An investigation of Ikat weaving and warp printing and their application to contemporary design

This work seeks to consider the contribution that Ikat weaving and warp printing could make to contemporary textile design. To do this the research first considered the historical background to Ikat weaving and warp printing by examining'the visual and structural characteristics involved and the definitions used historically. Then by studying in some detail the methods of manufacture, dyestuffs, and design imagery of warp Ikats from South America and Central Asia, and weft and double Ikats from Indonesia and Japan a particular was made with a detailed study comparison of these Ikat techniques in The first volume of this work concluded with a detailed study of warp, weft and double Ikats in Japan. From this historic basis and analysis of the various techniques used experiments were devised to understand more clearly the effect of fibre, structure, colouration, warp design and its positioning on the image produced in the fabric. In investigating this a series of practical experiments was carried out on warp printed wool, cotton and silk fabrics and measurements made of the effects of the variables. These results were used to undertake a second series of experiments using slub weft yarns, warp printed silk and warp printed cotton fabrics made from a double warp. The work established from an historical viewpoint that the Ikat weavers were familiar and well practised within the traditional design limits of their craft but that these limits were differently defined for the various types of Ikat produced throughout the world. From the technological experiments the factors controlling the image, its size, position. and effect were determined so that ultimately exemplar design effects were created which suggested ways in which this technique could be developed in the future

The development of a high-speed patterning system for a narrow-fabric weaving machine

The development of a high-speed patterning system for a narrow-fabric weaving machin

An Approach to Wire Using Textile Techniques

Wire can be used in the same way as fiber in many textile processes. Wire is used to gain the same richness of texture that is exhibited in fibers and to capture the light reflective quality of the textile techniques. The following processes are not for beginning students. Much experimentation went into the research for each technique. The first method is coiling. This technique is a single-element stitch process (without the needle), worked continuously over a core. The second technique is crochet, involving a single-element structure in which loops are interlocked in a continuous manner. The third technique is loom weaving. It is the interlacing of two separate sets of elements to produce a fabric. The fourth technique is knitting, a single-element technique in which a series of loops are worked vertically through the repetition of knitting stitches placed on some kind of tool. Yarn is the most flexible of materials, and when using metal in its place, the artist should always consider strength in determining the suitability of material to process. In determining the working properties of the metal, the thickness or gauge of the wire is always considered for the manipulation of the metal. Although textile constructions in metal use basically the same tools and implements as those in yarn, there are a few metal working tools that are essential for cutting, bending, and forming the metal. They are wire cutters, round nose pliers, flat nose pliers, files and gloves. The equipment used in textile techniques are a harness loom, a crochet hook, and a set of knitting needles. Open patterns such as weaving, crochet, knitting and coiling, can be tedious when repeated. When the process is completed the wire enriches the surface and a refreshing quality is created

Material relationships: the textile and the garment, the maker and the machine. Developing a composite pattern weaving system

This research brings together the disciplines of woven textile design, zero waste pattern cutting and fashion design to form the Composite Pattern Weaving system; an innovative approach to woven garment design and construction which assimilates textile and garment lay-plan design and construction to produce engineered zero waste and integrally shaped woven garments, containing multiple fabric qualities, from a single length of woven textile. The approach challenges conventional textile and fashion design processes and systems by adopting a holistic and simultaneous approach to the design and production of textile and garment components; facilitating the integration of functional and sustainable design strategies to enhance garment durability and longevity through the implementation of a multi-method lifecycle approach to design. This research adopts the Transitional Design Methodology; an alternative approach of working between traditional and advanced technologies which challenges the constraints of the two modes of production whilst capitalising on their advantages. This cyclical iterative approach emphasises the importance of the relationship between the maker, materials and the machine(s), whilst recognising the potential for a transitional dialogue and knowledge transfer between all aspects of hand and digital production. Employing both modes of production in parallel, the Transitional Design Methodology facilitates a reciprocal relationship whereby concepts, designs and ways of working evolve as the maker moves between modes. Through the production of zero waste woven garment prototypes using hand and digital weaving technologies, the research establishes new integral shaping techniques and woven garment construction methods to minimise material production, consumption and waste, and identifies some of the limitations of fully-fashioned and composite garment weaving. The garment prototypes embody the learning and knowledge derived through the application of the Transitional Design Methodology. They demonstrate the advantages of working iteratively between hand and digital modes of design and construction to produce innovative (and interconnected) design outcomes, to advance skills and processes, and enhance personal practice

Specialist knowledge practices of craftsmen and clerics in Senegal

Special Issue: Knowledge in Practice: Expertise and the Transmission of Knowledge. Guest Editor: Kai Kresse and Trevor H. J. MarchandThis article examines the specialized knowledge practices of two sets of culturally recognized ‘experts’ in Senegal: Islamic clerics and craftsmen. Their respective bodies of knowledge are often regarded as being in opposition, and in some respects antithetical, to one another. The aim of this article is to examine this claim by means of an investigation of how knowledge is conceived by each party. The analysis attempts to expose local epistemologies, which are deduced from an investigation of ‘expert’ knowledge practices and indigenous claims to knowledge. The social processes of knowledge acquisition and transmission are also examined with reference to the idea of initiatory learning. It is in these areas that commonalities between the bodies of knowledge and sets of knowledge practices are to be found. Yet, despite parallels between the epistemologies of both bodies of expertise and between their respective modes of knowledge transmission, the social consequences of ‘expertise’ are different in each case. The hierarchical relations of power that inform the articulation of the dominant clerics with marginalized craftsmen groups serve to profile ‘expertise’ in different ways, each one implying its own sense of authority and social range of legitimacy.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

World Settings

Acoustical building materials, with their ability to absorb and diffuse sound, can reshape the character of interior spaces in profound ways. Woven textiles often perform as acoustical materials, whether by coincidence or by design; strategic use of textile structure and dimensionality can yield specific experiential qualities in homes, offices and shared spaces. The way certain materials manipulate sound can feel otherworldly, as if they break the laws of physics or the familiar parameters of one’s surroundings. The same properties can be found in emergent visual patterns and illusory lighting conditions, which provoke an investigative, deliberate way of looking. In this thesis, I explore the history of architectural acoustics and the meaning of noise as a sonic, conceptual and technical term. Visual metaphors of windows and screens, digital and analog noise and perceptual phenomena shape this work, while the “aliveness” of self-organizing materials provides a rationale for new variations on weaving techniques. The result is a collection of interior fabrics that aim to modify room environments acoustically and visually, suggesting that the static “settings” of such places have shifted. I argue that this sense of unfamiliarity can be fruitful, prompting the viewer to spend time in a focused, exploratory state and become aware of the cognitive processes by which they make sense of the physical world