Glossary

The book has been printed. Michael went to watch and had a great time. It is so interesting to know what happens to a book before it hits the shelves. I think I will write an article about it - wonder who would want it? The printers we use are wonderful - a little more expensive, but they take so much trouble with everything. They’ve won heaps of awards and they recycle everything - even the plastic pots the ink comes in. I shall be able to pick up the books next week from the printers in Tunbridge Wells. Every printer I have ever dealt with has been based there - must be the UK’s printing Mecca.

Here’s a shot of the finished sheets piling up. This is the cover.






Followed by shots showing the colour separation process in action.







You asked how my catalogue is getting on. It was too fanned out, which I thought might be interesting but then decided not.




So folded it back on itself.




Here are the slits.







It isn't possible to do anything in the garden without my two assistants, who hang about and try to be helpful. Smudge is inspecting the goods while Stevens is lurking.






I like the idea of us being a cult. The soggy catalogue sun worshippers (we keep the rain away). My friend Ellie was always threatening to open a convent for elderly stitchers and call it ‘The little sisters of the soldering iron’.


Help needed

I’m putting together an on-line glossary for the Textile Translations book and I think it would be a great idea to expand it eventually to cover all kinds of materials. It would also be good to include translations of terms between UK/North America/Oz. We could have pics of the materials and add new ones as they come along. Does this exist already, does anyone know - I don’t want to reinvent the wheel.


In the meantime here are some things I’m not quite sure of:


Scrim. A loose woven fabric, slightly more open than muslin, that pulls apart very easily. Also builder’s scrim - on the roll in the photo. What do you call this in the USA?






Poly-cotton: a mix of polyester and cotton which is interesting to use with a soldering iron. We can buy it quite easily but where can you get it outside the UK?

Acrylic Wax: a runny wax that acts like a cross between a varnish and a wax. Where can you get that one outside the UK?

Quink: A fountain pen ink that bleaches well. Not a drawing ink. Is that called something else? Can it be obtained?

Bondaweb is fusible webbing and that seems to translate OK, doesn’t it?

Silk pods: Are these easy to get? They are like stiff silk tubes and are a by-product of the silk spinning process.

Soft Pastels: not the hard chalky ones that are more like charcoal but like soft chalk. Can be smeared with the finger and set with hair spray. Easy to find?

I think UK calico is called muslin in the States. Our muslin is more like a slightly heavier, softer scrim.

Craft Vilene - Timtex OK? Is there anything cheaper?

I’m sure there are lots more. Talk about divided by a common language! All help much appreciated.


Comments

Thanks to everyone for the replies. Catalogue thing makes an interesting saga.

Anna - leave it in two parts but put the pages back on top of each other. The rain action (if we ever get any) will mould it together. We won’t be doing anything with these for a couple of months so just let them lie.

Leanne - slashing not obligatory but, if you do, go through a chunk of pages.

Writer in Residence - thanks, that was an interesting read. I didn’t know about the print on demand problems. It seems to take away so much from what we all think of as the freedom of the web when companies get so greedy. We make a big chunk of our living from the web magazines but we keep them ‘pared to the bone’ pricewise. Haven’t put the price up for years - we just hope to go on adding subscribers to absorb the rising costs. So far this has happened but we are all in worrying times right now.