Techniques & Traditions

This page explores traditional fiber art techniques and the cultural histories that shaped them. It’s a living resource—part how-to, part archive—intended for anyone seeking to understand the roots of what we make, not just the methods.

Table of Contents

Crochet, Knitting & Tatting

Overview: Learn how these thread-based arts evolved from domestic tasks to contemporary statements of identity and resistance.

Resources:

• The Crochet Guild of America – Patterns, technique guides, and historical insights.
  
  

• Tatting by Georgia Seitz – Tatting instructions, history, and diagrams.
  
  

• Stitch School: Includes vintage crochet and lace-making techniques.
  
  

• New York Public Library - Crochet Patterns Archive: Scanned vintage crochet/knitting booklets.
  
  

Embroidery & Crewel Work

Overview: From traditional motifs to radical stitchwork, embroidery has always been both decorative and deeply narrative.

Resources:

• Mary Corbet’s Needle ‘n Thread – Techniques, stitch dictionary, and project patterns.
  
  

• Royal School of Needlework: Online classes and stitch library.
  
  

• EGA (Embroiderers' Guild of America): Techniques, chapters, and fiber artist showcases.
  
  

• Crewel Ghoul: Beginner embroidery tutorials with modern aesthetics.
  
  

Quilting & Textile Memory

Overview: Quilting reflects resistance, family, community, and artistic innovation—especially in BIPOC and Southern traditions.

Resources:

• Gee’s Bend Quilters: History, gallery, and oral narratives.
  
  

• International Quilt Museum: Research library and global quilt archive.
  
  

• Quilts of Valor Foundation: Quilting for veterans and storytelling through stitches.
  
  

• Quilt Index: A massive searchable database of documented quilts.
  
  

Cultural Textile Traditions

Overview: Global textile practices teach us about migration, symbolism, labor, and ancestral aesthetics.

Resources:

• Weave a Real Peace (WARP): Focus on fair trade and cross-cultural weaving traditions.
  
  

• Smithsonian Folklife: Search "textiles" or "fiber arts" for global artist profiles.
  
  

• The Fabric of India (V&A Museum): Explore Indian embroidery, dyeing, weaving, and political history.
  
  

• HmongStory40: Stories through textile and diaspora craft.
  
  

• Andean Textile Arts: Highlights indigenous Peruvian weaving.
  
  

Tools, Patterns & How-To's

Quick Access Toolkits:

• DMC Stitch Library: Embroidery, cross-stitch, and beginner how-to PDFs.
  
  

• Craft Yarn Council: Crochet/knitting chart reading, hook/yarn sizing, and technique basics.
  
  

• Tatter Blue Library: Textile books and workshops centered on textile knowledge.