The Anundsjösöm embroidery stitch is characterised by red double thread on white cloth, with long flat stitches in a mostly freestyle pattern. Anundsjösöm embroidery is typical for the region Angermanland in northern Sweden.
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Soprarizzo velvet, also known as “soprariccio” or cesellato velvet, is a handwoven, opulent jacquard velvet from Italy characterised by its combination of cut and uncut pile. It is one of the most precious velvets in manual production. It’s woven with silk thread on original 18th-century looms and requires a complex manufacturing process combining cut and […]
Jogakbo is a patchwork style originating from Korea that was traditionally used to create bojagi – domestic wrapping cloths – from leftover scraps of fabric. In Jogakbo, small scraps of fabric are pieced together in a geometric pattern to create a larger cloth. Jogakbo originated in the Joseon dynasty (1392-1910). Traditionally, Jogakbo was made using […]
The traditional Kutch weaving is a 600-year-old tradition. It is done by an extra-weft weaving technique, where a weft yarn is used in the warp of the loom. The weaving with extra weft creates the distinctive designs with geometric patterns. The characteristic, intricately handwoven motifs form the identity of the Kutch weaving. Shawls are woven […]
Khadi is a hand-spun and hand-woven fabric from India, Bangladesh and Pakistan mainly made out of cotton. This is an artisanal heritage handloom textile,made entirely in hand crafted processes—from spinning the threads on a charkha (spinning wheel) to weaving on handloom. The cloth is usually woven from cotton and may also include silk, or wool. […]
Kuba textiles are elaborate embroidered cloth made of raffia fiber, from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. They are unique in their elaboration and complexity of design and surface decoration. Most textiles are a variation on rectangular or square pieces of woven raffia fiber enhanced by geometric designs executed in linear embroidery in flat-stitch and cut-pile stitching, the latter creating surfaces resembling velvet.
The Khasa are strip-woven wool blankets from the Fulani people in West Africa. Many of the Fulani live a nomadic life. The heavy Khasa blankets serve to protect the cattle herders (Wodaabe) from the cold in winter and the mosquitos, their weight and thickness being important for this purpose. Typically, after use by the herders, the blankets are sold to traders, repaired and resold throughout West Africa.
Similar to many other regions, handmade socks make a significant part of material culture in Turkey. Besides being functional and decorative garments, in Turkey handmade socks have gained the role of communication through their designs. The motifs that are applied on socks usually have meanings and used for certain purposes. These meanings may have spiritual […]
Pirot kilim rugs refers to a variety of flat tapestry-woven rugs traditionally produced in Pirot, a town in southeastern Serbia. Pirot kilims with some 122 ornaments and 96 different types have been protected by geographical indication in 2002. Pirot was once the most important rug-making centre in the Balkans, located on the historical main highway […]
Nanjing Yunjin is an exquisite kind of silk brocade from Nanjing, China. “Yunjin”, meaning “beautiful as clouds at sunset”, is a more than 1500 year old craft incorporating fine materials such as silk, gold and peacock feather yarn. In the Chinese tradition of weaving Nanjing Yunjin brocade, two craftspeople operate the upper (sorting threads) and lower parts (weaves) […]
Barkcloth is a versatile material that was once common in Asia, Africa, Indonesia, and the Pacific. Barkcloth comes primarily from trees of the Moraceae family, including Broussonetia papyrifera, Artocarpus altilis, and Ficus natalensis. It is made by beating sodden strips of the fibrous inner bark of these trees into sheets, which are then finished into a […]
The sarape is a long blanket-like shawl, often brightly colored and fringed at the ends, worn in Mexico, especially by men. The term sarape is for the rectangular woven blanket, though in more recent years it can also be used to refer to a very soft rectangular blanket with an opening in the middle for one’s head, similar to […]
Broderie anglaise is a whitework needlework technique combining features of embroidery, cutwork and needle lace that became associated with England, due to its popularity there in the 19th century. Broderie anglaise is characterized by patterns composed of round or oval holes, called eyelets, which are cut out of the fabric, then bound with overcast or […]
The traditional Li textile techniques by women of the Li ethnic group on the island of Hainan, China, were recognized by Unesco in 2009 as in Need of Urgent Safeguarding on the List of Intangible Cultural Heritage. Spinning, dyeing, weaving and embroidering are employed to make cotton, hemp and other fibres into clothing and other […]
Croatian Lacemaking is a tradition dating back to the Renaissance when lacemaking began spreading throughout the Mediterranean and continental Europe. Throughout the years, Croatian lace has become notable for its unique patterns and designs. In 2009 UNESCO recognised lacemaking in Croatia as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Today in Croatia there are several centres […]
Noken is a multifunctional knotted or woven bag native to the Papua. Its made of made of woven tree bark or orchid plant stems. Its distinctive usage, which involves being hung from the head, is traditionally used to carry various goods, and also children. In 2012, noken was listed in the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Lists as a cultural heritage of Indonesia. Women carrying […]
Huipil is the most common traditional garment worn by indigenous women from central Mexico to Central America. It is a loose-fitting tunic, generally made from two or three rectangular pieces of fabric which are then joined together with stitching, ribbons or fabric strips, with an opening for the head and, if the sides are sewn, openings for the arms. […]
Ñandutí is a traditional Paraguayan embroidered lace. The name means “spider web” in Guaraní, the official, indigenous language of Paraguay. The lace is worked on fabric which is stretched tightly in a frame. The pattern is drawn on the fabric and the threads, which go to-and-fro across the circular motif and are either taken through running stitches worked along the […]
Quilting is the process of sewing two or more layers of fabric together to make a thicker padded material, usually to create a quilt or quilted garment. Typically, quilting is done with three layers: the top fabric or quilt top, batting or insulating material and backing material, but many different styles are adopted. The process of quilting uses a needle and thread to join two or […]
Felt is a textile material that is produced by matting, condensing and pressing fibers together. Felt can be made of natural fibers such as wool or animal fur, or from synthetic fibers. Natural fibre felt has special properties that allow it to be used for a wide variety of purposes. Wool felt is one the […]
Macramé is a form of textile produced using knotting techniques. The primary knots of macramé are the square knot (a variant of the reef knot) and forms of “hitching”: various combinations of half hitches. It was long crafted by sailors, especially in elaborate or ornamental knotting forms, to decorate anything from knife handles to bottles to parts […]
Patchwork, also known as “pieced work,” is a type of needlework where small pieces of fabric are stitched together to form a larger design. The design often consists of repeating patterns that are created by combining various fabric shapes, each of which may be a different color. The fabric shapes are meticulously measured and cut […]
Alençon lace or Point d’Alençon is a rare technique of needle lace-making from the town of Alençon in Normandy in north-west France. This craftsmanship was inscribed in the UNESCO List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2010. The fine Alençon needle lace requires a highly skilled hand and a considerable amount of time to produce – approximately […]
Rafoogari is an art of darning in India and neighbouring countries of the subcontinent where this art of healing the cloth is used for emotional and historical reasons too. Though is a social shame associated with wearing restored clothes but this art has been used by highly skilled “rafoogars” to restore some priceless clothes such […]
Darning is a sewing technique for repairing holes or worn areas in fabric or knitting using needle and thread alone. It is often done by hand, but it is also possible to darn with a sewing machine. Hand darning employs the darning stitch, a simple running stitch in which the thread is “woven” in rows along the grain of the fabric, with the stitcher reversing direction at the end of each row, […]
Die Vorstricker* is a cooperation project between The Craft Atlas and fashion designer Teresa Mair. Die Vorstricker* examines traditional knitting techniques and patterns from the Alps. We looked at and compared old knitting patterns from the regions Tirol, Vorarlberg, South Tirol and Bavaria. Here you find the digitised research from the project as a collection […]
Shweshwe is a type of dyed and printed cotton fabric used in traditional South-African clothing.
Skåne wool embroidery is a distinctive form of embroidery from southern Sweden.
Blaudruck is a resist-dye technique characterised by a white pattern on an indigo blue background.
Al Sadu is a traditional weaving technique practised by the Bedouin people.
Jamdani is a type of very fine woven muslin fabric made in a supplementary weft technique.
Zardozi is an intricate embroidery technique made with metallic threads and embellishments.
Adinkra are visual symbols that represent concepts or aphorisms, used in fabrics and pottery.
Yarn bombing is a form of street art made by covering objects in public space with colorful knitted or crocheted patches.
Smocking is an embroidery technique used to gather fabric so that it can stretch.
Wadmal is an ancient technique from Northern Europe where wool is first woven, then felted.
Zmijanje embroidery is an embroidery technique practised in the Zmijanje villages in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Bobbin lace is a lacemaking technique made by braiding and twisting lengths of thread wound on bobbins.
Harris Tweed is a cloth handwoven by islanders at their homes in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland, finished in the Outer Hebrides, and made from pure virgin wool dyed and spun in the Outer Hebrides.
Otomi embroidery is a traditional technique from the Otomi people living on the central plateau of Mexico.
Molas forms part of the traditional outfit of a Kuna woman, handmade using a reverse appliqué technique.
Soumak is a tapestry technique of weaving strong and decorative textiles used as rugs and domestic bags.
Block printing is the process of printing patterns by means of engraved wooden blocks.
Bagh Print is a traditional hand block print with natural colours from Madhya Pradesh, India.
Suzani is a type of embroidered and decorative tribal textile from Central Asia.
Akwete cloth is a handwoven textile from Igboland, Nigeria, using sisal, hemp, raffia and cotton.
Adire textile is the indigo-dyed cloth made in southwestern Nigeria by Yoruba women, using a variety of resist-dyeing techniques.
Ikat fabric is a dyeing technique used to create a distinct style of textile patterns. Ikat is done by resist dyeing sections of the yarns prior to weaving the fabric.
Katazome is a Japanese technique of dyeing fabrics with a resist paste and a stencil.
Kalamkari is a type of decorative hand-painted or block-printed cotton textile, produced in parts of India and Iran.
Bandhani is a type of tie-dye textile decorated by plucking the cloth with the fingernails into tiny bindings that form a figurative design.
Shibori is a Japanese manual resist dyeing technique, which produces patterns on fabric.
Kente is a type of silk and cotton fabric made of interwoven cloth strips and is native to the Akan tribe in Ghana.
Bògòlanfini is a handmade Malian cotton fabric traditionally dyed with fermented mud, also called mud cloth.
