Forage and Stitch – Caroline Hyde-Brown
Using natural materials in textile art
Description:

Find a wealth of instruction and inspiration on how to incorporate naturally foraged materials into your artwork. In the process, discover a range of textile techniques suitable for all levels and abilities to complement your design. These include hand and machine stitching, solar dyeing, felting, hapa-zome and more. 

Using natural materials in textile art is way of connecting a place directly with its artistic representation, but it also makes the artist tap into and observe the true rhythms of the natural world: the seasons, the weather and time. Incorporating consciously foraged goods in art gently forces you to slow down, to take note of each season’s bounty, and kindle or rekindle an awareness that we are all part of one big eco-system.

Each technique forms one of many pillars of Caroline’s large body of work, and she has carefully created eight projects, each introduced after a technique, so you can put your new skills into practice. Throughout, Caroline stresses the importance of taking your time  and working organically, letting your foraged goods guide your design. This is an approach that not only encourages an intuitive creative process, but develops a more mindful, positive experience for the artist too.  

Interwoven with practical guidance and projects are Caroline’s stunning gallery of works, offering inspirational examples of how to take your work farther, and simultaneously demonstrating nature’s abundance and variety.  

This is an enriching book on textile and natural art that celebrates the maker’s relationship with art and the natural world. 

Caroline has always maintained a strong sense of global responsibility.She uses only natural fabrics, her dyes are extracted from plants grown in her garden and/or in her local countryside, and she invests a substantial amount of time and research into sourcing her materials. The art Caroline produces is inspired by the cycle of nature, and simplicity and authenticity are key.

https://www.searchpress.com/book/9781800920040/forage-stitch

Review

This beautiful book encourages the reader to make their own discoveries and to interact with the natural world. In her introduction Caroline explains, 

‘Nature is my safe space. I have always enjoyed the ‘quiet time’ it offers, where I can just simply forget and be ‘still’ with my thoughts. To me, walking through the countryside or an ancient woodland is akin to meditation – it lifts my body and mind. The simple act of putting one foot in front of the other takes me to another place both physically and mentally.

 
Each chapter in this book embraces intuition and the unknown. Every project reflects the unexpected discoveries that I have made in my journey with textiles in the natural world’

The comprehensive content includes the following:

Introduction
Foraging
Colour the seasons
Interconnecting, inspiration & ideas
Materials & threads
Tools & notions

Each subsequent chapter follows the same approach – techniques, followed by a project, linked to a season and then a gallery of examples. There are very useful step-by-step techniques, illustrations, uplifting quotes and helpful tips and guidance throughout each section.
Here is a list of some of the projects included:
Seek and you shall find… Foraging techniques & projects
Technique: Natural dyeing
Project 1: Bojagi Patchwork Scented Pillow

Technique: Wet felting
Project 2: Forage & Felt
Technique: Decorative free-machine stitching
Project 3: Memories & Place 

Techniques: Acetone-transfer fabric printing and Free-machining on soluble fabric
Project 4: The Brecks

Technique: Nature-inspired hand embroidery
Project 5: Natural Shadows & Repeat Patterns

Technique: Pressing plants
Project 6: Pressed-flower Wall Hanging

Technique: Hapa-zome
Project 7: Hapa-zome Drawstring Bag

Technique: Silk & wool-top backgrounds
Project 8: Ancient Woodland

Finally there is guidance on how to present or frame your work.
This book is a wonderful exploration of how to engage with nature responsibly, Caroline shares both her thoughts and considerable experience in the world of textiles and demonstrates how to not only create your own beautiful examples, but also to slow down and be more mindful as you interact with nature, and enjoy your own creativity.
Highly Recommended!

Forage and Stitch Using natural materials in textile art – Caroline Hyde-Brown is published by Search Press