Stitch And Pattern

The hugely accomplished textile artist Jean Draper gives an invaluable guide to designing and working with pattern in textile art. As she did in her successful book Stitch and Structure, she guides you through some of the most creative ways of working up patterns, harnessing our love for rhythm and repetition in our fabrics.

The author covers Natural Pattern, from butterflies, shells and snakes to nature's patterns to intimidate, pattern with structure and the importance of scale, tone and colour. It includes an extended study of pattern and stitched designs developed from a shell. Chapter 3 covers Pattern from Other Cultures, and the benefits of not relying on measurement but trusting the eye and intuition. It features a study of using Banjara stitched textiles as inspiration.

In Chapter 4, Pattern from Embroidery Stitches, the author looks at stitch shapes, putting stitches together to form patterns, exaggerating and overlapping stitches, and using one stitch only. There is a beautiful extended study of the pattern possibilities with Japanese darning. In Man-Made Pattern section, you can learn from other art forms and design styles.

She brings together all these factors to find inspiration, design focus and technique to develop truly great textile art.

About the Author

Jean Draper is an experienced textile artist whose work explores the impact of time, weather and man on the environment. She is an exhibiting member of the prestigious 62 Group of Textile Artists and the Textile Study Group and her work is in public and private collections throughout the UK and abroad. Formerly she was a Senior Lecturer and examiner for various degree courses but more recently she has taught, on a freelance basis, all over the UK as well as in Australia, Canada, the USA, Italy and the Netherlands.

She was National Chairman of the Embroiderers' Guild from 1995 to 2001.