Wild Textiles

A guide to harnessing the world of nature to create sustainable textile art.

Textile artist Alice Fox shows how to work with found, foraged, gathered and grown materials to create fabulous textile pieces that are inspired by, and made from, nature. She encourages crafters to be open minded and experimental, using local (and sometimes) unconventional materials, working with the seasons and learning what materials are available at different times of year to ground artists in natural cycles and integrate creative activity with a strong sense of place and character.

Alongside advice on growing your own plants (such as flax or nettles) for creative work, the book is packed with practical ideas for foraging – from weeds, dandelions and other plants useful for making cordage, or leaves that can be stitched, quilted and shaped into vessels, to grass, wool, plastics and mud that can be gathered and delightfully repurposed by the textile artist. Other ideas for found materials include stones, shells and wood that can be wrapped or woven into, as well as a multitude of urban treasures that find a new life in creative hands.

Alice Fox is an embroiderer and textile artist using techniques from textiles, soft basketry and printmaking. She uses found objects, gathered materials and natural processes, bringing different materials together to form tactile surfaces and structures. Most of the materials Alice uses are grown or gathered on her allotment plot. Alice is based in Saltaire, West Yorkshire and she exhibits and teaches nationally and internationally.