Top textile art magazines: Our recommendations
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Whether you’re an art-fan interested in keeping up with what’s going on in the world of textiles or you’re an artist yourself and would like some inspiration and guidance for a new piece of work, industry magazines can be an invaluable source of information. Here we take a look at the best embroidery and textile art magazines on the market.
Embroidery Magazine
Embroidery magazine is put together by the Embroiderers’ Guild who boast 10,000 members, 195 branches, 650 young embroiderers, 2 magazines, museum collections, international tours, courses, competitions and events. So, as you’d expect, it’s a high quality publication packed with inspirational articles and ideas for everyone from seasoned embroiderers to keen hobbyists with a passion for textile art and fabric.
What’s particularly impressive is the range of material it covers; colourful features showcasing work from the contemporary world of textiles right through to more traditional fare. The editorial team is always on the cutting edge of what’s going on in the art and fashion worlds. The comprehensive ‘What’s On’ pages and a handy diary keep readers bang up to date with the hottest shows and events from around the UK.
The mission statement from Embroidery Magazine states that they aim to bring their readers the best of embroidery and textiles. This is achieved in no small part by talking to and interviewing the country’s top makers and stitchers; these fascinating studies make for compelling reading offering a unique insight into the world of this much-loved craft.
The magazine is published every other month and costs £4.90 per issue or £29.40 for a year’s subscription and is available from the Embroidery Magazine website.
Selvedge Magazine
Selvedge is a highly modern competitor within the realm of embroidery and textile art magazines. What differentiates Selvedge? It is directed towards an international audience and prides itself on having a ‘discerning’ readership. It certainly looks stylish and contemporary. Some of the main attractions are textile art photography of the highest quality, a sleek design and economic but engaging writing.
Selvedge spans the arc of fine textiles, with regular features on interiors, travel, fashion and shopping.
If you’re not sure whether this is the magazine for you, you can download a trial issue from their website, which features interviews with Yoshiko Wada and quilter Effie Mae Howard, as well as a section exploring the latest trends and essential ideas in textiles.
Selvedge Textile Art Magazine is published bi-monthly. Back issues can be bought from the website and cost anything from £7.50 to £25. You can subscribe for 6 months (£25), a year (£50) or two years (£75).
Fiber Art Now
Launched in Autumn 2011, Fiber Art Now is a quarterly print magazine and boasts a thriving and vibrant network of artists, collectors, enthusiasts and experts. Its aim is to inspire and connect the modern-day fiber arts and textiles community. The magazine is available in Barnes and Noble stores, plus several other bookstores across the US. You can also easily subscribe online from other countries.
In 2009 Marcia Young, the editor and founder of Fiber Art Now, started an online blog to post images from a local quilt show. From this seed sprang the print magazine which is getting bigger and better with every new issue. You can read TextileArtist.org’s interview with Marcia here.
The passion with which Marcia and her team produce this invaluable resource is clear from the quality and range of articles which feature inspiring work, ideas and craftsmanship from the contemporary international artists.
For a taster read free articles on the Fiber Art Now website.
A digital subscription is now available for $21.99 per issue. You will receive one complimentary issue when you subscribe digitally. The print version costs $38 in the US, $46 in Canada and $53 for the rest of the world. Click here to subscribe.Surface Design Journal
The Surface Design Journal is produced 4 times a year and subscription is complimentary to members of the Surface Design Association. What makes this magazine unique amongst its competitors is that each issue is based around an intriguing theme. This might be a medium such as mixed-media, a technique such as screen-printing or machine embroidery, an area of inspiration or a specific part of the world.
The Surface Design Journal is aimed at an international market and the content of the magazine focuses on contemporary textile and fiber art with coverage of conceptualisation, process and materials required for various techniques and forms.
You can download a sample PDF by clicking here.
A year’s membership to the Surface Design Association costs $60 and includes a subscription to the magazine and numerous other benefits. Individual copies of the magazine cost $15 and are available at the SDA website.
Crafts Magazine
Crafts magazine is published by the Crafts Council, whose goal is to ‘make the UK the best place to make, see, collect and learn about contemporary craft’. Although not specifically marketed as a magazine for textile artists, there is always plenty for stitchers, embroiderers, fiber artists and fans of these mediums to enjoy.
The magazine has the clear aim of reaching a wide audience in order to increase and diversify the range of people interested in contemporary craft, which means it’s always full of varied and interesting articles. Crafts magazine is committed to championing the highest quality contemporary craft practice nationally (in the UK) and internationally, which is apparent in the content of the publication, often showcasing some of the world’s best and most influential artists in this sphere.
It is sumptuously illustrated to a very high standard and goes into great detail in its quest to bring the world of contemporary craft to its readers.
Published 6 times a year, a yearly subscription costs £34, or £30 for students. Back issues are available for £5.50 each. Available from the Crafts Magazine website.
Stitch Magazine
Another offering from the Embroiderers’ Guild, Stitch is more of a hands-on embroidery magazine; it focuses on the act of making, as opposed to being a directory or journal. It offers insights into contemporary, traditional and historical textile art techniques with clear, easy-to-follow instructions. It also provides inspiration and creative ideas.
Each issue features designs for the embroiderer to follow, information about workshops and classes with respected tutors and exploration of traditional techniques and stitches. It also promotes innovation by showcasing new and exciting products to give your work a fresh twist.
The great thing about Stitch is that it can be used by the most experienced embroiderers as well as beginners or hobbyists with a passion for embroidery.
Stitch Magazine is available every other month and costs £4.99 for a single issue or £25.50 for an annual subscription.
Magazines featured in this article:
Embroidery Magazine
Selvedge
Fiber Art Now
Surface Design Journal
Crafts Magazine
Stitch magazine
Let us know what your favourite textile resource is by leaving a comment below
Thanks, this is great, I have been trying to find a new set of magazines to inspire me and now I know which they are. 🙂
Hi Anita – so pleased you found the piece useful. We’re going to be doing a series of these type of articles featuring publications, websites, magazines etc. that textile artists might find inspirational. Thanks for the comment.
Just discovered your review feature, excellent. What you suggest in your comment will also be extremely useful. I will add a link in the enews I create for our local branch of the Embroiderers’ Guild.
Thanks a lot.
I also love « Quilting Arts Magazine » and « Be Creative with Workbox».
There is also Quilting Arts from the US which is not totally about quilitng – woth a look.
Thanks for this Penni – we’ll definitely check it out.
Surface Design Journal has been the thought leader for exploring the textile arts since 1977 – so it is surprising not to find it on this list. Please let us introduce ourselves! We are a member-supported non-profit based in USA with many UK and EU members. Marci McDade (former editor of Fiberarts Magazine that folded in 2011) edits our gorgeous quarterly – but we’re much more than a magazine. You already belong if you are passionate about textile media across the spectrum of art, craft and design – you just may want to check us out and join us for the benefits. http://www.surfacedesign.org/ BTW thrilled to find out about TextileArtist.org – welcome to the neighborhood.
It looks like a fantastic resource and we’ll certainly include it in the follow-up which we’re planning at the mo. This article was written fairly early on (we were mainly aiming at a UK-based audience, but have since realised there is international interest). Thanks for the introduction to Surface Design Journal.
That is a good list of inspiring magazines… I think I would add Fiber Art Now to that group!
Hi Cami – we would definitely add Fiber Art Now in our next list. This was an early article – an update is needed soon! Thanks for the comment.
Do you remember this conversation? We have promoted your Textile Artists. We have a very strong social media presence from our friends in the UK.
Interesting that you included Textile Forum but don’t mention that the next issue will be its last. Also interesting that Surface Design Journal was again omitted from your list. It is the thinking person’s textile arts magazine – and perhaps you meant to focus more on hobbyist or crafter publications. Only Textile Forum comes close to the high-quality level of content – of both images and discourse – of SDA Journal – the thought leader in textile arts journalism since 1977. If TextileArtist.org readers want to experience what is going on at the frontiers of fiber, SDA is the established go-to resource. Cheers!
Hi Leesa,
This is a mistake on my part – I’m including it now. Several artists have mentioned Surface Design Journal as a top resource and it would only be right and proper to include it. Stay tuned – should be on there in the next 30 minutes!
All the best,
Joe
Thanks for this, I’ve just subscribed to Selvedge and Embroidery.
Thanks so much for this list! I was thinking of subscribing to a textile magazine when google search pointed me towards this article.
I regularly get ‘Down Under Textiles’, an interesting magazine from Australia.
It is available from Manor House Magazines in UK.
info@manorhousemagazines.co.uk
“Workshop on the web” is a fantastic online magazine !
Embroidery – Embroiderers Guild – In the past I was frustrated by the amount of space taken up with exhibition reviews of exhibitions which had taken place – leaving me very jealous!
Can you confirm whether Surface Design Journal is still available? I ordered a copy 2 months ago and it never arrived. I also recently tried the website to track my order and all I get is an error message. I have received copies previously without any problems.
Wow! great.I have been trying to find a new set of magazines to inspire me and now I know which they are.
Great review including several of my favorites. As a rughooker I go to Rug Hooking Magazine for articles covering primitive, painterly, traditional and multi-media examples of this traditional craft along with events and advertisers for all the supplies. They have a digital edition or paper mailed five times a year along with a blog all available at http://www.RughookingMagazine.com
Thanks for the inspiration! Here is another one, Swedish Väv, about textiles from all over the World, especially weaving. Swedish and English editions. http://en.vävmagasinet.se/
Another magazine that is very well worth looking at is Workbox, which has recently changed its name to Be Creative .. with Workbox and an annual magazine of the best articles Be Inspired … with Workbox now into vol.3 last year. A good cross section of interest to everyone.
My favorite magazine now is Fashion Textile–available from OPR in NYC. I get so many ideas from it in each issue
HALI Magazine is an incredible periodical which should be included.
http://www.Hali.com
Here is the description from their website: Hali is an international magazine published four times per year, covering the textile arts of all cultures and periods in an eclectic mixture of articles which range from sumptuously illustrated original scholarly features to lively, provocative reviews of exhibitions and books. Through our unprecedented access to the best public and private collections of art around the world, HALI allows unique insight in the role that textiles have played through the history of human race.
Wild Fibers
http://www.wildfibersmagazine.com/ is also a great resource for fiber enthusiasts. In my opinion It is like the National Geographic of fiber from around the world. Beautiful photography , well written articles excellent mission.
And it seems the current issue of TEXTILE FORUM MAGAZINE is the last. In attempting subscribe recently this note came up:
“With great regret we have been informed by the publisher that this will be the final issue of this periodical. Back issues are available on a first-come basis. Please contact us if you would like any back issues. We have back issues going back to 1994.”
Thanks Janice.
I love the Wild Fibres magazine but did not know about Hali. Thanks for the heads-up!
I’m looking for textile magazines that are based in Italy, particularly any close to Milan. Does anybody have any ideas and names of them?
My Summer reading list just got longer :D. Thanks for sharing these gorgeous resources, I am looking forward to the eye-candy and great info that I am sure I’ll find!
Love this list. Thank you. I am also grateful to all the comments about other magazines I did not know about.
Do you know about the Inspirations Magazine? It is an embroidery magazine produced in Australia but available globally.They publish quarterly. Have a look here: http://www.inspirationsmagazine.com.au
Inspirations magazine out of Australia is spectacular.
Rather late to this comment stream but many of the American published magazines are good for the more project based readers of this site, look at Cloth, Paper, Scissors, Quilt Art and the whole family of publications from Interweave, and again a family of publications from Stampington, just google both. Also inspirational for the textile artist working to to their own agenda.
There are also some Australian magazines which are very inspirational for textile artists – Textile Fibre Forum magazine, Embellish magazine, and Felt magazine – all available from ArtWear Publications, http://www.artwearpublications.com.au
There is another fantastic textile resource worth mentioning ‘The Journal for Weavers, Spinners and Dyers’.
http://www.thejournalforwsd.org.uk
Uppercase magazine is my favorite for creative inspiration. A quarterly book, it connects me with a wide range of artists leading creative lives. Janine also publishes books of passion and sends weekly newsletter. http://www.uppercasemagazine.com.
I am a production weaver with 35 years experience looking for a few new clients. I weave material for handwoven clothing designers who no longer have the time to weave material themselves. I used to advertise in Fiberarts, but alas, they are no more. Can you advise me on where I might advertise my services. It’s been a while since I’ve had to advertise.
Its great source of new ideas and what going on in the Textile world. thanks
Australian magazine ‘Embellish’ is all about a wide range of surface design, natural dying and lots more – It covers a heap of techniques … it’s great, and it’s run by a few wonderful ladies…it’s just the ‘best’! .
They do 3 other magazines ; ‘Felt Magazine’, ‘Textile Froum’ magazine and ‘Vintage Made’ magazine …all available across the world.
Oh la la la la…. Je suis jalouse !!!! Jalouse au plus haut point !!!! Nous n’avons rien du tout en France. Seule la fédération du patchwork édite un magazine intéressant qui traite d’art textile. C’est la seule source que nous ayons…. Et impossible de trouver des distributeurs Français qui fassent le lien avec les éditeurs Américains ou Anglais et qui reçoivent alors le paiement en euros. Les échanges commerciaux avec les pays étrangers, et a fortiori ne faisant pas partie de l’Union Européenne, sont très compliqués au niveau de nos banques. Donc impossible pour nous d’acquérir ces ouvrages. C’est pour cela que je suis jalouse au plus haut point !!!
Its a great information thankyou so much for sharing this. Its really very helpful for textile lovers