Art of Manipulating Fabric

Art of Manipulating Fabric

by: Colette Wolff

Topics include: pleating threads, smocking pleater, primary seam, projecting pleats, centered tucks, flounce pattern, pleat profiles, hairline edging, interrupted tucks, massed ruffles, pipe organ pleats, gathered stitching, pleat allowance, tucked ruffle, circular flounce, stuffed appliqu, stuffed quilting, ruffle strip cut, ruffled puffs, blind tucks, disappearing pen, corded tubing, corded quilting, ruffle width, manipulating fabric

Book Description:

For those who ... knit, crochet, or embroider have long had sources to which to turn for in-depth instructions on specific stitches and stitch combinations. Thisa book is a reference for the sewer--an encyclopedic approach to gathering, shirring, ruffling, tucking, pleating, and quilting and their myriad variations. Filled with hundreds of diagrams and crisp black-and-white photos, this book explains in detail how to achieve a tremendous range of three-dimensional fabric effects. This isn't a book of particular projects; rather, it's a book of instruction and inspiration for anyone who has ever used needle and thread.

Reviews:

This is the Best sewing book! Don't just take fabric and make it into a garment (or a slipcover, or placemats, or...)--take fabric and make it into different fabric. Twist it, turn it, tuck it, pleat it, double it, gather it, this way, that way, round, square, triangular, smocking, shark's teeth, cartridge pleats: enough for anyone. This is an idea book, and your head will be so full of them they'll be coming out of your hands!

This volume has a huge array of pictures and instruction on the art of fabric manipulation for all those simple, and yet other seemingly more complicated, details; from frills and pintucks, to flounces and wrinkled pleating. Very helpful to those who are less than technically experienced in this field, but also VERY inspirational to those who have years of experience but who still have a creative mind. The volume is easy to read and follow, with lots of images clearly showing the design and process, therefore allowing the reader to easily find what they are looking for. If you want to have inspiration and/or technical know-how at your fingertips, then this book will help. You can use it in a Studio as a reference tool when help is needed for a technical procedure such as a pin-stripe skirt, a silk Posh Frock, and a cotton beach top, but you will also find, from browsing the pages, that you'll get great inspiration for new designs when simply looking for help in solving others.

Okay for quilters, and those making drapes,but NOT for seamtresses! ...found the author's explanations odd. E.g. author talks about how to avoid having the bobbin threads break when making a large heavy gather. It's easier to use fishing line or invisible thread in the bobbin. Author recommend several other more difficult means, but never mentions this simple one. Author also goes into too much detail on some things and almost none on others. Author seems to think that a mathmatical formula is worth 1000 words.

The book is very through and well-documented, but it's really meant for those with an old-fashioned "crafty" bent to their sewing: frills and puffs and applique and quilting and Celtic knots, and lots of it. Plenty of grid-like patterns to be had for the quilting fanatics. If you interpret "manipulate" to mean painting on, slicing, tearing, knotting, or otherwise changing the look of the fabric itself (as opposed to making it puff out or pleated), then this is not the book you want. Also disappointing are the black and white photos.

I had no idea fabric could this! I have to say this book is amazing...If you like to sew and are beyond the point of making napkins and tablecloths this book is for you. It teaches you how to MANIPULATE fabrics. How to make them do what you want them to do.

As the author notes "this is a book of ideas about sewing cloth". Indeed, it's a superb collection of information from a 1000 different sources on the techniques sewers have used since fabric was invented, to change the surface of an initially flat textile. Author brings little techniques of fabric manipulation from the background to the spotlight by isolating each technique, cataloging its unique features, separating the technique from end product associations, and exploring the sculptural possibilities without regard to where application will be. For any home or professional sewers who currently (or hypothetically) maintain folders of "pleating ideas," "interesting darts," or "photos of ruffles" buy/borrow/steal this book! Save yourself the chore of assimilating all the diagrams and photos and captions because Wolff has done it so thoroughly you will find yourself engrossed just reading about the humble little fabric tuck. Granted, no technique by itself makes wearable art or couture clothing, but these are the manipulations that make up the experimental stuff on the runways and in the exclusive boutiques. Learn what they do to a plain textile and you're primed to exploit fabric, for whatever purposes your little heart desires. Author's chapters cover: controlled crushing (gathering, shirring), supplementary fullness (making ruffles, making flounces, making godets), systematic folding (pleating, smocking, tucking), filled reliefs (cording, quilting, stuffing), structured surfaces (darts), and mixed manipulations (combinations). If you're a collector of books on dyeing or embroidery or exquisite cut, you really owe it to yourself to add this viewpoint to your library. We had no idea someone had catalogued so fanatically the world of playing with fabric. And as if a jam-packed reference guide isn't reason enough for fabric junkies to cheer, Author has included a modest glossary, for clarity, a very helpful bibliography of books and articles, and a really thorough index that makes textbooks look carelessly written. This isn't just for garment-makers either; we see applications in quilting, weaving, home decorating, wearable art, and costuming. Sewing machine recommended for most of these techniques but they could all be done by hand-sewers. We think it would most benefit the home-sewer looking to spice up their wardrobe with more sophistication and interest in the fabric handling, but could also be very useful to the professional, especially in the design fields. After each time we pick up this book we find ideas bubbling to the surface on how to make our next fabric creation really pop. It's inspired several experiments and we see no end in sight.