The Material
How much use will you be giving the garment?
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Do the fabrics have consistent and appropriate tension throughout the work?
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Are all the vessels and wall weavings which are made of felt or other fibres solid and sturdy? The piece should be able to hold its shape over time.
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Have you checked the labelling? Especially when shopping for items that will come in contact with skin or children, be aware of allergies and inhalation hazards.
consider...
Are all thread beginnings and endings properly secured?What is the likelihood of threads coming loose over time?
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Are fabrics pre-treated for shrinkage and any texture changes to ensure quality consistency in the final product?
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Does the labelling comply with federal legislation? Some items require permanent labels, able to withstand 10 washes, and others require non-permanent labels. Both require dealer contact information and fibre content percentages.
Does the labelling show washing or care instructions, the fibre content, and any colour pigments applied to the work?
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What fibre processes, such as colour-fasting, were used? Fibre materials must be lightfast/colourfast before use, and the piece’s design and quality must be durable enough to withstand its intended use.
...ask the artist about
about the material
The word "textile" comes from the Latin word texere, meaning "to weave." Textile, fabric, and cloth are words that are generally interchangeable. They refer to anything made from fibres or fibrous materials.
Textiles are made by using either natural or synthetic fibres. Until the late 1800s, all textiles were made from natural fibres, including linen, cotton, silk, and wool. Today, many who work with natural fibres continue to collect, harvest, and clean their own raw materials as an integral part of the making process.
Industrialization and new technologies offer an ever increasing range of synthetic and natural fibres to the maker. Today, we also have synthetic fibres such as nylon, polyester, and acrylic.
textiles
identifying features
Textiles are materials composed of a woven, knitted, felted or chemically bonded network of either natural or artificial fibres. Depending on the source of the fibre, the texture, flexibility, and workability may vary, making certain fibres more suitable for particular uses and needs.
properties
Raw or natural fibres come from animals (ie. wool, silk, leather), minerals (ie. asbestos, much less common due to health concerns relating to prolonged exposure), or plants (ie. hemp, sisal, cotton, soy, cedar, seagrass, linen, ramie, cellulose pulp). Natural fibres can be hand-worked or commercially spun into textiles.
Processed or synthetic fibres include polyester, rayon, and microfibres. Since synthetic fibres are artificial, they are typically identified as commercial fabrics which are produced, processed, and woven in factories.
Today, many textiles are clearly identified as to whether the fabric is new or derived from recycled material. As well, many more textile manufacturers are experimenting with recycled plastics and ethically sourced and spun fibres. These concepts are even embraced in many brand name fashion companies today.
common uses
Textiles are everywhere around you, including everything from clothing and bags to the carpeting, upholstery, and decorative arts in your home, not to mention various cultural and religious textile traditions.
paper
identifying features
Paper can appear in a variety of different textures and colours, from smooth to rough, soft to stiff, and in virtually any colour of the rainbow. It is so varied that sometimes you may not even realize the material you are using is, in fact, a paper product made from plant fibres.
properties
Paper is a plant-based product composed of hand-collected plant fibres such as from wood or grasses. Plant fibres, or cellulose pulp, are moistened and pressed together. Then, the pressed fibres are dried into flexible sheets, forming what we know as paper. The material can then be sculpted, layered, molded, and dyed.
common uses
Paper is primarily used in stationary, including notebooks, cards, and post-it notes. However, paper is also used for many other industrial and construction purposes, such as packaging and even cleaning supplies. The list is endless.
techniques
creating material
Felting: A means of matting, condensing, and pressing fibres together to produce felt. Felt can be made from natural fibres, synthetic/acrylic fibres, or a blend.
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Knitting: Uses two pointed needles to wrap and loop strands of yarn around the other, producing a continuously interlocking textile. With knitting, multiple stitches are open at the same time, the loops transferring between needles as you stitch. There are many different patterns and stitches that can produce a variety of designs (ie. cable knots, etc.).
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Macramé: A textile-making process where rather than weaving or knitting, the fabric is interlocked through knotting. Historically used by sailors to decorate knives, bottles, or ships, today macramé is used in belts and jewellery, such as friendship bracelets.
Netting/Lace Making: Done by hand or machine, the process of looping and twisting threads to create intricate, web-like patterns. Linen, silk, and now cotton or synthetic fibres are used.
Paper Mache: A malleable mixture of paper strips or pulp with an adhesive (such as glue, starch, or wallpaper paste) that hardens when dry. Paper Mache can be reinforced with textiles or layered over objects as it cures, to form 3D sculptures.
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Quilting: A technique where two or more layers of fabric are sewn together (by machine or hand), creating a thicker padded material. Quilting is typically made with three layers: the top fabric consisting of the surface design, the insulating or padding material, and the backing material.
Rug Hooking: A labour intensive technique that uses a rug hook to pull 40cm–60cm lengths of fabric strips through a loose even weave linen, burlap, or cotton substrate creating a loop pile. Different materials and techniques are used to make durable floor rugs, decorative wall hangings, and three-dimensional works. Note that this is not latch hooking where a latch hook is used to knot uniformly cut lengths of yarn into a cotton/polyester mesh creating a shag rug pile.
Spinning: The twisting together of strands of fibres to form yarn/thread, which is then used to produce various textiles.
Weaving: the process where two distinct sets of threads are interlaced to form a fabric. The horizontal running threads are called the weft, and the vertical threads are the warp. Different methods, tensions, and tools used in weaving will affect the appearance and function of the final fabric.
Wet Felting: When warm soapy water is applied to layers of animal fibres, which is then repeatedly agitated and compressed. This process can only be performed on animal fibres, as plant and synthetic fibres lack the "scales" found on the animal hairs that allow them to hook together to form the new material.
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dyeing
Discharging: A means of dyeing materials where the dye is subtracted from the fabric rather than added, typically with the use of bleach.
Dyeing: A process for colouring fibres that can be performed at any stage of the fabric-making process. Dyes can be aniline (chemical) or natural. Specific fibres must be dyed with specific dyes, and often a mordant is required. Resists are used to create patterns during the dying stages.
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surface design
Beading: Process of ornamentation where a design is created by stringing beads onto a thread, a thin wire, or directly on the material, using a sewing needle.
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Braiding/Coiling/Twining: Methods that move beyond spinning, where multiple threads are combined to produce thick strands of fibre. These techniques are common in basketry.
Collage: Using a variety of fabric pieces to create a surface. This is different from quilting, as the pieces themselves are not stitched together.
Conditioning: It is important to take proper care of your leather to ensure it keeps its standard of quality. Saddle soap is often used for cleaning, conditioning, and softening leather.
Crocheting: Similar to knitting, crocheting is the process of interlocking yarn to produce a textile but uses a single hook instead of two needles. Crocheting also differs in that each stitch is completed before proceeding to the next stitch.
Emboss/Deboss: The process of creating raised or recessed relief designs in the paper. Embossing is typically done with a press, where metal plates shape the paper. The paper is compressed between a raised plate and a recessed plate, pressing the paper into the recessed plate and resulting in an embossed imprint on the other side.
Hand Embroidery: Made with a range of types and thicknesses of threads to embellish or draw on the surface of a base fabric. Using frames and hoops to keep tension in the fabric, hand embroidery employs needles, scissors, threads, and yarn to decorate the surface material.
Machine Embroidery: There are two main types of machine embroidery: free motion and computerized. Free motion sewing uses a basic zigzag sewing machine, where the artist still has to control the fabric as it is fed through the machine. Computerized sewing uses a digitized embroidery design file that is programmed into the machine. The computer directs the needle/design, while the artist simply ensures no tangles or errors occur.
Printing: A process for patterning a fabric with (repeated) text or images in a timely manner and with consistency, using a template.
Block Printing: The earliest known form of printing, originating in China. Wooden or metal blocks are carved out with a design, coloured with pigment, and then transferred onto fabric.
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Digital Printing: With the introduction of home computers and design programming, contemporary printing has become much more accessible. An image can be printed on paper, iron-on materials, or directly onto the fabric using a design straight from the computer.
Eco Dyeing/Printing: A combination of both dying and printing, this technique uses organic materials (leaves, seeds, bark, etc) as the stencil, placed directly onto the fabric. The fabric is folded and tightly bundled with the stencils, then steamed in water and left to soak for as long as several days. After removal of the leaves and organic plant materials, the garment is rinsed before any further natural dying or fixing. The result is a delicate colouring of familiar organic shapes.
Stencilling: Produces an image by placing a template or object in which a design cut out (typically paper, wood, metal, or plastic) onto a material, and then applying a pigment over top. Upon removing the stencil, the fabric is left with a print of the cutout design. Stencilling is a quick and reusable technique, commonly used for creating clean lettering.
Transfer Printing: The process of printing dye onto paper in a desired pattern, and then transferring said pattern onto fabric with the application of heat and pressure.
for reference
Artificial Leather: A fabric or finish meant to imitate that of leather, but without the cost or ethical concerns of authentic leather. Typically, a plastic-type shell coating will cover a synthetic polymer or fibrous base layer (ie. polyester).
Colourfast/Lightfast: A property of dye/pigment that characterizes how resistant the fibre/colour is to fading when exposed to light. The higher the colourfast, the more resistant the fibre is to fading. Some natural dyes tend to be less colourfast.
Fabric Construction: Refers to the structural process and integrity of a fabric, as well as the most basic interlocking techniques of weaving, knitting, macramé, etc. that produce the textile.
Deckle Edge: Refers to a paper's feathered edge, as opposed to a clean cut edge. While hand-made paper typically has a natural deckle edge, commercially produced paper can be artificially cut to mimic a deckle edge.
Mordant: A substance that combines with a dye or stain, allowing it to properly fix to fibres of a specific material. Different dyes react differently to different mordants, depending on the desired shade/colour. Modrants help colourfastness.
Resist: A substance used in dying fibres to block dye from reaching certain areas of the fabric. A resist can be in the form of a paste that is applied onto the fabric, or as a bind such as the tying of threads around fabric to prevent the dye from penetrating these specific areas.​
Surface Design: Refers to any fibre techniques used for ornamentation, of clothing, placemats, etc.