‘The Power of Pattern’ is the title of an exhibition currently showing at the Fashion and Textile Museum in London. It celebrates the work of designer Kaffe Fassett and of the other two designers in the Kaffe Fassett Collective, namely Brandon Mably and Philip Jacobs. I have followed Kaffe’s career with interest for many years, through the time devoted to needlepoint, knitting, fabric design and quilting. It was useful to be reminded by the introductory video at the beginning of the show that Kaffe Fassett began his creative life in the UK as an artist. Interestingly, the painting below shows objects laid out on a patchwork quilt.
These are just a few of the delights of the exhibition. Below is a dress made in 2021 by dressmaker Karen Hughes using the ‘Floating Peony’ fabric
Quilts in the exhibition included this astonishing piece by Danny Amazonas (see the post here for another example of his work). This is called ‘Levitate’ and was made in 2018.
A look at the detail of the surface shows how the pieces of fabric (including many Kaffe Fassett Collective designs) have been cut and combined to created the three-dimensional illusion.
The quilt below ‘Tusker Bill’ was made in 2022 by Sophie Standing.
Once again, a close look at this fabulous piece highlights the skill with which the fabrics have been selected and used.
As a fabric designer, I thoroughly enjoyed the room-full of artwork for fabric designs, with sets of colourways beneath and indications of how the repeats could fall on the edges.
Among a collection of shirts made up in fabric designs from the collective, my favourite was the ‘Tiddly Winks’ design in this colourway.
The exhibition runs until 12 March 2023, Tuesdays to Saturdays 11.00-18.00
The Fashion and Textile Museum is at 83 Bermondsey Street, London SE13XF
The website is: www.fashionandtextilemuseum.org
Later this week, I am teaching my ‘Make Friends with your Sewing Machine‘ class. If you love Textiles and want to use a sewing machine or if you own a machine but don’t know how to use it, this is a useful class. I teach one-to-one and will gear the half-day class to your needs. For more information and a link to book, go to the ‘Classes’ page here.
