The Cumulative Cloth, Dry Techniques: A Guide to Fabric Color, Pattern, Construction, and Embellishment

A comprehensive how-to reference that teaches dry textile surface design techniques for making custom cloth, including appliqué, embroidery, layering, and more.

Learn surface design for textiles, to create rich and personally expressive fabric surfaces. Projects by expert Susan Brandeis (author of the bestselling The Intentional Thread) help novices and experienced professionals experiment with each method.

• Covers dry techniques in detail: how to add color, pattern, and images to fabrics using cutting, piecing, layering, building, and embellishing.
• Includes both machine stitching and hand stitching.
• What's the "Cumulative Cloth"? A single cloth that readers add to with each chapter's techniques, eventually creating a piece of art.
• Serves as a go-to reference to check technical procedures and safety guidelines (many methods require caution).
• Wet techniques are covered separately in the author's coordinating book, The Cumulative Cloth, Wet Techniques.

“Susan Brandeis is the consummate educator and maker, and understands both what is involved in making, and how to convey these processes clearly and efficiently. The Cumulative Cloth, Dry Techniques extends the range and scope of content of its Wet Techniques companion volume, so that both textile students and hobbyists have in these guidebooks comprehensive and detailed references that provide entrée to the world of textile surface design and construction. . . . should find a ‘within reach’ spot in every fabric crafter’s workspace.” --Michael James, quilt artist; Professor Emeritus and Chair Emeritus of the Department of Textiles, Merchandising & Fashion Design, University of Nebraska–Lincoln

“This book is a must have for my library. The instructions are easy to follow with illustrations that make me want to start stitching, slicing, folding, embellishing and piecing at once. Her remark, ‘Think of the topics in this book as a collection of present and future possibilities,’ is absolutely true.” --Paula Kovarik, fiber artist

“A wealth of information to guide fabric-focused makers of any level with comprehensive construction processes. Several workshops compiled into one amazing book!” --Wen Redmond, fiber and mixed-media digital artist; author of Explorations with Collage!: Merging Photographs, Paper, and Fiber

“Everyone, from beginner to advanced, can be successful in dry techniques with Susan Brandeis’s detailed instructions, helpful tips, clear illustrations, and stunning photography. She provides ideas for applying dry techniques, suggests opportunities for further exploration, and proposes challenges for artistic growth. Together, the two books will serve as a reference to consult for years to come.” --Dr. Cheryl Christian, artist; editor emerita, Needle Arts

Susan Brandeis is Distinguished Professor Emerita at North Carolina State University’s College of Design and is a member of the university’s Academy of Outstanding Teachers. She holds graduate degrees in both art education and textile art and is a studio artist who has been making, exhibiting, teaching, and writing about textile art and design for over 40 years. She founded the Southeast Fibers Educators Association. Her work has been pictured in leading publications in the field and exhibited throughout the United States; in Canada, Great Britain, Japan, Finland, South Korea, Colombia, the Netherlands, and the Philippines; and at the Textile Museum in Washington, DC, and the International Biennial of Tapestry in Lausanne, Switzerland. She is represented in numerous private and public collections, including the Smithsonian Institution’s Renwick Gallery. She is also the author of The Intentional Thread: A Guide to Drawing, Gesture, and Color in Stitch and the companion book to this title, The Cumulative Cloth: Wet Techniques.