r/weaving • u/GilesofGiles • Aug 26 '26
Discussion Textile Reading List
/r/Handspinning/comments/1vz5dxe/textile_reading_list/Someone used AI to answer a question on the handspinning subreddit (uh-oh!) and it turned into a book recs thread with me promising to post a list of book recommendations. I thought I’d share here as well and invite other book recommendations from the weavers who may or may not spin.
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u/WorksInPro Aug 26 '26
I laughed out loud at "we are LEARNMAXXING and we are not letting the ROBOTS tell us slop and accepting it as fact." ty for that.
I'm really excited to read "Weavers, Scribes, and Kings" and "Braiding Sweetgrass" this fall, which both seem semi-related.
Fast art reads I've enjoyed on this topic:
- Cloth: 100 Artists (really fun to flip through and see how others are using this medium)
- Weaving: Contemporary Makers on the Loom: has some interesting essays
- Threads of Treasure: focused on embroidery, which I don't really so much of, so I found the comparisons interesting
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u/GilesofGiles Aug 26 '26
I’m so glad I posted this I’m getting so many books to add to my 7 page Google doc reading list
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u/phiala Aug 26 '26
I have an extremely long list. Looks like mostly general-interest textile books rather than specialty books?
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u/GilesofGiles Aug 26 '26
This came out of a discussion of textile history sources. Both general and specific sources are of interest I guess.
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u/Substantial-Rise6877 Aug 27 '26
While the author of this post is a basket weaver, I found myself ordering a lot of books from this list: https://underwaterweaving.substack.com/p/required-reeding
The Carrier Bag Theory of Fiction by Ursula K. Le Guin is the only one I have read so far (it is an essay), and I can see it being something that I will return to regularly.
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u/FiddlinWeaver Aug 28 '26
I’d add Salt Stones by Helen Whybrow. Published in 2025 it’s a shepherd’s memoir of raising Icelandic sheep in Vermont. I enjoyed it through my library on the Libby app.
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u/Breadothy Aug 30 '26
Textiles: the whole story by Beverly Gordon is also a really good resource. It's basically a fly-by overview of a lot of different ways textiles are made, how they impact human experience and the symbolism contained within them. It's a good jumping off point to get people thinking about textiles, but also sometimes she'll mention something and just. Move on. Immediately. and it's like. No go back, I want to know about the painted porcupine quill beading, actually. Can we sit and talk about the porcupine quill beading??
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u/GilesofGiles Aug 31 '26
So it is not, in fact, the whole story 😭 I will add it to my list nevertheless
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u/OryxTempel Aug 27 '26
Should we add these to the wiki?
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u/GilesofGiles Aug 27 '26
I don’t know! It seems like the wiki is focused on resources for learning weaving techniques and processes and some of these more general interest books might clog it up. On the other hand, fiber artists should understand some craft history to improve. These weavers didn’t just fall out of a coconut tree!!
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u/laineycomplainey Aug 26 '26
Do you know about the Weaving History Conference?- its via Zoom since covid so everyone can attend! Perfect for fiber/fabric/weaving/spinning nerds!
Also the Textile History Forum? They meet in person every other year - 2027 should be the next one! They publish the research too.
Guaranteed AI free at both of these events!