well encourages you to take the time to read a good book, binge watch a TV show, knit, plan your next holiday, play board games with your kids, or curl up with a cup of tea. It's about carving out some time and space to relax and step back from your daily routine to rekindle, think, and daydream - to get a new perspective, or to remember what you set out to do before distractions were thrown your way.

We strongly believe that Hygge is helpful to thinking creatively. Gather your comfiest blanket, some magazines, a journal, and settle in. Take some time to reflect on your past and future wishes, hopes, dreams, plans, and goals.

Gifting Hygge-Inspired Comfy Items

Looking for items to give yourself or others that encourage Hygge? Everyone can use some added comfort in their lives​. 

We've imagined what we'd want to surround ourselves with for a day away from it all - comfy blankets, Moroccan Babouche slippers, felted slippers, hot chocolate with marshmallows, a sweater that invokes Norway, scented candles, patchwork quilts, classic Marimekko Finnish designs, and art books from Taschen.

We've put together some Hygge-inspiring items below.

Please note that this page contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases (at no extra cost to you). Please read our Disclosure page for more information.

For the younger ones in your life, explore our Hygge for Kids page.

Chiharu Shiota Installations

Chiharu Shiota is a Japanese artist who frequently uses string, yarn, and wool to create eerie, evocative art installations. 

After trying her hand at painting, she made a move from making images on flat surfaces to creating three dimensional works, using yarn as a drawing tool. 

Chiharu weaves her string and yarn in, around, and through objects, evoking neural networks and clouds. Her installations are so jam-packed with string making connections between objects and the walls, ceilings, and floors that it's hard to know where to start to unravel the stories and the connections of the items she uses - keys, dresses, boat shapes, and suitcases.

Using everyday string and yarn, Chiharu can make long or short visual connections between objects, or create an impenetrable web. Is that a safe cocoon, or are you trapped in a spider's web?

Her pieces are such dreamy, magical realism-type landscapes that they bypass the logical part of your brain and go straight to that place where you try to sort out what that dream or nightmare you just had was trying to tell you.

It's amazing how she creates such deep feelings of unease and apprehension with yarn and string.

Some of her pieces have all the hallmarks of a horror movie. I can't help but wonder about the people these objects belonged to, their stories, and their fates.

For a longer examination of her work and her process, watch the video below.

Want to watch more artists/crafts-persons at work? Spend 3.5 minutes watching a time-lapse video of Canadian textile artist Laurie Swim creating a landscape quilt.

Or, see how Jacqui Fink transforms wool into large-scale projects.

And, see what sisters Lorna and Jill Watt do with yarn in public spaces.

How to Make an 8 Bit Video Game Cross Stitch

Photo via Pixelkin's Make Your Own Video Game Cross-Stitch!

Making a cross-stitch picture based on an 8-bit video game character or setting is a perfect project for those who are nostalgic for early video games. 

Imagine a picture made up of little x’s, all the same size, with a color palette that’s as simple or as complex as it needs to be to make the image. A cross stitch picture is made up of a series squares formed by one stitch crossing another stitch. The little ‘x’ squares are stitched with a needle and thread on a piece of woven fabric, which has vertical and horizontal threads – a grid. The weave has obvious openings between the threads, with enough room for the needle and thread to pass through.

8-bit images from early video games are made up of pixels, which look like little squares. The word 'pixel' was invented from "picture element," and is defined as the basic unit of programmable color on a computer display or in a computer image. 

In the video below, Courtney Holmes of Pixelkin walks us through the process of creating cross-stitch artwork based on your favorite 8-bit game character.

The Steps

Choose a Character – There are so many great characters to choose from! But, you might want to consider a character with few colors and shading for your first project. Keep it simple when you're starting out. With practice, you'll be able to tackle your favorite characters, no matter how complex their designs are. 

Make the Pattern – Print out a character in color. You’re going to create a grid pattern that will translate into your cross stitch. To do that, use a pen or pencil and a ruler, and draw right on your printout. Draw vertical and horizontal lines which map out the edges of the pixel boxes. Then, number the grid boxes, both at the top and on the left hand side.

Assemble your Supplies and Materials - Below is a list of items to get you started (links below are to Amazon. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases - at no extra cost to you):

Below is a video from MadeByMarzipan which details everything you need to know about Cross Stitching for Beginners. 

If you prefer beginner instructions in text and illustrations, click over to Stitched Modern's 'A Beginner's Guide to Cross Stitch' for a great tutorial.

Helpful Tips and Links

For a guide of different cross-stitch pattern-making computer programs, check out Lord Libidan's review page​

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Looking for free online cross stitch generators? Check out patternsforyou.com, myphotostitch.com, and craftdesignonline.com​

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Make Magazine has a tutorial for creating cross-stitch patterns from images using myphotostitch.com

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Check out Lord Libidan's 500+ free cross stitch patterns, including Video Game characters, TV and Film characters, and Anime Characters.   

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Use the free-to-use make8bitart to draw your own pixel art, and use to design embroidery or cross stitch patterns. 

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Use step-by-step pictorial tutorials for embroidery and cross stitching from Shanon Downey.

For your library...

Do you collect crafting books? Check out a page of various cross stitching books: how-to's, classic designs, subversive designs, feminist-based patterns, miniature designs, and trendy and traditional designs.

Maria Shell's Quilt-Making Process

Making vibrant patterns from little bits of fabric.

Photo via Maria Shell: Tales of a Stitcher

Maria Shell’s quilts are visually stunning. She’s a true color-work genius, creating patterns that pulsate and excite the eye. Her patterns are vibrant, dense, and complex. She accomplishes this by creating various sizes of repeating patterns, themes, and mirrored or symmetrical sections of stripes, which can then be cut up and stitched back together.

She has been widely recognized for her work. In addition to showing quilts in solo and group exhibitions, she has gained significant acknowledgement for her immense talent: “Maria is the recipient of a Sustainable Arts Foundation 2011 Winter Award, a Rasmuson Foundation Project Award, and two Rasmuson Fellowships. In 2012, Maria was one of 44 artists from the Northwest invited to participate in the Bellevue Arts Museum's Biennial High Fiber Diet. She was a featured artist for the 2013 Surface Design Association's International Conference held in San Antonio, Texas." 

Photo via Maria Shell: Tales of a Stitcher

A statement from her website explains the philosophy and artistry behind her process:

How does she plan and create her gorgeous, complex quilts? Maria is a self-proclaimed “bit-maker." She lets us in on her process of working with small pieces of fabric in the two videos below.

In The Quilt Show interview video, Maria talks about her transition from making quilts based on traditional designs to creating modern quilts, inspired by studying with Nancy Crow.

In the video Creating Stripes with Solids Demo, from C and T Publishing, Maria explains two ways to make stripes - the basis for creating complex, repeating patterns. 

First, she explains how to cut strips using a clear ruler and cutting mat. Then, she explains her technique for cutting strips without a ruler, making pieces with wavering widths that create the undulating effect in her quilts.

More From a Master Designer

You can read about Maria's process and see images of her work on her website Maria Shell: Tales of a Stitcher. ​

You can order her book Improv Patchwork: Dynamic Quilts Made with Line & Shape through her website, and order her patchwork quilted oven mitt kits here.

Interested in having Marie lead a workshop or give a lecture to your group? Contact her here. Click through to her classes page to read descriptions of workshops that include "exploring color theory, composing abstract design, improvisation-ally cutting and piecing fabric, working with prints, and trouble shooting patchwork construction issues...."

Her lectures cover: the tradition of American patchwork quilting, while "connecting to both the modern and art quilt" movements; her experience of working with a group to create a quilt based on shared experience; her personal journey "in and about the traditional, art, and modern quilt movements"; and, how to turn your quilt-making into a business -exhibiting work and becoming a professional quilt maker.

Extreme Knitting with Jacqui Fink

Jacqui Fink is an extreme knitter. She works with large scale needles and merino wool from her home country, Australia. Her super-sized stitches can become the extreme knitting she’s known for - large scale textiles, installations, and wall hangings.

She began working on large scale projects using wool that’s unspun, called Merino Tops - or roving (the type of wool used in needle felting). But roving is fragile, and not durable.

To create projects that have a lasting durability similar to regular knitting yarn, Jacqui found a mill that helped her develop a process of twisting and felting roving wool. Her resulting large-scale yarn can be worked like regular wool yarn.

Since switching from roving to working with her company’s felted K1S1 yarn, she’s created textile art projects for interior and exterior site-specific pieces, using hand knitting and knotting techniques. Jacqui’s K1S1 opens up possibilities for textile artists, knitters, designers, and crafters to take quantum leaps in what can be crafted from wool.

    · Don't miss: Our list of 25 Best Selling Knitting Books.

Watch Jacqui’s videos below for casting on and getting started, dealing with the weight and bulk of large yarn, and finishing off a project. Then, for clarity, watch Wool and the Gang’s regular-sized yarn tutorials for casting off and knitting a garter stitch (at the bottom of this page).

·You might like our blog posts: How to Knit, Yarn and Knitting Basics, and Knitting Videos.

Feeling inspired by Jacqui's work? Check out her commissioned pieces on her website’s Gallery page.  You can find her yarn for sale at Little Dandelion, and explore more videos and projects on her Online Tutorial page.

POPULAR POSTS

Kaffe Fassett's Design Process

If you want to work with a bolder and denser palette in your projects, Kaffe Fassett is a designer to study.

Kaffe loves working with complex combinations of colors and patterns. He began as a painter, but found a more engaging outlet for his creative drive in coming up with projects for textiles – quilting, knitting, and needlepoint.

In the video below, Kaffe talks about his process for creating knitting patterns. He shares the story of learning to knit after a chance encounter on a train, and how he uses inspiration from tartans, Fair Isle patterns, and carpets to come up with designs that are chock full of intricate color combinations and repeating patterns. 

Kaffe has a vision that combines a Californian’s appreciation of intense light and color with a British regard for pattern and texture.

   · Don't miss: Our blog posts How to Knit, How to Knit Like the Vikings, and How to Sew a Simple Quilt.

In another video, below, Design Indaba showcases Kaffe Fassett and Brandon Mably, who describe their process of coming up with color palettes for knitting and quilting projects, emphasizing that they like to inspire others with their work. 

“It’s one thing working with your hands but color is psychological…when you break it down into units it’s very small, and simple structures, and once you learn the basic techniques you can fly.”

   · Kaffe Fassett's inspiring books can be found here.

Head over to Kaffee's website to watch more videos about his work and process.

The Brooklyn Refinery is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Learn more

POPULAR POSTS

Redefining Cross-Stitching

After making a cross stitch present for her mother, Emma McKee was drawn to the technique and compelled to do more. So, she taught herself the cross-stitch process, including how to create a pattern from an idea and sketches.

Emma has made her mark on the art and craft of cross-stitching, putting her own spin on pieces which incorporate what gives her inspiration - art, poetry, and music.

In a span of four years of focusing on creating cross-stitch items, she’s worked with a team of 7 – 14 Chicago-based artists, and has created close to 135 pieces, spending anywhere from 50 – 60 hours on making each item.

Watch the video below from Great Big Story to see what happened when she tweeted a photo of a jacket she cross-stitched, getting her start into making a living doing what she loves.

· Don't miss: You might like our blog posts American Crafters, Subway Yarn Bombing, and Altered Book Sculptures.

You can find books about subversive, feminist, mini-, and classic cross-stitching here. 

The Brooklyn Refinery is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Learn more 

POPULAR POSTS

Yarn Bombing Sisters

Sisters Lorna and Jill Watt work together to make knitted and crocheted yarn bombing projects in the San Francisco Bay area, where they create commissioned installations and guerrilla-style public art.

Below are two videos which follow the sisters in their planning, knitting, execution, and installation of several projects.

To keep up with Lorna and Jill, follow them on Instagram, and check out their website for tutorials and to see photos of commissions and recent projects.

For even more, head over to their Etsy and Ravelry stores, where you can find their self-published downloadable knitting and crochet patterns. See what new projects they're sharing via their New Crochet Pattern and Yarn-Bomb-Along page.

 · Don't miss: watch London Kaye yarn bomb a New York City subway car, and learn to knit with Knitting Basics, Knitting Videos, and 12 Advanced Knitting Techniques. 

Below are some books on yarn bombing, craftivism, and extreme knitting projects. The Brooklyn Refinery is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Learn more

POPULAR POSTS

How Jacquard Looms Work

The four videos below are a fun introduction to connections between science and craft. Jacquard looms and early computers both used punch cards, which store binary system information. 

In a Jacquard loom, a weaving pattern is stored in punched cards which are strung together for the length of the desired pattern. The cards are made up of grids containing combinations of holes and closed spaces. The videos below illustrate the workings of the binary-based punch cards - the history of the mechanism, how the cards are made, and how the looms work to create the Jacquard fabric.

For a detailed description, read Some Introductory Notes Concerning Jacquard Technology written by Garth Fletcher.

Please note that three of the videos do not have narrators. The third and fourth videos have no sound.

More on Jacquard Looms, from Wikipedia:

  · Don't miss:  Tapestry Weaving, American Crafts, Ari Embroidery, and Soumak Weaving.

Below are thumbnail pics of some best-selling books about weaving. Click on a book cover for more information, or find them here - on Amazon. [As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases (at no extra cost to you).]

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The video The Guts and Glory of Object Conservation, below, showcases conservators preserving items from pre-Soviet Siberia.

The curators and conservators had to figure out what materials the items were made from, and then develop a plan to mend, repair, and preserve them.

The Museum collaborated with native Siberian groups in the preservation process, and then made a trip to share information about the pieces with the Siberian community.

Native Siberian scholar Vera Alexseyevna Solovyeva was a key link in the conservation process: 

“This collection’s very important because it has, probably,  the most elaborate collection in the whole world  about our peoples’ pre-Soviet period. It has…the full range of the material and spiritual culture...When Soviets came to power they tried to erase the memory of people…they destroyed all items that belonged to the shamans, that belonged to the rituals. When the Soviet Union collapsed, indigenous people started to have interest to revitalizing their culture and their spirituality.”

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Storing Costumes in Boxes:

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Home page screen grab via Quilt Care video by The Smithsonian Institute.

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Making Batik Fabric

Batik Videos

Batik of Java: A Centuries Old Tradition by the San Francisco Asian Art Museum

   · Don't miss: To read a transcript of this video, scroll down to the bottom of this page.

Batik Documentary by Alvyn Fabrics

Unique Batik from Tanzania by Bernd Riebe

Batik Documentary Transcript

"Many places in the world pattern textiles by applying wax to protect certain areas from dye. During the dye process, the waxed areas resist the dye, and when the wax is removed, a pattern emerges. Both the technique and the textiles produced are called batik. The word “batik” may derive from the Javanese words “to write” and “dots.”

Nowhere in the world is this method of patterning textiles as highly refined as in Indonesia. There are two main methods of making Indonesian batik: one using a small tool called a canting to draw patterns, the other using metal stamps to apply the wax. Stamps produce textiles faster for both export and domestic demand. In this way, batik can be made at a lower cost, and finished garments are more affordable.

The most refined and expensive batik is produced by hand. Patterns are drawn using a canting or wax stylus, a method called batik tulis or “written batik.” The stylus consists of a bamboo or wood stick with a small spouted copper reservoir for wax at the end. The artist dips the cup into a pot of hot wax, blows on it to assure smooth application through the spout, and then applies the wax, drawing patterns with the spout. After both sides of a cloth have been waxed, it is ready to be dyed. For a complex pattern with many colors, the cloth is waxed and dyed many times.

Let’s look at the process of batik by visiting a collective of artisans in the village of Kebon in Central Java. The first step in making batik is to apply the design. The design is first drawn on paper and then transferred using a pencil, or non-permanent ink, to fine white cotton cloth. The design may be a centuries-old traditional pattern, or, as in the case here, it may reflect the contemporary aesthetics of the artisans. After the pattern is transferred, the cloth is ready for the first layer of wax.

Batik wax is a combination of paraffin, beeswax, and resin. It is a translucent yellow when it is fresh, but may look dark brown or black after many reuses. The artisan retraces the design on the cloth with wax using the canting. Some areas are then filled in with decorative detail, known as isen-isen. A skilled batik artisan will know hundreds of isen-isen.

The artist applies the wax with steadiness; years of practice that often began as a child allows her to work quickly, with fluidity and accuracy. Once the wax has been applied to the entire cloth, it is ready for its first immersion in a dye bath.

Many communities in Indonesia use imported synthetic dyes; however, there is a growing trend to use natural dyes, as we find in this collective of artisans in Kebon. Traditionally, the ability to make dyes was extremely important in textile-producing communities, and villages would be known for the quality of dyes produced. Some frequently used colors are derived from indigo leaves, jelawe fruit, mahogany wood, teger wood, tinggi bark, and mango leaves.

The dye is heated in outdoor pots. Nothing goes to waste in the countryside where wood and ash waste from the fire will feed hungry chickens. The dye is transferred to a basin where the artisan ensures the cloth is immersed. After the first dye bath, the cloth is dried in the sun. Then, certain areas are covered with wax, to preserve the first color, before the cloth is dipped into a second color.

The artisan is familiar with the finished design, and knows where to apply the wax. Fine cantings are used to draw lines to contain the colorful design. Cantings with larger spouts will be used to “hold” large areas of color that will be preserved during subsequent dye baths. This process of applying wax to the cloth, dyeing, adding more wax, and further dyeing and drying will be repeated several, if not dozens of times, depending on the pattern and number of finished colors in the batik cloth.

Between waxings, the textile is sometimes immersed in boiling water to remove wax, and then rewaxed to protect different parts of the pattern from subsequent dyeing. Once the dyeing and waxing is completed, the cloth is ready for final wax removal.

The textiles are taken to a neighboring house where large pots of water are set up for wax removal. The wax will be collected for reuse by boiling it out in several pots from very hot to cooler water. The reclaiming of the wax is part of the sustainable practice in this community, where recycled wax is used again.

Finally, the cloth is wrung out and returned to the village, where it is hung to dry a last time. Finished batik cloths can be used for many purposes. They are worn as sarongs and made into clothing and accessories for both local uses and export. Today, contemporary fashion designers are also incorporating batik into their designs. Batik remains an important element of costume for dance performances and for ceremonial dress in many parts of Indonesia and neighboring countries Children learn how to work in a community of artisans, each generation passing on to the next the cultural heritage of this remarkable cloth."

Creative Commons Attribution/Non-Commercial/Share-Alike

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Tapestry Weaving

In the video below, you'll get some insight into the preparation needed to make a large scale work, including transferring the drawing onto the loom’s vertical warp threads, choosing a color palette, dyeing the wool, preparing the bobbins, preparing the loom, and weaving.

The video was produced in conjunction with the Getty Center’s exhibit “Woven Gold: Tapestries of Louis XIV.” Click through to the Getty's Woven Gold page to see exhibition photos and tapestry details from the 2016 exhibit.

          · Don't miss: How to Make a Soumak Weaving, Craft Museums, and 600 Free Art Books Online.

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We see the embroidery design first taking shape as a drawing made on tracing paper, and then making its way to fabric stretched tightly on a frame via a paper and plastic stencil that’s been pricked with holes all along the drawn lines.

A liquid Chalk solution is applied to the pin-pricked plastic, and rubbed  through the tiny holes, making an outline of the drawing onto the fabric.

      · Don't miss: For the Love of Cross-Stitching, Soumak Weaving, Jacquard Weaving, and Tapestry Weaving.  Find best-selling Embroidery books here. [As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases (at no extra cost to you).]

Embroidery thread is held underneath the fabric, while a thin hook is poked through the top, catching and pulling the thread and bringing it through to the top of the piece, making a loop.

Each new loop is pulled through the previous one, making a continuous chain-stitch, following the dotted outline of the drawing.

After the ari work is finished, the embroiderer holds a piece of wood on the underside of the fabric as they use a wooden hammer to pound the threads flat on the upper side.

           · You might find helpful: Crafting Resources.

Screen grabs from the Victoria and Albert Museum's video How Was it Made? Ari Embroidery.

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In the wonderful video by animalnewyork (below) we get to watch crochet artist London Kaye yarn-bomb a NYC subway car as commuters get on and off the train.

On Valentine's Day in 2014, London boarded a NYC L train, which connects Brooklyn to Manhattan, running under the East River and along 14th Street.

With the backdrop and bustle of the subway car as her inspiration, London gets out her yarn and hook, and proceeds to wrap the poles in Valentine-themed colors as New Yorkers look on.

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The 17 minute documentary Printed Fabric Production gives us a look at the workings of a modern cotton print factory (filmed in Hong Kong and Zhejiang, China), which prints fabrics for Alvyn Fabrics.

Alvyn Fabrics began its cotton printing business by specializing in making cotton fabric for quilters and crafters. 

In the video below, we can go on a virtual tour of their step-by-step production processes used in their flatbed and rotary printing methods, which can print fabric that has up to 16 colors.

Below are some screen shots of the processes shown in the video.

     · Don't miss: How to Make a Linoleum Block Print and Preserving Textiles.

Following a trip to Indonesia, Alvyn Fabrics shifted their focus from novelty and juvenile prints to batik prints. To see a handmade batik wax-resistant fabric-making process, check out How Batik Fabric is Made.

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In the past few years there’s been a creative movement in PNG that's given rise to a radical shift in the way people think about bilum, and an expansion in the way it's used. 

A shift happened in bilum-making PNG communities when Florence Jaukae Kamel, a Papua New Guinea artist and designer, radically changed the way people thought about the fabric. Florence challenged the norm and started to make dresses and hats using the bilum technique, considering bilum as a fabric rather than just a process for bag-making.

This artistic shift in thinking about bilum as a design element and technique has helped spread the word about bilum and bilum-makers.

Below are videos that give insight into the making of this amazing hand-crafted fabric.

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BeBe Bold’s video instructions below are helpful in learning an easy way to create a Boro Bag. To get a download of Bebe Bold's pattern, you’ll need to go to the website and purchase it. 

If you’re a thrifty crafter or on a budget, you can follow directions, including a free pattern, from Indigobird Design, or from Fabrice Editions to make a loop bag, and adapt it to be a boro bag. 

SASHIKO, JAPANESE QUILTING, MENDING, and SLOW STITCHING BOOKS

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Yarn Theory: This is Your Brain on Wool

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From Old to New Again

But when clothes finally lose their oomph – their youthful elasticity - and are beyond repair, then we can repurpose them. We can turn them into patches for pants, fabric for quilts, or even yarn to be knitted, crocheted, or woven into a rug.

You loved your clothes for their color or pattern, or because they reminded you of a time and place. So, why not give them another life in another form?

I’ve sourced fabric from all but one of these:

• From around our house
• From friends and family
• Thrift stores
• Church sales
• Auctions
• Swap meets
• Craigslist
• Local offer-ups
• Curb alerts
• Online auctions
• Library sales
• Estate sales
• Flea markets
• Police auctions

Okay, not police auctions. I was just kidding about that one.

Church sales, flea markets, auctions, and thrift stores are American as apple pie. Our thrifty ancestors took old wool blankets and turned them into hooked rugs, and turned old shirts and sheets into quilts and rag rugs.

A DIY Mindset in Action

While recycling and repurposing aren’t uniquely American, it seems like hunting down bargains and, at the same time, keeping items from going to the incinerator is a pastime that many of us are passionate about.

Below is a video about a thrifty knitter who sources for yarn at thrift stores—but he’s looking for sweaters, not balls of yarn. I don't think anyone would be able to tell that the sweaters he knits started out as sweaters picked up for pennies on the dollar. Watch the video and see if you agree with me!

BOOKS

Below are some books about repurposing wool and cotton into new projects. Click through to see the books on Amazon. [As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases (at no extra cost to you).]

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