Textiles Books

This is an excellent pattern book for the knitter who likes to use handpainted yarns. There are beginner to experienced patterns offered using mostly the Wool in the Woods colorways. The book has great suggestions for blending colors of different handpainted yarns from other companys too. If you dye your own wool and would like to combine it with commercially available handpaints there is a nice discussion by the authors on using the color wheel for choosing compatible yarns.

This booklet is compact and has all the knots most people would ever need. Everthing most people need in a knot book. Ideal for boaters.

As being a Textile designer, the book is very inspiring. The fabrics are sumptuous almost alive. The photos are fabulous. This is a beautiful book that I recommand to everyone who appreciate comtemporary fabrics.

All of Pat Earnshaw's books are wonderful resouces in the study of laces and this book is a great find for the early days of lace making. The pictures are beautiful (with both color and black and white pictures). The discriptions are very clearly worded and tell what to look for in each century, as well as how lace was used on clothing. There are also two portraits that show young children holding fashion dolls of the 16th and 17th century. I highly recomend this book to anyone who is interested in the history of lace.

While researching handmade laces of the eighteenth century for a grad-school project, I came across a small reference to Ipswich laces in an article from the early part of the twentieth century. I was totally intrigued by the idea of there being a handmade lace industry in New England. I had previously believed everyone was too puritanical to make lace (in seventeenth-century Massachusetts, there was a prohibition on the wearing of laces.) Further research led me to this fascinating little book.
The author clearly has a passion for the subject, and she follows that up with some very good research on multiple aspects of the industry, the society at large, the women who made the laces, the women who wore them, as well as the identification and characteristics of the various types of laces made there. She includes primary source documents (a report on the industry in Alexander Hamilton's papers, as well as original receipts and account books) , visual sources (portraits), and lots of original artifacts ( pillows, prickings, bobbins, finished laces, and surviving garments on which they were used.)
Definitely worth reading by anyone interested in American history, textile and fashion history, and lace and lace-making enthusiasts.
Well done!

latin american brocades

exploration in supplementary weft techniques

by suzanne baizerman and karen searle

1976

contents

the supplementary weft techniques
free weft float patterning
wrapped supplementary weft techniques
weaving the supplementary weft techniques
forming floats
beginning sampler
bricks
ribs
columns
blocks
diagonals
continuous free weft float patterns
discontinuous free weft float patterns
wrapped supplementary weft
conclusion
bibliography

This book is the result of my mother's struggle to salvage what she could of her heritage after fleeing Latvia after the second World War. Her love for weaving led her to weave many national costumes for women in the country where she settled, Australia. Her passion in collecting woven samples and then reproducing them herself was a credit to her as she made it easier for me, her daughter, the task of sorting and documenting her work.
I would welcome any comments from readers as I would like to republish in the near future.
Anita Apinis-Herman

Leslie Beck's Best Of The Best Quilts presents patterns, designs, and meticulous, step-by-step instructions for 36 superb patchwork quilts. Eye-catching color illustrations and meticulous attention to detail characterize this first-rate guide for quilters in search of aesthetically pleasing projects. Leslie Beck's Best Of The Best Quilts is an enthusiastically recommended contribution to any personal or community library needlecraft collection.

Bavarian immigrant Levi Strauss opened his wholesale dry goods warehouse on the San Francisco waterfront in 1853 and rose in fame to become one of the world's largest clothing company - and LEVI STRAUSS & CO. documents his rise using vintage photos, ads, and artifacts from the Levi archives. Author Lynn Downey is the company's historian, and provides here an excellent visual survey of the Levin Strauss rise to power and prestige: perfect for any California or business library.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

A must book have for a collector of linens and lace. Rarely, do I find a book with such beautiful photographs, but valuable information from distinquishing manufactured from reproductions, types of lace and choosing a good reproduction. I especially liked the ideas of how to display the linens and lace rather than just tuck them in a drawer.My favorite idea is the use of linens and lace for window treatments. If you love linens and lace, buy this book for yourself and one for a friend. Linens and Lace makes a great gift.