Flaming June has certainly exceeded all expectations as we continue to swelter in record breaking temperatures and sales of fans and suncream reach an all-time high. Alongside this are the very real concerns of the risks to vulnerable people with homes, and schools overheating and the inevitable hose pipe bans as water consumption soars. So, with this in mind, I was particularly interested in the lead article, Flow, in the current edition of Selvedge magazine. The article reflects that today water is so embedded into our daily lives that it largely goes unnoticed, fostering the illusion that natural resources will replenish themselves indefinitely.
Water is such a fundamental element in textile making that we rarely stop to consider it, yet it is an essential ingredient at almost every stage of production – it softens silk cocoons, scours wool, rets flax, hemp and jute. It carries dye into cloth and washes it out again. Cloth is fulled, dyed, washed, worn and washed again, with each stage drawing on water resources. This contributes to the textile industry’s position as one of the world’s largest protagonists of water pollution. So as the summer heat rises, let’s stop for a moment to consider the impact of water on our lives, the clothes we buy and wear, the textiles in our homes, and the textiles we use creatively.
Following on from the water theme, at Hastings Contemporary Gallery, Miquel Rothschild spends the summer reimagining the surface of the sea as something threaded and stitched. His exhibition ‘Undercurrents’ features a vast photographic cloth suspended above the gallery floor, rippling with light and movement. Until 13 September.
Janaina Tschape – ‘Conversations with the Sea’, brings the swell of the English Channel and the immensity of the world’s oceans into the heart of Hastings Contemporary Gallery, reflecting time spent in a wet and stormy Hastings in the winter of 2025. The exhibition considers water as a force – as movement that folds, accelerates, disperses and returns. Until September 13th.
Closer to home – Scratching the Surface’, an exhibition by Nolitex at the Stamford Arts Centre. Inspired by lines circles and graffiti, Scratching the Surface explore marks and uncovers stories embedded in the surface around us. These traces, whether literal or metaphorical, reveal narratives that are hidden, overlooked, forgotten or inspired. Tuesday, July 7th to Saturday, July 18th.
In Leicester, ‘Soul of the Cloth’ – an exhibition of rare and historical textiles and clothing from Africa and Asia, recently donated to the De Montfort University by renowned collector Karun Thakar. In the Hawthorn Building of De Montfort University, Leicester. Wednesday to Friday, 12pm- 4pm, open until 30th August.
At Wollaton Hall – The Greensleeves Project: Tudor exhibition. Discover the ballad Greensleeves through the medium of period costume Almost 450 years after the song first caught the attention of the Elizabethan public, The Greensleeves project has brought historians, musicians and makers together to pose the question – who was Greensleeves? This exhibition engages a team of historians and practitioners to examine and recreate the items described in the song. The 18 verses of the song form the basis of this reconstruction of sixteenth century dress. There is so much more going on around this exhibition so if this pings your interest, please go to https//Wollatonhall.org.uk/exhibition-greensleeves Open weekends, school holidays and Bank holidays until Sunday 1st November. Wollaton Hall and Deer Park, Wollaton, Nottingham NG8 2AE. Please note there is a temporary closure on Wednesday 29th July.
The Sock Gallery Open exhibition 2026 opens on August 1st, Loughborough Town Hall.
There’s still time to catch –The Natural World by Leicestershire textile artists, Drawn2stitch at the Harborough Museum is showing work inspired by Sir David Attenborough’s wildlife programmes, celebrating his centenary year. Harborough Museum, The Symington Building, Market Harborough LE16 7LT. Until Saturday 11th July.
Before I close this month’s newsletter, I would like to say a huge Thank You, on behalf of all Living Threads members, to all you lovely people who came to the Gallery to see us at Folded, Frayed and Found, and also at our smaller exhibition at Canalside. It was a pleasure to meet and chat to so many of you and to share our love of textiles. As many of you will appreciate, putting on an exhibition of any size is a massive undertaking and demands a great commitment from all involved, but, with a great team pulling together somehow it all gets done and when we meet our visitors it is all worthwhile. So, again, thank you for coming and we will look forward to our various stitch pathways crossing in the very near future.
I take a break during August, so our next letter will be the September edition, but in the meantime please send details of events you are holding in the late summer and early autumn or of any interesting books or exhibitions you would like to share with our readers. Have a great summer, be it at home or abroad, in the sun or in the shade, and, a final thought –
“The word seems brighter when you’ve just made something that wasn’t there before:” Neil Gaiman
Stay stitching! Maggie