The Art of Manipulating Fabric

Wolff demonstrates many ways to manipulate the large scale texture of the fabric, and the result is NOT something for the timid dressmaker. In fact, many of the examples seem to be from quilts and home-decoration.
(It must have taken her a couple years just to make the hundreds of beautiful muslin samples, which are clearly photographed in black and white! ) I also think these techniques would be great for handbags, high-drama evening wear, and clothing for people who love texture (like me).

Many of her amazing techniques are labor intensive, often hand-sewn, but worth it, I think!


How many ways can you sculpt a piece of fabric?   May 30, 2003
 16 out of 16 found this review helpful

Amazing! Colette Wolff has presented innumerable techniques in which simple fabric may be gathered, shirred, ruffled, flounced, given godets, pleats, smocked, tucked, corded, quilted, and stuffed, and how one may use these provocative and remarkable methods of sculpting fabric using combinations of the above.

In using simple white cotton muslin, Colette presents to the student a visualization of precisely what one may expect of the diverse manipulations of fabric. A seamstress may take a plain piece of fabric and transform it into a work of art. This book is for the student who desires to go beyond simple seams. Each section is explained comprehensively and given a distinct black and white photo so that one may ascertain the accuracy of one's project.

A must-have for the serious seamstress interested in artistic needlework. Happy sewing!


Think Laura Ashley doing muslin.   August 15, 2002
 38 out of 62 found this review helpful

I read the positive reviews and had hoped to check this out from the library to give it a preview. Unfortunately, they didn't have a copy, but I was so certain that I would enjoy this book and be able to apply it to my designs that I ordered it anyway. While it is very through and well-documented, it is really meant for those with an old-fashioned "crafty" bent to their sewing. I'm talking frills and puffs and applique and quilting and Celtic knots, and lots of it. Plenty of grid-like patterns to be had for the quilting fanatics. If you interpret "manipulate" to mean painting on, slicing, tearing, knotting, or otherwise changing the look of the fabric itself (as opposed to making it puff out or pleated), then this is not the book you are looking for. Another disappointment were the black and white photos. Even though it was just plain muslin being photographed, I felt gypped having paid so much for what resembles a bunch of 1960s textbook photos.


warning: fabric lovers, this will blow your minds   June 9, 2000
 158 out of 160 found this review helpful

In the author's words, "this is a book of ideas about sewing cloth" but what it really is, is an awesome collection of information from a thousand different sources on the techniques sewers have used since fabric was invented, to change the surface of an initially flat textile. Wolff brings little techniques of fabric manipulation from the background to the spotlight by isolating each technique, cataloging its unique features, separating the technique from end product associations, and exploring the sculptural possibilities without regard to where application will be. For any home or professional sewers who currently (or hypothetically) maintain folders of "pleating ideas," "interesting darts," or "photos of ruffles" get this book, and fast. Save yourself the chore of assimilating all the diagrams and photos and captions because Wolff has done it so thoroughly you will find yourself engrossed just reading about the humble little fabric tuck. Granted, no technique by itself makes wearable art or couture clothing, but these are the manipulations that make up the experimental stuff on the runways and in the exclusive boutiques. Learn what they do to a plain textile and you're primed to exploit fabric, for whatever purposes your little heart desires. Wolff's chapters cover: controlled crushing (gathering, shirring), supplementary fullness (making ruffles, making flounces, making godets), systematic folding (pleating, smocking, tucking), filled reliefs (cording, quilting, stuffing), structured surfaces (darts), and mixed manipulations (combinations). If you're a collector of books on dyeing or embroidery or exquisite cut, you really owe it to yourself to add this viewpoint to your library. Until the magical moment when I picked up this volume at a fabric trade show, I had no idea someone had catalogued so fanatically the world of playing with fabric. Thank goodness she has, or I might have attempted it. And as if a jam-packed reference guide isn't cause enough for celebration among fabric junkies, she's included a modest glossary, for clarity, a very helpful bibliography of books and articles, and a really thorough index that makes textbooks look carelessly written. This isn't just for garment-makers either; I can easily see applications in quilting, weaving, home decorating, wearable art, and costuming. Sewing machine recommended for most of these techniques but they could all be done by hand-sewers. I think it would most benefit the home sewer looking to spice up their wardrobe with more sophistication and interest in the fabric handling, but could also be very useful to the professional, especially in the design fields. After each time I pick up this book I find ideas bubbling to the surface on how to make my next fabric creation really pop. It's inspired several experiments and I see no end in sight.