Arts and Craft that use plant, animal, or synthetic fibers to construct practical or decorative objects

Textile Arts

The word textile is from Latin texere which means "to weave", "to braid"

or "to construct”

Most textile arts begin with twisting or spinning and plying fibers to make yarn called thread when it is very

fine and rope when it is very heavy.

Yarn spinning plant in North Carolina

The simplest textile art is felting, in which animal fibers are matted together using heat and moisture

The yarn is then knotted, looped, braided, or woven tomake flexible fabric or cloth, and cloth can be used to

make clothing and soft furnishings.

From hand looms to massive industrial

machines

From silkto polyester

Clothing and Carpets

Textiles have been a fundamental part of human life

since the beginning of civilization.But the function of

textiles has remained the same

The methods and materials to make

them have changed enormously

The Paracas culture of Peru produced some of the most “dazzling” textiles the world has seen. The Director of the British Museum, in selecting 100 objects to tell the history of the world,

chose a fragment of a Paracas textile. “These textile fragments are made of alpaca or llama wool and would originally have been part of a cloak. They depict flying shamans grasping human heads in

their talons. The bottom figure carries a knife used to behead his victim. They were

found wrapped aroundmummified bodies in the

great Paracas Necropolis inPeru. These 2000-yea old

textiles were preserved in thedry, dark conditions of

the tomb.” The fragmentshown is dated about 300 BC.

From early times, textiles have been used to cover the human body and

protect it from the elements; to send

social clues to other people; to store,

secure, and protect possessions; and to soften, insulate, and

decorate living spaces and surfaces.

Tyrian purple dye was an important trade good in the

ancient Mediterranean

Silk was a rare and special textile

The history of textile arts is also the history of international tradeThe silk road

brought the trade of Chinese silk to

India, Africa and Europe

Fabric dyes were valuable

Felt hatCarpet

CurtainTableclot

hLace collar

TightsBrocade

attire

Tastes for

luxury

fabrics lead

to

sumptuary

laws during

the Middle

Ages and

the

Renaissanc

e

Everyone

wants specialtextiles

Jacobean era portrait of Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales, by Robert Peake the Elder

The industrial revolution was a revolution of textile technology

The cotton gin The spinning jenny

The powerloom

Textile Artisansare replaced bymachines

The Luddites were 19th-century English textile artisans who protested against the newly-developed, labor-saving machinery from 1811 to 1817. The stocking frames, spinning frames and power looms introduced during the industrial revolution made it possible to replace the artisans with less-skilled, low-wage laborers, leaving them without work.

The textile arts also include those techniques which are used to embellish or decorate textiles – dyeing and printing to add color and pattern; embroidery and other types of needlework; tablet weaving; and lace-making.

Construction methods such as sewing, knitting, crochet, and tailoring, as well as the tools employed (looms and sewing needles), techniques employed (quilting and pleating) and

the objects made (carpets, hooked rugs, and coverlets) all fall under the category of textile arts.

All of these items – felt, yarn, and fabric, finished objects – are collectively referred to as textiles.

Textiles as art - the term fiber art or textile art is now used to describe textile-based decorative objects

which are not intended for practical use.