The Nettle Dress is a modern fairy tale about the healing power of nature and craft directed by BAFTA-nominated filmmaker Dylan Howitt, released by Dartmouth Films in cinemas across the UK and Ireland from September 15. Textile artist Allan Brown spends seven years making a dress from scratch, using 14,400 feet of thread made from the fibre of locally foraged stinging nettles. In doing so, he relearns ancient crafts of foraging, spinning, weaving, cutting and sewing. Making a dress this way becomes devotional, helping Allan to survive the death of his wife, which leaves him and their four children bereft.@[email protected] (Allan’s Instagram)https://www.nettledress.org/https://www.contemporaryhempery.com/https://www.facebook.com/hedgerowcouture/ http://www.nettlesfortextiles.org.uk/wp/ https://www.sofst.org/

Meredith Woolnough is a professional artist working out of her studio in Newcastle Australia. She is best known for her sculptural embroideries which are an exploration of art, science and nature. The embroideries are created using a unique freehand embroidery technique that utilises a domestic sewing machine and a fabric that dissolves in water. The work explores the beauty and fragility of nature, sparking a sense of wonder and appreciation of the natural world. Meredith believes that the deeper our appreciation for the aesthetics of nature the more eager we are to immerse ourselves in it and conserve it. Meredith holds a BFA (Bachelor of Fine Arts) from the University of New South Wales, a Masters of Teaching from the University of Sydney and a Bachelor of Natural History illustration for the University of Newcastle. She has exhibited and sold her work worldwide, is the author of two books ‘Organic Embroidery’ (2018) and ‘The 100 Embroideries Project (2023) and teaches both in person and online classes.Website www.meredithwoolnough.com.auBlog: https://meredithwoolnough.com.au/blog Facebook https://www.facebook.com/meredithwoolnoughartist Instagram https://www.instagram.com/meredithwoolnough/

Christen Brown was born in Manhattan Beach, California. She first became interested in fiber arts via making clothing for her dolls as a child. After graduating from high school, she continued her education at the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising in Los Angeles, California, where she graduated with an associate in arts in fashion design. Christen began her career in the wearable art field in 1986. Her work has been shown in galleries and fashion shows all over the world. She has been invited to participate in both the Fairfield and BERNINA Fashion Shows. Christen began teaching and presenting her work in 1991, for quilt stores, and quilt and fiber art guilds on the West Coast. She has been invited to teach nationally for Road to California, American Quilter’s Society, and Quilt Festival Houston. Christen has written articles for Michael’s Arts & Crafts magazine, Threads Magazine, and Piecework Magazine. She began writing books for C&T Publishing in 2011. She has authored seven books, designed 3 sets of embroidery stencils, and 2 additional products.Christen continues to be interested in craft and fine art. She experiments and learns all that she can, specifically concentrating on design and the techniques of embroidery, quilting, ribbonwork, mixed media, and beadwork. Her goal and wish through this journey, is to continually be surprised, inspired, creative, and necessary. Website https://christenbrown.com/ Blog: christenbrown.com/blog/Facebook /christenjbrownSchool of Stitched Textiles site is at www.sofst.orgChristen's books and products are listed below;Ribbonwork GardensEmbroidered and EmbellishedRibbonwork FlowersThe Embroidery BookBeaded Embroidery StitchingHand Embroidery DictionaryCreative Embroidery, Mixing the Oldwith the New Embroidery Stencils: The EssentialCollectionEmbroidery Stencils: The Darling MotifCollectionEmbroidery Stencils: Crazy Quilt SeamDesign CollectionEmbroidery Stitching, Handy PocketGuideEmbellished Art Embroidery ProjectPlanner

Joining Gail on this episode is Graham Stewart, who is an international textile and apparel production fibre specialist.For the past two years, Graham has developed and patented a more sustainable process to bleach and dye cotton called Fibre 52.Fibre52 is an environmentally kind and cost-conscious process for dyeing cotton. It is a simple, inexpensive replacement for traditional and outdated cotton preparation methods. It uses natural products instead of heavy chemicals, working at lower temperatures, with less energy, less water, and a shorter processing time. This makes Fibre52 a wonderfully cost-effective, eco-conscious and sustainable bleach and dye process.All this means that consumers will soon be offered a more natural and ecologically sound choice of fabric. With Fibre52, the natural cotton is stronger, recyclable and biodegradable, making it a natural replacement for plastic.You can find out more at Fiber52 and more about School of Stitched Textile's creative textile courses

Gail chats to Mistianne Guzman, who has been quilting since she was 25 years old and was going crazy for some color. She then walked into a store that had fabric and the rest is history. Mistianne is mostly self-taught. She not only creates quilts for the joy of it (the smaller the pieces the better), but also for competition, having had her quilts travel all over the world. One of her quilts was used in a yearly calendar for clients. She has completed a skill stage 4 programme with School of Stitched Textiles in patchwork and quilting and has gone on to tutor for them for the last couple of years. She has owned her own online quilt store specializing in batiks, taught many classes, and is an avid hand quilter. Besides quilting she is a costume mistress and creates professional ballet costumes and crochets and embroiders in her spare time. [email protected] @thestraybobbinetsy- thestraybobbinSST Online Textile Courses