Fabric

Categories:

32.50

‘Subtle, compendious and rich … an emotive and serious work of what you might call history on the distaff side’ – James McConnachie, The Sunday Times’Dazzling … Finlay’s adventures, vividly recounted, make enthralling reading … This book is equally an inspiration and an education’ – Bel Mooney, Daily Mail’I am wildly impressed by the depth of her research and the stories she finds’ – Alexandra Shulman, author of Clothes… And Other Things That MatterHow is a handmade fabric helping save an ancient forest?Why is a famous fabric pattern from India best known by the name of a Scottish town?How is a Chinese dragon robe a diagram of the whole universe?What is the difference between how the Greek Fates and the Viking Norns used threads to tell our destiny?In Fabric, bestselling author Victoria Finlay spins us round the globe, weaving stories of our relationship with cloth and asking how and why people through the ages have made it, worn it, invented it and made symbols out of it. And sometimes why they have fought for it.She beats the inner bark of trees into cloth in Papua New Guinea, fails to handspin cotton in Guatemala, visits tweed weavers at their homes in Harris, and has lessons in patchwork-making in Gee’s Bend, Alabama – where in the 1930s, deprived of almost everything they owned, a community of women turned quilting into an art form.She began her research just after the deaths of both her parents – and entwined in the threads she found her personal story too. The book became her journey through grief and recovery. It is her own patchwork.

ISBN: 9781781257067

Out of stock

From our earliest ancestors to babies born today, fabric is a necessary part of our everyday lives, but it’s also an opportunity for creativity, symbolism, culture and connection. Travelling across the world and bringing history to life, Victoria Finlay investigates how and why people have made and used cloth. A century ago in Wales, women would sew their own funeral clothes over tea with friends. In Papua New Guinea, bark is stripped from trees and beaten into cloth. Harris Tweed has a particular smell, while Guatemalan weavers use dazzling colours. Uncovering the stories of the fabrics people wear and use from sacking to silk, this book combines science, history, tradition and art in a captivating exploration of how we live, work, craft and care.

Additional information

Weight 0.78 kg
Dimensions 23.8 × 16 × 4.8 cm
Author

Publisher

Imprint

Cover

Hardback

Pages

384

Language

English

Edition
Dewey

677.009 (edition:23)

Readership

General – Trade / Code: K

Gift Vouchers

Can’t find the right book, why not give a gift card and let them find that special book. 

Learn More >

Click and Collect/Special Requests

If we don’t have the book you want, we will do our best to order it for you and often have it in a few days.

Learn More >

Receive the latest news

Subscribe To Our Newsletter

Get notified about new articles

Find the right book...