For this exercise I wanted to take an intuitive approach, allowing myself to select fabrics that I was actively drawn to. I didn't set any goals or specific focus (era/style/fabric type etc.) as I wanted to see what themes or types of fabric appeal to me instinctively without imposition of any boundaries or limitations - a true reflection of my tastes if you like.
Given my love of textiles and fabrics this could have been a very long exercise with enough photos to crash an entire server, so I narrowed it down to my favourites from my selection. There's an album here with more examples and I'll be adding to this to build a library of interesting textiles for future reference.
The selections here are all photographs but some are photographed from my own textile collection - some fabrics in use, others samples from my fabric stash. Some are images pulled from the internet, books or magazines. There are also photographs from exhibitions, museums, textile collections I've visited - so many textiles, so little time!
Sumptuous
So what have I established? I think the word I would use to describe my personal taste in textiles is sumptuous. I am drawn to textiles that are rich in colour, texture, meaning/significance, cultural history, technique and sometimes setting. I particularly love Indian and textiles for their rich colours. Saris are just the most beautiful dresses as they combine texture, swathes of fabric, drape, colour and are so flattering.
Which fabrics dominate, traditional or contemporary?
I would say that neither dominate although there is perhaps a slight bias towards the traditional.
Why is that? Was it to do with availability? The area in which you live? Your own personal interests or tastes?
As my collection is drawn from a wide range of sources, both real and virtual, I didn't feel any particular limitations due to availability or geography. True there are textiles I have found images of that I would very much like to see in person but I had a surprising number of photographs of textiles I have seen (or even own!) that I had forgotten about. In that respect this has been a useful exercise in pulling together lots of "lost" resources. The collection is very much a reflection of my personal taste and I can see it as a valuable future resource.
Which textile techniques dominate your collection?
I am instinctively drawn to rich colours and textures so there are few pastels or plain coloured fabrics. Traditional stitching, kantha, shisha, shibori, embroidery are all strongly featured but I would extend this to include fabric manufacture that produces interesting textural fabrics - velvets, brocades, complex weave structures. Essentially techniques which create colour (so dyeing and layering for example) or texture (anything from stitching to cut-pile to felting and combinations thereof).
Which fabric do you find most interesting and why?
I particularly like this fabric. It is a hanging, hand-pieced from old saris. I love the fact that the original saris would have been handmade and they have gone on to a second life being further handmade into something so beautiful and decorative. Each piece would no doubt have many stories to tell and they represent for me the lives of the women who wore them, sometimes in day-to-day life, others perhaps for special occasions. They are a piece of living history
I own several such hangings and always have such dilemmas choosing which one to buy!
