Textile Design BA (Hons)

norwichuni_textiledesign During the sumer we’ve loved checking in on the progress of our two students (pic 1: Madeline on the left, and Elena on the right modelling their own designs) who beat stiff competition to be awarded training on the two-week Create Plus Basics course with the Knit Design Centre in Leicester, learning digital knit design with Stoll software, sponsored by the Worshipful Company of Framework Knitters. Thanks to @knit_design_centre and @wcfknitters for the generous support and encouragement! Congratulations again @magda.textiles & @naughtyknitwear We can’t wait to see how this amazing opportunity will support their journeys into BA3. @norwichuniarts (opens in a new window)

norwichuni_textiledesign Yesterday as part of our university @futures_norwichuni and @norwichuni_alumni event series one of our Textile Design alumni Maisie shared her industry experiences on the theme of heritage and technology. @maisielilley_design is a printed textile designer working for @standfastandbarracks for the last four years up in Lancashire, and has taken on several different design roles and responsibilities. It was great to hear her discuss her professional journey, discussing technology and traditional approaches to print production as well as how the heritage of the company and archive designs are used for contemporary patterns. Pictures here include Maisie at work, Maisie’s graduate collection, and a factory picture of the flat bed screen printing Maisie talked about to us. Thank you Maisie for sharing your textiles industry insights! @norwichuniarts #weareNORWICH #teamtextiles (opens in a new window)

norwichuni_textiledesign Last week four of our BA3 students and one staff member attended the Making it in Textiles student conference held in Bradford. The event was organised by @weavers_clerk @the_woolmen @campaignforwool @clothworkers_co & @draperscompany It was an incredible opportunity to hear from industry experts and visit mills, learning plenty about the British textiles industry, and specifically the woven industry. It is vital to understand heritage textiles practice and lessons learned as well as the future thinking industry and opportunities still evolving too. Our students were able to visit @camirafabrics and @awhainsworth mills. On their return they presented their experiences and reflections to their peers. No doubt this opportunity will support their final year of studies as well as their step beyond graduation. Thanks to all those involved in making the event happen! (opens in a new window)

norwichuni_textiledesign Brilliant progress today as our BA2 group have been learning about commercial textiles printing, and getting underway with their collaborative repeating length design and print challenge. We have analysed and critiqued previous design examples to understand what they want to do with their designs. There has been lots of talk about material and colour choices as well as repeat pattern structures and motif development. Great work everyone! (opens in a new window)

norwichuni_textiledesign Colour … And not just pumpkin yellow! We are celebrating Autumn with beautiful natural colour on cloth. Thank you to our technician @yasmine_carpenter for the brilliant workshop on screen printing with natural dyes. Students and staff have been foraging to create distinctive colour palettes and testing the colours on a range of fabrics. (opens in a new window)

norwichuni_textiledesign We are so impressed by our first year students, they are settling in really well – seven weeks in, preparing for the first assessment point, and the work is looking amazing. The fundamentals of colour, drawing and materials are being explored in such individual ways through a range of technical and academic workshops. Well done all! (opens in a new window)

norwichuni_textiledesign WOW!! In a little over two weeks our BA2 students have designed and printed their three-colour repeat lengths in small teams. They have done brilliantly! The students have worked so hard and we are very impressed with the results of the first lengths being screen printed today. We have two more days of printing to go, so we look forward to seeing and sharing those results too! Well done everybody, and a special shout out to our amazing technician @yasmine_carpenter who kept everything on track today. (opens in a new window)

norwichuni_textiledesign The screenprinted repeat lengths are all complete and we are so impressed with the results and teamwork this design challenge required. Well done to our BA2 group! Thanks @yasmine_carpenter for being such an ace technician too! (opens in a new window)

norwichuni_textiledesign In and amongst the assessments the Textile Design staff team have been leading creative workshops for students across the University community as part of our brilliant Interchange programme – two special weeks in the year to build your network and try something different… Pip and Kate led a Colour Material Finish for Interiors workshop, teaching students how to build material palettes for imagined interiors spaces. There were brilliant design boards with hard and soft materials, colour in paint and yarn and pattern elements. It was great to see how students in Fine Art, Illustration, Graphics, Film, Games and Interior Design enjoyed and related to the material challenge. Well done all, it was great fun! (opens in a new window)

norwichuni_textiledesign Interchange week continues and the Textiles community have been sharing the love for all things textiles and making across the workshops and studios. A huge congratulations to @jj_dahmann and @queenie.textiles BA2 students for running their first student-led workshop titled Make Bad Art. Participants were having great fun playing with drawing in many experimental ways. Thanks to the staff team including Yasmine and David for sharing the love of knit and natural dyeing, Lizzie Kimbley for the basketry workshop and Les and Caroline for the doll making session. Sorry we don’t have images from all the sessions! It’s been great to get feedback from students across the undergraduate and post graduate community – yes we know textiles can be fun, interesting and useful … Maybe we take that for granted sometimes! There are more sessions to come so if you are a @norwichuniarts student get involved! (opens in a new window)

norwichuni_textiledesign I’d like to send a huge THANK YOU to everyone who has supported the students in their achievements this year, across the course. While we celebrate the successes of our graduates, we should recognise that it takes a team of loyal supporters and advocates in many different roles and capacities working with the students across and with the university over the years to reach this point. A huge thank you to our academic team, Caroline, Les, Odette, Pip, Lizzie, Hannah, Will and our technical team, Neil, Yasmine, David, Katie and Rosamund We wouldn’t be sorted without the admin help – thanks to Jas and Alex too! Our students work with other teams across the university, so thanks also to Jackie and the Employability team, Sara at Study Skills, Becci and Amy at the Library, Andi in Photography, Kevin our Programme Director and all those across the Fashion and Textiles programme, Stephen and Jess in the shop, Sarah, Rich, Scott, Michael and crew in the Design Studio … and so many more! We’ve been grateful for the support of our industry partners too, including Matthew and Nick from the Framework Knitters, Jack and Alex from John Lewis, Stephen, Pip and team at the Costume & Textiles Association, Marianne from Dulux, Charlotte & Joanne from Habitat, Rory at Art Angels Publishing, Hannah for the Bridewell, Ruth from Norwich Museums, Penny from Mannington, Amanda at East Anglian Art Fund, Anurag and Ruby at Ricamour, Anne at The Worshipful Company of Weavers, the Liberty Fabrics team, Sudbury Silk Mills, Denisa for taking the photographs as well as our alumni who have come back to share their experiences, including Mia, Bianca, Becca, Amy and Jenny THANK YOU ALL! We will be slowing down here over the next few weeks but have already been planning for an exciting new year in September when we will be meeting our new students and kicking off new projects… much to be excited for! Have a great summer! Kate Farley (Course Leader BA Textile Design) Pic: weave by Lily-Rose Pollard, class of 2025 @norwichuniarts #weareNORWICH (opens in a new window)

norwichuni_textiledesign A huge CONGRATULATIONS to Donna for winning first prize in the Bradford Textiles Society Awards 1st year undergraduate category, The Joseph H. Clissold & Son Ltd Award for weave. Our Textile Design course enables students to explore weave, print and knit as well as embellishment during 1st year, and this work was developed as part of this textiles skill development project. Throughout 2nd and 3rd year students can continue to work across textiles processes so we look forward to seeing how Donna develops her textiles practice in Year Two with this brilliant recognition. Well done @donnalinggi and thank you @thebradfordtextilesociety Thanks David, Lizzie and Jenny for the fabulous weave support! @norwichuniarts (opens in a new window)

norwichuni_textiledesign Congratulations to @knitting.bymillie for being WINNER of the Wool Special Award at the Bradford Textiles Society Awards. This is a brilliant achievement and recognition of Millie’s ambitions in knitwear. @thebradfordtextilesociety And shout out to Caroline and David for the amazing support in knit. Photo credit pic 2: @denisailie @carolinegeorge6000 @davidtudge (opens in a new window)

norwichuni_textiledesign Introducing our @norwichuniarts class of 2025 who will be showing work at @newdesigners stand 36, part 1 – next week … Nina Lones @StitchedByNina Fruitful Glamour I’m a knitwear designer focused on vibrant colour and dynamic pattern. I bring a hands-on, experimental approach to design, blending techniques from the Stoll, Dubied, and Domestic machines to bring ideas to life. I often enhance my fabrics with crochet and embellishment, adding rich textures and intricate details that make each piece distinctive and expressive. Fruitful Glamour is a playful knitwear collection inspired by the vibrant colours and textures of fruit. Influenced by 1920’s Parisian showgirls like Josephine Baker, it celebrates performance and glamour. Embellishment and crochet are woven into the knitted designs to emphasise the rich decorative patterns found in fruit and vintage costume design. Awards: Highly commended – Ricamour Prize, BA3 First prize – Costume & Textiles Association Helen Hoyte Award, BA2 Highly Commended Bradford – Textiles Society Competition – Woven fabric design, 2023 Photography: Denisa Ilie @denisailie #comingtoND (opens in a new window)

norwichuni_textiledesign Today is the day – come and see our graduates’ textile design work on stand 36 @newdesigners The graduate projects feature knit, print, weave and embellishment for fashion, interiors and beyond, with wide-ranging concepts and industry relevance. @norwichuniarts #comingtond (opens in a new window)

norwichuni_textiledesign We had a busy day on stand 36 @newdesigners yesterday – well done to everybody. Some great interest from the judges, and conversations with industry guests …. Much excitement with having @zandra_rhodes_ in the building for the awards evening too. Wise words “stay curious” Bring on day 2! @norwichuniarts #comingtoND (opens in a new window)