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Have you noticed that this winter, cosmetics houses are focussing on the ‘feel’ factor of make-up?  Satins, sables, and velvet are just some of the textures they are using to describe their products. 

As textile people we know that touch can override all other senses and be incredibly powerful.  Some people are so in tune with their senses that they won’t shop on the internet at all, and will walk away from a product in frustration if they can’t pick it up and feel it.  We all know the disappointment of seeing something that looks really tactile but when we touch it, it feels wrong!  Especially relevant at party time when some gorgeous-looking fabrics can actually feel scratchy and syntheticky (!).  Somehow, it can make us feel disgust – the sight and experience of touch just aren’t congruous with each other!

That longing to feel the fabric, to let my fingers tell me all, came over me this last weekend when I was taking some work to be shown in a Christmas exhibition at a local gallery.  There was a textiles exhibit in place, and as I walked around looking at the items, one or two drew me in and I had to prevent myself from reaching out and touching.  The instinct to touch is so fundamental.  Perhaps we should always provide a touching or handling piece.  A handling piece answers so many unuttered questions about the qualities of a textile.

One of the driving forces in my weaving life is tactility.  I love to create texture and want people to both see the 2 1/2 dimensional effects and feel it.  Which is a cheeky way of seguing into plugging my monograph – Woven Shibori for Textural Effects!  The subtitle is ‘How you can weave waves, sand ripples, volcanoes and mountains on a shaft loom!’   Woven shibori for texture is a really exciting field with so much playing to do and ideas to explore…. 

Although the book is not officially published until Monday 22nd November, I am offering a special price to my blog readers, so please click Woven Shibori to access your special price.  Please note there are several mailing options to choose from depending on where you live.  I won’t be able to send the book out until 22nd, but on 22nd, the special offer closes, so jump in early for the best price! 

In the meantime, enjoy the tactility in your life, wherever it may be – whether cosmetics, everyday surfaces, or gorgeous fibres, yarns and fabrics!!  Let your fingers do the talking!! 

Happy Weaving!