Textile Brand Name Bonanza Book!

Posted on January 9, 2011 by Seth Winner

“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” -Juliet Capulet
Romeo and Juliet, William Shakespeare

The textile industry has long been addicted to re-branding the mundane in order to stand out. They make the medical industry look like amateurs when it comes to branding. Sometimes its a company name change to hide behind when business is going south. Mostly they love the re-naming of a generic product to seem more special. Last time I looked, there were over 30 names for Nylon 6, almost 30 names for Nylon 6,6, over 50 names for Olefin, more than 50 for Polyester. (By the way; Lycra is Spandex) [a quick guide to manufactured fibers] That’s just the fibers, it gets exponential when you add in fabric type and finish. Continue reading →

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Coming Attractions

Posted on January 4, 2011 by Seth Winner

Two months ago I started this Blog thinking that I would fill a hole in Textile Blogging; namely: Things Seth is interested in. Now that I’ve been at it, and a few months have passed, I thought I’d take a look forward as to what I could be blogging about in the coming year.

I’m already finding my list of bookmarks growing faster than I can find time read through them, much less than try to write about them all, so I’ll try to pick and choose my battles.

So here are some things I’m playing with in my head as potential topics to research and regurgitate for your perusal: (in no particular order of importance or priority) Continue reading →

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Stormy Kromer

Posted on December 28, 2010 by Seth Winner

Living in Michigan necessitates an ample collection of headgear choices. Winters can go from mild to face freezing in a matter of hours, and inversely, what works in the winter may boil your head in the fall and spring.

For the winter, I’d mostly been sporting the same Adidas lightweight performance stocking cap for so long that it was threatening the stability of my home life. The stocking cap has been my regular go-to tool for winter, but I’ve been needing something a bit less casual, but still highly functional. So when I encountered the Stormy Kromer at Bill & Paul’s Sporthaus, I knew I’d found the new tool of choice for days when I’m not going to be burning 4000 calories on cross country skis and my face was under no immediate threat from wind chill induced frost bite. I found a great everyday winter hat. Continue reading →

Posted in clothing, craft, design, hats, Textiles, woven | 3 Comments

Ngrams for the Textile Nerds.

Posted on December 21, 2010 by Seth Winner

Here for your amusement and conversation are some Textile related Google Book Ngrams. Discuss. Continue reading →

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Tomas Saraceno

Posted on December 20, 2010 by Seth Winner

I’m jealous of Tomas Saraceno’s work. Its true. His installations of molecular dream-scapes made of bungie cords and rope make me want to drop everything, stock up on screw-eyes and cord and go to town out in my studio making impossible spaces. Continue reading →

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Umbrella Parachute Roof

Posted on December 16, 2010 by Seth Winner

Continuing with the theme of architectural textiles that I seem to be headed down lately, I present to you the retractable roof of the Festungsarena Kufstein in Austria; an outdoor performance space placed in the fortifications of the 14th century Kufstein Castle. Continue reading →

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Warren Seelig: Oculus

Posted on December 12, 2010 by Seth Winner

Warren Seelig sent these photos of his current installation at the Farnsworth Museum in Rockland, Maine. Titled Oculus, this installation is in the rotunda of the museum and is constructed of thousands of strands of monofilament intersecting in harmony to form a circular opening beneath the windows. Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Art, engineering, pattern, site specific, Textiles | 2 Comments

Pasta Carpet

Posted on December 8, 2010 by Seth Winner

Consider me amused. More carpet tomfoolery at We Make Carpets

I swear. Next week I’ll get back to more actual Blogging about textiles. Not to say that this isn’t textile related, and I do appreciate the misuse of materials to make dis-functional floor covering. I am uneasy with the colors of many of these carpets end up being, especially the Bandaid carpet, which makes me especially queasy.

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The Art of Structure

Posted on December 6, 2010 by Seth Winner

I believe engineering can (and should) be inspiring, inventive and beautiful. So I knew that part of my Thanksgiving trip to Pittsburgh would have to be spent at the Carnegie Museum of Art to see the dual exhibition: The Art of Structural Design: A Swiss Legacy and Félix Candela: Engineer, Builder, Structural Artist. Continue reading →

Posted in 3d textile, Architecture, engineering, pattern, structure | 3 Comments

Felt, Intersecting

Posted on December 1, 2010 by Seth Winner

I was reminded of Pauline Verbeek-Cowart‘s Felt Lace X-Change yesterday when I checked in on the Cooper Hewitt Design Blog.

I first encountered this fabric years ago when visiting Bethanne Knudson at the Oriole Mill to see what was going on. Bethanne always has something cool up her sleeve and at the time made me promise multiple levels of secrecy before showing me this incredible structurally inventive piece of fabric.

I was immediately taken. Continue reading →

Posted in 3d textile, clothing, felt, structure, woven | Leave a comment