006 contributors 007 editors letter 009 francois-marie banier 013 tim walker 014 paper moon 020 vive la vie 029 rob ryan 034 how too.. 036 pins promotion 038 student insight
PHOTOGRAPHY PAINTING WORDS FRANCOIS-MARIE BANIER
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CONTRIBUTORS Heather Fraser is our first EVER cover girl. Her distict 60’s hair cut and big eyes were the perfect combination for our 60’s paper dress shoot. Shei s a passionate textiles student at Conyers Secondary School in Yarm, and was pretty happy to be selected as the first face of the magazine.
Josephine Andrew is Founder and Editor of PINS magazine. In this issue she writes about the history of paper fashion, looking in particular and 60’s poster dresses. She also photographed Heather for the paper dress shoot inspired by the work of Francois Marie Banier.
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Rebeka Holroyd is studying Textile Design at Leeds University. In this issue of PINS she tells us about taking textiles technology further into a degree. Her blog of all things granny chic (sew-alittle-bit-of-happiness.tumblr. com) is aimed to inspire with pretty pictures, quirky quotes and the occasional textiles review. Holroyd is the go-to girl for ultimate vintage style. ‘Take a moment or two to embrace your inner 80 year old’ Katy Reeve is currently studying Fashion Communication at Northumbria University. She jumped in as creative director for the photoshoot and the results were pretty impressive. With her distict eye for fashion she is the best person for the job. Greatly inspired by her mother, katy secretly dreams of following in her steps as a make up artist.
Georgia Alcock is another student contributor to this issue of PINS. She studied an Art Foundation course at Lincoln College to find her real passion, and is now studying Surface Pattern Design at Leeds College of Art.
l e t t e r from the e di to r Welcome to the first issue of PINS! We hope you enjoy it. We aim to inspire and enlighten you are different angles of fashion and textiles, and give you lots of ideas of things to do. When we did our research into what you lot have been up to we found out lots of you are experimenting with paper so we have a paper fashion theme this month with lots to look at to give you a boost of inspiration. From Rob Ryan’s intercut paper dress to the infamous 60’s poster dresses, we’ve covered it all! Our cover girl Heather Fraser features in our shoot influenced by the work of Francois-Marie Banier. Also, have al ook into the work of Tim Walker, an increasingly popular fashion photographer. His fairy tale like images are bound to give you tonnes of ideas!
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Francois Marie Banier Is a French novelist, play writer, actor, artist and photographer. His inspirational work hit the fashion world with his advertising campaign for DVF (Diane Von Furstenburg) which featured iconic black and white portraits of supermodel Natalia Vondianova. They were covered in French text and huge splashes of paint in bright, vibrant tones of pink, orange, blue and yellow and even green. The artistic photographs were used as the spring summer 2009 magazine adverts for the popular high end fashion brand. “My photographs expose the soul of others, while the paintings expose my own,� said Banier in an interview with Vanity Fair. Banier frequently combines art with photography in his work. His black and white portraits of celebrities and members of high society are often littered with paint splashes and doodles or French script; it creates a very dramatic and unusual image which immediately catches the eye.
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TIM WALKER Tim walker was born in England in 1970. His interests in photography began during work experience at Conde Nast where he set up the Cecil Beaton archive. He attended Exeter Art College, and worked as a free lance photographic assistant before working as Richard Avedon’s assistant in New York. His career began when he came third in the independent Young Photographer of the Year Award, and he went on to contribute to high profile magazines including vogue, W and Bazaar, he also shot advertising campaigns for clients including Barneys, Comme des Garcons, Gap and Yohji Yamamoto. The main characteristic of Walkers work is the sense that the pictures are not just a picture, they are a story. A story of fantasy and imagination. Each photo immediately leads you to wonder how it happened, and that there could be a whole tale behind each one. It is left up to the viewer to imagine these stories, and lead their imaginations way beyond their own usual day dreams as the content of the photograph is so imaginative and original. Tim walkers work is very distinctive; it’s recognisable from its classic fairy tale style and eccentric props and settings. Walker creates photos that generate wonder and imagination, and take people into their own little eccentric day dream. His photos are taken in a simple format, there is no editing or digital tweaking, which I think is the best thing about them, that he can have the ideas and put together something so fascinating. His work regularly appears on Vogue magazines for their latest fashion shoots, and exploring the trends, it is obvious straight away which shoots are by him, the photos aren’t at all commercial and fake, or studio like. They are totally natural, with a distict English feel. looking at Walkers influences is inspiring. It is apparent his main inspiration was his childhood. Nearly all his work reflects on how he grew up, what he was interested in as a child, which is the reason all his photos are about fantasy and make believe.
“As a child, I loved children’s books. Today I see my work is often reminiscent of the images I studied for hours. When I look back, I realise ‘Oh my god, I’ve just done that in a shoot!’ Everything is connected to what I drew upon as a child.” (Tim Walker, May Vogue 2007). Books such as Stig of the Dump and The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe were his favourite. Stig of the Dump is a fantasy book, about a young boy making friends with a cave man, and going on adventures, similar to The lion the witch and the Wardrobe, in which some children find a secret entrance at the back of a wardrobe into a magical world in which they have extraordinary adventures. At 19, he did work experience at Vogue. He worked in the library with the negatives, many of which by Cecil Beaton. What Vogue did made sense to him because it dealt with a lot of fantasy and magical things. Cecil Beaton was a great inspiration to him as he helped him to realise you can have a career in something you love, and all his childhood influences can be used to make beautiful creations of work.
“As I studied Vogue’s archives I started to understand photography. I admired photographers like Bruce Weber; I thought he was brilliant, Beaton ad Irving Penn. I loved pictures, anything visual. Even if it’s not my world, I love looking at it.” (Tim walker, May vogue 2007.) Badlands is walkers favourite film, and The Red Shoes is another inspiration. He says the part in The Wizard of Oz where the whole set turns from black and white to colour changed his life forever. His general fascination for colour is show in many of his pictures where he has used coloured glass and decorations to reflect different coloured light onto the subject’s faces. Walker has mentioned in a Vogue interview that the fairground used to visit where he grew up
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is a constant inspiration, and that he is still inspired by magical, escapist environments. Richard Avedon once told him “Only photograph what you love. Everything else will slot into place.” Walker is also influenced by work he puts together himself, every year he makes a scrapbook of things he has found, “it can be a piece of writing, an Irving Penn image, a page from an in flight magazine!” From these books he comes up with ideas for a shoot, then ‘fleshes’ it out to create what we see today as spectacular, beautiful imagery.
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PAPER MOON Imagine what it would be like to wear a paper dress. Stiff? Creases easily? There was once a time where the paper dress was the best thing since sliced bread. But why aren’t we wearing it now?
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In a world where recycling and sustainable materials are becoming increasingly important, What is the next step in the fashion industry? Companies such as Topshop have taken to creating ranges of fair-trade clothing, but nothing recyclable or environmentally friendly is appearing. So why has the idea of paper clothing not taken off?
wear, these dresses were another success. You got all four when you ordered them so you could change your style each night, and customise them with scissors to suit you and your mood. The advertisement read:
‘Join the poster parade for fashion fun! Wear ‘em. Wash ‘em. Frolic in a fun-frock of black and white imprinted with oversize photographs front and back, designed in London, England, to suit your current Mod mood. Toughness is built into the non-woven fabric for long, l-o-n-g wear and should you tire (which is doubtful) just cut open all the seams and hang on your wall as a mammoth poster- or cover pillows, use as curtains, tablecloth etc. Left shoulder opens and closes at a touch. If you want more of a scoop neck or prefer a mini-mini, just cut with scissors – but neatly gals! Your ready-to-wear posters, latest London party-wear is oaky to wash (unwoven and nylon for drip dry care). Oh yes, poster dresses are penny wise, priced at The trend took of rapidly, and other companies only $2.98! Guaranteed for fun!’ started using the same idea. They experimented with different fabrics adding other materials to make it durable and washable. Many were flame resistant but not after washing, so the dress was popular as a disposable item, in other words it can be worn once then thrown out. New styles of the dress were introduced, including party gowns and even a wedding dress for fewer than twenty dollars. Other paper fashion products for example shoes, underwear, bikinis and even waterproofed paper raincoats were added to the market. The simple paper shift dress continued to be the most popular design. The idea that you could hem it yourself with just a pair of scissors and wear it once then throw it away was a highly popular concept. The idea for paper clothing originated from over 50 years ago. An era of daring designs and psychedelic prints. Scott Paper Company invented the paper dress in 1967, for just one dollar along with a coupon women could buy the paper dress and receive vouchers for Scotts Paper products. It was a simple A-line mini dress, made from Dura-Weve, featuring a red bandanna print or a black and white pop art pattern. Very on trend at that time, the idea was intended to be just a marketing tool for the company. Little did they know this was about to become one of the biggest trends of the sixties. Half a million of these dresses were sold in under a year.
The dress captured the lively, vibrant and youthful mood of the sixties so perfectly even Andy Warhol, the leading figure of the Pop Art style got in on the trend. He created his own version of the A-line dress with his famous Campbell Tomato Soup design printed on it known as the ‘Souper dress’. The paper dresses became quirky and imaginative Featuring pop art patterns and shapes, which the customer could colour in themselves. This idea of personalising your own garment and cut the bottom off to shorten it to your preferred length, made it even more popular with the young optimistic generation of the sixties. The next step for this trend was the Poster Dress. For just $2.98 you could get ‘four fabulous 75% Rayon and 25% Nylon poster dresses.’ This trend took off in 1968 when designs by American graphic artist Harry Gordon created a series of dresses featuring huge photographs including a cat, eye, rose and giant rocket. Perfect for night time party
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Paper dresses seemed like the ultimate invention. Cheap, fashionable and convenient for everyone. They were brilliantly marketed, often aimed at holiday makers. A Time magazine article from 1967reads “Sterling Paper believes in paper resort wear, the idea being that vacationers could buy paper clothes at the hotel when they arrive, throw them away when they depart, thus eliminating packing and carrying heavy luggage.” This was very doable with the invention of paper bikinis and evening wear. The dresses were also regularly seen in fashion magazines like Vogue, Ingenue and Harpers Bazaar. They fitted in so well with the style of America in the sixties fashion press speculated that paper garments would take over the whole clothing market. The trend didn’t last as long as anticipated. After just a couple of years paper dresses became outdated and the novelty wore off dramatically after the downsides to the garments became more noticeable. Even with home alterations, the dresses were uncomfortable and not particularly well fitting. The physical limitation of the dress became more apparent; Their dazzling colours could rub off onto other garments and imprinted skin. They were often flammable even without being washed..
Many attempts had been made by various companies and designs to create a durable paper based fabric, but not good enough to make the garment last. They easily tore and the flammable resist chemicals washed out too easily. The customer had spoken and by late 1968 paper clothing had disappeared from the fashion market.
garments from a single sheet of paper. The idea came from Computer scientist Jun Mitani who constructed three dimensional geometric forms. The paper clothing revolution has continued into the 21st century but When Miyake saw his in a different way. The same cellulose fabric used for the dresses is now work, he immediately used for disposable garments such as hospital gowns, scrubs and cover- summoned him to his office to explain he wanted to use the idea for fashion. The idea was feasible. He chose a thin white textile that feels and looks like cotton poplin, and a shinier black fabric that resembles silk faille. The material is lightweight, stretches and breathes. The colour palette consisted of hunter green, black and bronze. The designs were mesmerizing. Sartorial origami. Apposed to cutting and sewing, the fabric was folded with precise sharp creases. When folded the garments are a variety of geometric shapes such as stars and swirls. They un folded vertically into intricate beautiful tube shaped dresses which could be worn as a day dress, cocktail dress or a long skirt. “These clothes are very light, like air, and are season-less,” Miyake says. “I hope people will keep them a long time, and not alls. It’s a hygienic and convenient way of creating clothing which is only replace them every two needed to be worn once. months. That, for me, is On a fashion level, the paper approach has continued in a modern and the essence of sustainabilquirky way. On September 7th 2010 a collection of new paper clothing ity.” by Issey Miyake was unveiled. He created some inspirational garments
Although these designs were truly incredible, it wasn’t enough to filter through to mainstream fashion. So why hasn’t paper clothing taken off? The benefits are obvious; garments could be made from recycled materials and could be recycled again after the user has finished with them. In reality, why would someone chose a stiff paper dress over a flexible fabric one? Today paper is used mainly for dramatic effect on garments, such as an intricate shoulder piece, or extravagant runway dresses which could never be worn in a real life situation. People don’t want paper dresses anymore, There could still be a future in paper fashion however, the dresses that are created are always very inspirational, and with new technology, the idea of mixing paper with fabric and chemicals to make it washable could still hit off at some point. Between 2000 and 2005 technical textile consumption has increased worldwide by about 20%in volume. But why not go back to basics and explore the possibilities with a simple sheet of paper?
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Here you can see how the dress unfolds from a falt shape on the floor, ito a tube dress.
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www.northumbria.ac.uk
“All artists are derranged.� Rob Ryan’s work is special. It is special in the sense that it is something unique, special in the sense that it is something exceptionally beautiful, special as something that manages to be contemporary while carrying a strong hint of timelessness, a big gust of excitement combined with a familiar waft of nostalgia, and finally, and more importantly, it is something special in the sense that his work always seems to appear out of the blue, like a face in a crowd, a wave, a sign, and seems to address itself directly to you.
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(THE GAURDIAN) Magma: Did you go to art school? What course did you enroll in? Rob Ryan: I did my foundation at Birmingham Poly, Fine Art at Trent Poly, then Printmaking at RCA M: When did you first start working with cutouts? RR: About 5 years ago. I was mainly painting. I wasn’t managing a lot of printmaking as I didn’t have a printmaking studio. And I was doing a lot of writing. I’ve always been into sketchbooks and sketchbooks are mainly words for me. I wanted to do something new and I was doing a lot of these pictures in which I was folding the paper and they were totally symmetrical. They were regular, very balanced. So I started doing these paper cutouts, not really knowing what I was doing, and of course I started cutting the words out as well. M: How does a piece come about? Do you draw it first? Do you work from photographs? Do you use scissors, or a blade, or a scalpel? RR: I generally make notes in sketchbooks and work the picture out there, then I draw it out on paper – then cut it out. It’s a medium that does not lend itself well to improvisation. I don’t work from photos and I use 15 or 10a Swann Morton scalpel blades. M: Many scalpel injuries? RR: I used to cut myself quite a lot. I used to cut my fingers quite a fair bit. Not really doing it, but changing the blades! And I used to cut myself in the leg. I’d kind of be talking to people and walk into the table with the scalpel sticking out… M: Do you often use laser-cutting techniques (I remember you had done a cover for Amelia’s magazine which was laser-cut)? RR: I do, but really only for show invitations, or that kind of thing. I have had small things laser-cut out of wood and acrylic. They were these little keys. I had some wallpaper cut out of steel this year for a domestic commission, but that was water-jet-cut. M: Where do you work? What is your work environment like? RR: I have a studio in Bethnal Green in London, I’ve just moved into a bigger room in the same building. It’s about 1000 sq ft. I also share screen-printing facilities with 3 other people M: The kind of work you practice strikes me as being rather timeconsuming, do you work all the time? RR: I live in Victoria so whether I ride my bike or drive to the studio it takes about 1/2 an hour. I leave at 7.30 and get there for 8, I leave at about 6-ish. I usually work Saturday too. M: How long does it take you to finish a piece? RR: A1 could be 3 days…-ish M: When not working, what do you do for fun? RR: I’m a Northern soul fan, so if I go out it’s generally to that sort of thing and dance around. I sometimes go to the park and ride my bike around while listening to my ipod, that’s fun. I go see bands sometimes and I like bowling and even have my own ball and shoes, which is pathetic because I’m not very good! Mainly I just sit around at home with my wife and teenage kids and watch TV. M: In the last couple of years there seems to have been a tendency for designers and artists to want to return to crafts techniques. Do you consider yourself as part of that trend? RR: I guess so – but not that much. M: There is something quite traditional about your the mes and imagery. Do you turn to the past for ideas/ inspiration? RR: Not over intentionally. I do tend to lean towards the decorative and I guess I do love post-war pre 60s English illustration so much… So I must have been influenced by that stuff a bit. Eric Gill and those crazy dudes! M: Where do the stories in your work come from? RR: If you’re really happy it’s a bit difficult to do a picture about misery or sadness, because you’ve got it quite good. Sometimes you have to amplify those emotions. If you split up with your girlfriend or boyfriend, that source of material is so rich and intense, that month would give you enough material for 5 years. But working day to day you have to dig deeper than that. You have to imagine what other people are feeling and look at people. I’m happily married, I’ve got two kids and I’ve been with my wife for over 25 years. It’s quite difficult for me to complain! I almost have to empathise with other people more. Because if you’re going to write about experiences and stuff,
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and your own existence is fairly kind of… It’s like being a writer, you have to make up stories, almost put yourself in people’s shoes and imagine. M: Words seem to play a very important part in your work. Do they come before or after the pictures? RR: Kind of together at the same time M: Are you a big reader? RR: I used to be, but now I’m only good in bed for 5 minutes, and then the sleep takes over. I’m still talking about reading by the way!!! M: What would you consider the ideal environment or platform for showing your work? RR: anywhere and everywhere! M: How did the book come about? Did you approach the publisher or did they approach you? How long did it take you to do it? RR: They approached me and let me do whatever I wanted right down to picking the paper. My editor Jocasta Hamilton at Sceptre has been faultless and fun to work with too. It took 10 weeks solid. M: Your work is very unique and I noticed that you do work with both galleries and commercial clients. How do you go about selling/ promoting your work? RR: I am represented by the agency Thisisrealart, but not exclusively, Tag fine arts represent me fine-art wise, and Sarah Withers, who was with Thisisrealart, also handles certain projects with me. I do have representation in Korea and possibly a new agent in Japan. The thing is, I do never want to be exclusive to anyone. I want to be free to do what I want. M: Was that always easy? RR: No, I used to put on my own shows and it didn’t work. You can’t do everything yourself. I can’t sell, I’m useless – I need people who are good at that to do it for me. I’m only good at doing the work. M: What was the hardest job/piece you’ve ever done? RR: I did Liberty’s Christmas windows a few years ago and I think it was such a big job, it was hard to get my head around it. I don’t do 3-D, and it was hard for me to move up from 2 dimensions. In retrospect I know what would work best now, but then you always do!
Ryantown came about in the summer of 2008 when Rob received a call from a friend asking if he would like to take over the space on Columbia Road. Rob’s inspiration is taken from artist inspired retail outlets as diverse as the Omega Workshops based in Fitzroy Square in London in 1913 to the Keith Haring Pop Shop in Lafayette Street NYC in the 1980’s. The white walls of the shop create the air of a gallery space with a hand-painted tiled mural on one section, which has become much loved by all customers. The shop is stocked with a selection of Rob’s intricate paper cuts, limited edition screen prints, and an ever changing range of handcrafted, small edition goods, all produced in Rob’s nearby studio. Alongside these are examples of some of the many collaborative projects Rob has been involved in.
Why not try and make your own Rob Ryan paper dress, like the one he created for Vouge? (previous page)
All you need is a note or a note shaped piece of paper. Lay it out flat and get rid of any creases or bent corners.
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turn it over.
gently fold in half to get a crease down the middle.
fold over the top.. this makes the collar.
open up again and smooth out, the crease is jsut a guideline.
Fold in the collar, the fold in half and tuck the front of the shirt under the collar.
Make an origami shirt!
Have a go at this mini paper shirt next time you want to save money, it’s garunteed to stop you spending!
fold the two sides in towards the crease you made.
fold out the ends from about half way down the note.
fold the corners back into the middle crease.. this makes the sleeves.
TA-DA!! you have a mini shirt..
promotion The John Lewis Mini sewing machine is a perfect sewing machine for beginners. It has enough functions to let you experiment and have fun, but not so many that it’s overwhelming. Features include: 10 stitch options, 2 needle positions, drop-in bobbin, and free arm (great for adjusting cuffs or trousers). It also has a double presser foot and push lever reverse for when you want to reinfoce a stitch. It’s suitable for light to medium fabrics, so you can mend and make things as you wish.
REVIEW
This machine is very basic but perfect for small projects ad quick make do and mend jobs. Here in the PINS office we have trialled and tested it on a variety of fabric and products and it has worked brilliantly. It is recommended not to use on thick fabrics, which is understandable as it is only a small machine. The only set back is it doesn’t have foot peddle speed control, and is set to one speed all the time. Thinking this was going to be very difficult to work with; it hasn’t been a problem at all! All projects big and small the speed has been perfect for and the machine is very sturdy and durable. There is no light above the needle like most large sewing machines but if you position a desk lamp in the right place its o a problem!
It offers a choice of 10 stitches; four different lengths of straight stitch plus another positioned differently, three sizes of zig-zag stitch and a scallop stitch. The accompanying instruction booklet has clear diagrams of how to assemble and use the sewing machine, basic information on the stitches and thread tension and a troubleshooting guide.
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STUDENT insight Wondering where textiles can take you? Here we talk too two students with some good advice!
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Name: Georgia Alexandra Alcock Age: 20 Course: BA (Hons) Printed Textiles & Surface Pattern Design at Leeds College of Art Why did you choose your course? I’d heard that most University courses only give their students a couple of days of teaching a week, which might sound fantastic right now! But when considering how much money a degree is costing, I wanted to be on a course where I had as much teaching time as possible, and being in the studio 9.30am - 4.30pm five days a week sounded like a good deal! What’s the best thing about it? The amount of teaching time and the fact that we each have our own large desk in the studio - I was surprised how many courses couldn’t offer this! The facilities at our college are the best bar none, with every printing facility we could ask for, including industrial digital printers and laser cutters. I also like how small our college is in comparison to other universities - nobody is a stranger and this helps the creativity flow! What new skills have you learned? University is much more independent than school, so I have learnt to be self-motivated, as nobody will tell you off if you don’t do your work! I have learnt professional printing skills such as silk-screen printing, different dye techniques and even book binding. We get taught new skills through workshops every week. Where do you get your inspirations from? Art books, magazines & journals. I also think it is very important to visit galleries and museums, and shops to see what designers are doing, keeping you up to date with trends and new ideas. Does your blog help you with your work? I use Tumblr, which is a blog that allows me to promote my work as well as “re-blog” others work that I like. This almost acts as a pin board of lots of things that I like, which I can use to inspire my work. Check out my blog www.georgiaalexandratextiles.tumblr. com What do you want to do after uni? I’m very interested in accessory design, so I would ideally like to do a Masters Degree to further develop my skills before launching my own accessory brand. What advice would you give to someone wanting to study a textiles related course at university? Be prepared to work hard! Make sure you have a fantastic portfolio ready for your degree interview. And once you’ve made it, absorb all of the information and skills given to you, and just enjoy being creative!
STUDENT insight
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Name: Rebekah Holroyd Age: 21 Course: Textile Design at the University of Leeds Why did you choose your course? I chose this particular course because it’s 50% theory as well as being 50% practical, therefore, equipping me with a variety of creative skills to take forward and use in a future career. Not only have I been given the chance to knit and weave, but also gain knowledge in the field of history of art and use technology to aid with the design process. What’s the best thing about it? A lot of the time your work is self-directed and you are allowed to explore a range of techniques and skills to show your creative and individual personality. I am currently learning about 20th Century Fashion and I find it fascinating how fashion has changed through the eras. That is another thing good about this course, The University of Leeds allows you to study electives alongside your chosen degree. This means you can be doing textile design one minute and then being in a lecture about something different the next, whether is it fashion related or even a language! I feel this expands your knowledge and range of skills, making you all the more employable. What new skills have you learned? Coming to University, I barely knew how to hold knitting needles correctly! However, after much perseverance and jokes from friends about being a grandma, I quickly learned to love knitting and was pleasantly surprised by my final designs. For someone who knows little about technology, I have also learnt to use computer software such as Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop and InDesign to help show my creative personality. Where do you get your inspirations from? My inspiration comes from looking through fashion and interior magazines such as Vogue, Elle and Elle Decoration. In addition, I find that always having a camera to hand works in your favour since you can quickly snap anything that catches your eye. I think it is quite important to have a range of photographs since anything and everything can be a source of inspiration and you never know when that picture of a teacup or photo of a flower will be needed. Does your blog help you with your work? My blog is a way of collating images I like and find inspiring and putting together to act as a mood board of my favourite things. It is also a useful way of posting your current work, whether it is uni or self-directed, online, and keeping this up to date. Therefore, it acts as a method of self-promotion and allows other to view what you’re all about. The hardest thing about it is choosing a cool, but suitable, name for your blog! What do you want to do after uni? At the moment, I am undecided as to what I hope to achieve after uni. Having always had a keen interest in journalism, I am considering going down the route of writing for an art and design magazine. I like the idea of finding the latest and exciting news in the art world and writing about it, as well as helping to promote emerging designers. What advice would you give to someone wanting to study a textiles related course at university? I would research into what type of course you feel would suit you best. For instance, some textile courses are solely practical, whereas other incorporate theory into your learning. With my course, there are a range of areas to specialise in, such as knit, weave, mixed media and textiles for fashion and so you have a lot of scope in which to design. However, other courses may have a more limited range and work within a particular area like print. Therefore, I think it is important to look around and find what works for you. Oh and maybe learn how to hold knitting needles! You never know when your inner grandma might need to make an appearance!