The routine consumption patterns of ordinary consumers in the first half of the nineteenth century, particularly those in the provinces, have been neglected. This thesis sheds light on this area by investigating one particular commodity, clothing. To undertake this, a range of archival sources, visual evidence and surviving dress relating to the counties of Herefordshire and Worcestershire have been examined. The data has enabled an analysis of the consumption of clothing in different locations within the two counties, including county towns, industrial regions and villages, to be carried out. The results have highlighted the many different methods of clothing supply available to the non-elite consumer, which included shop retailing, itinerant selling, illicit networks and clothing distributed via the Poor Law and charity. The thesis demonstrates firstly that the non-elite consumer could obtain clothing from a variety of outlets, using different acquisition methods. Secondly, it shows that this clothing varied in both style and the way it was manufactured, often depending on the supply network utilised. The thesis questions assumptions about the availability of ready-made clothing, the nature of retailing clothing in rural areas, the decline of hawking and peddling, the non-elite use of clothing shops and non-elite consumers’ relationship with fashion. It emphasizes that non-elite consumers had a complex relationship with their clothing, influenced in part by personal preference, gender, economic circumstances and stage in the life-cycle. This thesis shows the multifarious ways non-elite, provincial consumers acquired and wore their clothing.

On September 1, 1823, the Merrimack Manufacturing Company commenced operations, the first of many textile mills constructed and operated by the Boston Company (colloquially referred to as the Boston Associates). The burgeoning mill complex, the first large-scale industrial development in the United States was incorporated as the town of Lowell in 1826. While the Boston Associates realized monetary profit from the mills, the Associate’s primary motivation for building and operating the textile mills was a desire to perpetuate their vision of the Puritan’s Social Covenant. The Associates achieved their goal in the short term. However, over the long-term, the sheer scale and new management style of the Lowell mills catalyzed the modernization of New England and sublimated the very social and economic conventions the Social Covenant sought to reinforce. In the 19th century the Puritan Social Covenant, part of the American narrative from its earliest years, validated the virtues of community and industry. Already wealthy and spurning other potentially more lucrative investment opportunities Francis C. Lowell and other members of the Boston Associates used the textile mills to inculcate and strengthen the Social Covenant’s precepts among their mill operatives. In the 1840s, the Lowell mills, needing to fill empty mill positions, began to hire Irish immigrants. The introduction of the Irish to the mills immediately created an atmosphere of friction among the predominantly Yankee work force. The later introduction of French-Canadians to the Lowell mills only served to create additional tension. Mill owners found themselves refereeing interminable arguments regarding different and divergent interpretations of social values and personal responsibilities. In the late 1850s, mill owners and mill workers came to the same conclusion: social obligations mattered less than solid financial resources and a wide range of freedom. Mill owners jettisoned their self-imposed responsibilities; employees “turned out” for higher wages and, when unsuccessful, migrated westward. The Lowell mill complex, originally conceived as a means to preserve a traditional, tight-knit social order and an ethic of personal responsibility among a demographically homogeneous population, found itself a large, demographically heterogeneous city embracing and encouraging change. / text

Šiame esė formos rašto darbe, keliauju simbolinę kelionę, kuri neturi aiškaus, konkretaus tikslo, nei uždavinių. Būtis, laikas, atmintis, praeitis, Dievas, gimimas, mirtis, laikinumas, amžinybė – padriki egzitenciniai klausimai, į kuriuos įsižiūriu, bet neatsakinėju. Vadovaujuosi fragmentiškais atminties žemėlapiais, menininkų kūriniais ir jų atsiradimo sąlygomis. Remiuosi fenomenologiniu metodu, kuris pagrįstas refleksija ir reikalauja pakartoti esmines intuicijas, siekia išugdyti dėmesingumą, leidžia naujai įprasminti, kaip ir ką mes išgyvename. Darbo skyrius žymiu dienoraštį primenančiais pavadinimais. Šis fragmentiškas dienoraštis – be pradžios ir be pabaigos (prasidėjęs labai seniai, pasibaigia sugrįžimu į pradžią). Jis tampa svarbia praktinio darbo dalimi, paaiškinimu. / In this work written as an essay, I make a symbolic trip which doesn‘t have a clear, precise goal nor aim. Existence, time, memory, past, God, birth, death, temporality, eternity – such are the unbound existential questions which I do look at but do not try to answer. I follow fragmented maps of memory, consider artists‘ creations and the conditions of their appearance. I base myself on phenomenological method which relies on reflection and demands to repeat the essential intuitions, asks to grow attentiveness, permits to give sense to what we experience and how we do it. I give titles to the parts of this work similar to personal diary titles. This fragmented diary is without beginning and without end (it started very long ago and it ends with returning to it‘s starting point). It becomes an important part of the practical work, it‘s explanation.

Statistics show high figures of poverty amongst farm dwellers in South Africa. Poverty is also associated with illiteracy, low life expectancy and high figures of malnutrition. One third of farm workers have no formal education. Very few farm dwellers have access to adequate housing and sanitation. A shortage in food, shelter and clothing leads to constant stress. In spite of extreme poverty, most households possess at least some human- and material resources. Through the effective management of these resources, the quality of life of people can be improved. Poor adults can be guided to better management through education. This study was part of the FLAGH-project where an educational intervention programme was developed, implemented and evaluated. The general goal of this study was to improve the sewing skills of female farm dwellers, in order to use existing resources of time, clothing and other textile articles optimally. Through the optimal use of these resources, less money needs to be spent on items such as clothes. More money can then be available for other basic needs, such as food. The intervention model as described by Fawcett et al. was used for this study. An intervention programme was developed, implemented and evaluated. Women on two farms were taught basic sewing skills to repair and recycle old clothes and other textile goods. Data to determine the success of the programme was gathered by means of practical pre- and post-tests. Paired sample t-tests were used to determine the effect size of the results, in order to determine if there was a practical significant difference in the skills of the women before and after the programme. Independent t-tests were used to determine the average and standard deviation in the evaluations of the two evaluators. Participants completed questionnaires regarding the presenting and compilation of the programme, to determine the success of the programme and to identify problems for possible future implementation of the programme. Results showed an improvement in the sewing skills of participants. Results from the programme evaluation showed that participants experienced the programme positively. The most important advantage of this programme was that participants can continue to apply the skills acquired during the programme, without any extra financial costs. / Thesis (M. Consumer Science)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2006.

This research details an investigation into processes employing laser technology to create design-led three-dimensional textiles. An analysis of historical and contemporary methods for making three-dimensional textiles categorises these as processes that construct a three-dimensional textile, processes that apply or remove material from an existing textile to generate three-dimensionality or processes that form an existing textile into a three-dimensional shape. Techniques used in these processes are a combination of joining, cutting, forming or embellishment. Laser processing is embedded in textile manufacturing for cutting and marking. This research develops three novel processes: laser-assisted template pleating which offers full design freedom and may be applied to both textile and non-textile materials. The language of origami is used to describe designs and inspire new design. laser pre-processing of cashmere cloth which facilitates surface patterning through laser interventions in the manufacturing cycle. laser sintering on textile substrates which applies additive manufacturing techniques to textiles for the generation of three-dimensional surface patterning and structures. A method is developed for determining optimum parameters for laser processing materials. It may be used by designers for parameter selection for processing new materials or parameter modification when working across systems.

Magíster en gestión cultural / El presente documento aborda una experiencia de trabajo en el campo de gestión la cultural, que buscó generar una propuesta de puesta en valor de una actividad patrimonial a través de un Plan de Gestión de Productos con Innovación. Concretamente, se aborda el caso de la introducción de innovación en la confección y comercialización de los chamantos y mantas de la zona de Doñihue, provincia del Cachapoal, Región de O`Higgins, en Chile central, proceso que se ejecutó en conjunto con 30 artesanas tradicionales “chamanteras” pertenecientes a la Asociación de Chamanteras Doñihue, entre los años 2013 y 2015. La realización de este trabajo implicó un abordaje interdisciplinario de alta complejidad, el cual se enmarca en el proyecto “Innovando en la Artesanía Tradicional del Cachapoal”, ejecutado por la Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile a través de su Programa de Artesanía, financiado por el Fondo de Innovación para la Competitividad (FIC). En su elaboración se fusionaron dos ejes relevantes de la gestión cultural: la salvaguarda y difusión del patrimonio –en este caso textil– y la incorporación multidisciplinaria de la gestión comercial como parte relevante de la salvaguarda y revitalización de la artesanía, recopilándose información tanto retrospectiva como prospectiva. Así mismo, este proyecto da directrices de cómo aportar a la generación de capacidades locales de artesanos nacionales, con el fin de fortalecer los procesos de desarrollo económico y social en forma pertinente y respetuosa con la cultura local.

This bachelor degree work explores textile print with illusionary qualities, and aims to challenge the viewers visual perception and ideas of reality. With focus on creating three-dimensional illusionary prints the motive is to question how we evaluate design in relation to society and expected imagery. By working with the techniques of weaving, digitally developed print and transfer printing techniques this work strives to create an opportunity for the viewer to expand their idea of reality.

Interior textiles have been a part of the everyday life of humans for hundreds of years, especially for women whom the creation of textiles has been a usual feature. Archeological findings from the 16th century B.C. show that tools for spinning and weaving for home usage were a part of every household. This was common until the 19th century, when the industrialization in Europe took off and the first textile industries began to establish. This was the beginning of big changes to the modern man’s lifestyle and the way we consume interior textiles. As mass produced products have taken over the market, a counter-reaction among consumers have emerged. The consumers feel a bigger need for unique products, products that feel meaningful for themselves or in any other way increases the perceived value. This has led to a growing trend for DIY-activities (Do-It-Yourself). While the sales of DIY-related products and interior design products increases, statistics shows a decrease in the sales of textile meter fabrics, which is a raw material aimed to be used for interior design and DIY-projects. It can be identified by the way that businesses are selling textile meter fabrics that the strategies haven’t changed very much in the recent decades. Therefore, it is questionable whether the meter fabric assortment is on its way to extinction or if the offer needs to change to better suit the customers’ requirements. This study has focused on what elements of the textile meter fabric offer could be changed in a store in Germany. An analysis of a selective sample of the German customer and how they use textile meter fabrics has been made, but also on how they perceive the offer in store and what they wish to be changed in the textile meter fabrics department. The interviews were conducted in an anonymous store in Frankfurt, Germany. The empirical findings have been put in relation with studies of DIY-motivations and shopping experience. An interview with a sales leader of one of the leading stores of home textiles in Germany, including meter fabrics, has been done in order to put the customers’ answers in relation to how the store work with increasing the DIY-motivations towards the customers. The study has resulted in insights about the stores lacking ability to provide the customers with enough motivation for DIY-projects in regards to textile meter fabrics. A disconnection between the vision of the store and the customers’ perception of the offer has been discovered, where the possibilities of improvement are vast. The study also shows that a majority of the interviewed German males show little or no interest in both DIY and textile meter fabrics.

Los textiles han sido capaces de contarnos la historia que hay detrás de ellos, ya sea aquellos usados para vestir como los usados como decoración o accesorios. Cada parte de aquellos textiles, cada doblez, cada costura, cada puntada, cada forma o imagen bordada o tejida en ellos tienen una historia que contar, no solo la historia del momento en el que se usó, sino que también nos cuenta la historia de quien los usó o del lugar que ocupó dentro de un determinado espacio, permitiéndonos dar rienda suelta a nuestra imaginación, la cual nos hará pensar e imaginar miles de historias de aquellos  a quienes perteneció. Es como ir descubriendo un pequeño tesoro que se abre ante nuestros ojos, para mostrarnos cómo nuestros antepasados vivieron el periodo que les tocó, con sus alegrías y tristezas.

With the technological progress of materials science, the palette of colours with which to print on textiles has expanded beyond those with previously known properties and expressions to a new generation, with more advanced functionality and expressive properties. This new range of colours is characterised by their ability when printed on textiles to change colour in relation to external factors and internal programmes; for example, leuco dye-based thermochromic inks generally change colour in response to temperature fluctuations. This research explores the design properties and potentials of leuco dye-based thermochromic inks printed on textiles, with regard to creating a wider range of colour-changing effects for textile applications. The significance of this for textile design is related to the development of a methodology for designing dynamic surface patterns. The research was conducted by creating a series of design experiments using leuco dye-based thermochromic inks, which resulted in different recipes and methods, along with a pedagogical tool. The results highlighted the diverse colour-changing properties of leuco dye-based thermochromic inks, which have the potential to create more complex patterns on textiles. The outcome of this research proposes a foundation for textile designers with which to approach new ways of thinking and designing.