Forage and Stitch : A Creative Guide to Using Natural Materials in Textile Art

Techniques and projects for textiles that celebrate and use natural everyday objects.

Step outside with Caroline Hyde-Brown and learn how to find natural materials to great beautiful fiber art.

Suitable for all levels and abilities, find a wealth of instruction and inspiration on how to incorporate naturally foraged materials such as leaves, grasses, lichen and dried flowers into your artwork.

• Discover a range of textile techniques, to support and complement your natural materials design -  hand and machine stitching, solar dyeing, felting, hapa-zome and more. 

• Caroline has carefully created a small project, based on her own artworks, after each newly introduced method, so you can put your new skills into practice.

Throughout, Caroline stresses the importance of taking your time with each method and working organically, letting your foraged goods guide your design. This is an approach that not only encourages an intuitive creative process, but develops a more mindful, positive experience for the artist too.  

Interwoven with practical guidance and projects are Caroline's stunning gallery of works, offering inspirational examples of how to take your work farther, and simultaneously demonstrating nature's abundance and its variety.

Caroline originally trained in Fashion Design at Solent University, and for several years designed clothes and scarves for an international textile agent. However, in 1992 she decided to return to her first love – embroidery – and went to study Textile Design at Nottingham & Trent University.

In 1995 she started her own business designing and producing embroidered fabrics for Liberty, including pictures, cushions, lighting and wall hangings. She also produced three one-off collections for John Lewis. Whilst exhibiting at the Country Living Spring Fair in 2002, the Japanese store, Takashimaya, selected Caroline and several other British makers to take part in a national craft promotion, travelling and working across the East and West Coast of Japan. Caroline stayed in Japan to research the art of Hapa-Zome, Ikebana, and the ethos Wabi Sabi. In 2018 Caroline, trained as an Arts Award Adviser and in Mental Health First Aid, to further her knowledge on mindfulness and well-being.

Caroline has always maintained a strong sense of global responsibility. She uses only natural fabrics, and colours are extracted from flowers, herbs and vegetables grown in her garden. She invests a substantial amount of time and research into sourcing her materials, and many of the papers she uses are from economically developing countries, where rural communities rely solely on this as a source of income. The art she produces is inspired by the cycle of nature, and simplicity and authenticity are key.

Caroline lives in Norfolk, UK, with her husband, daughter and pet dog.
Website: www.theartofembroidery.co.uk
Instagram: @artistcaz
Facebook: @artistcaz