Last week, I found myself in vintage textiles heaven - also known as the Constance Howard Gallery and Textiles Collection at Goldsmiths University in London.
When my friend and fellow vintage craft book enthusiast Sam mentioned a 1960s embroidery book by Constance Howard she'd found in a charity shop, I remembered this mythical place from when I was studying for a Textiles BA here back in the mid-2000s.
After a bit of Googling, I was amazed, in these days of closures and cutbacks, to find the library was not only still there but also open to the public, so we wasted no time in booking ourselves a research appointment and heading to London for a day of textiles-based excitement.
It's the kind of place textiles nerds like ourselves could not believe actually exists. A wall of indexed vintage books on all types of textiles, dress and fibre arts, ranging from the 1930s to the 1980s, covering every type of material and technique from appliqué to weaving.
There was also a tantalising journals room with old copies of Vogue, Spare Rib, and back issues of various craft and interiors magazines through the ages, which we barely had time to look at...
And the pièce de résistance - Constance Howard's archive of 100s (or more?) samples of sewing techniques from her own teaching archive and meticulously collated textile pieces from around the world, any of which the helpful staff will retrieve from the archives (with a bit of notice) for visitors to look at and carefully handle...
1930s embroidery samples and an Edwardian modesty vest from the archives
1950s Mexican reverse appliqué wallhanging (detail)
Needless to say, we were like kids let loose in a sweet shop in this ultimate craft book collectors' paradise. The afternoon flew by to a soundtrack of squeals of delight as we unearthed one gem after another.
With more intriguing books, journals and samples you could ever hope to see in one place, we felt we'd barely scratched the surface as the library closed for the day and we left reluctantly but absolutely bursting with inspiration.
From 70s book American Denim
Huge respect and gratitude to Constance Howard, who devoted her life to practising and teaching textiles and put this unrivalled collection together. And to Goldsmiths for keeping it going and making it accessible to all.
Handknitted gentleman's cycling jersey and necktie
We will be back!
More on Constance Howard and the collection here