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Haptic & Hue

Haptic & Hue

By: Jo Andrews
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Haptic & Hue's Tales of Textiles explores the way in which cloth speaks to us and the impact it has on our lives. It looks at the different light textiles cast on the story of humanity. It thinks about the skills that go into constructing it and what it means to the people who use it.Jo Andrews 2025 Social Sciences
Episodes
  • Reviving Rocking Stitch and Saving Wholecloth Quilting
    Jul 3 2025

    Here's a surprise! An extra episode of Haptic & Hue. We said we were taking a break for July and August and yes, we are. But we thought we would give you a taste of what Friends of Haptic & Hue sounds like and invite you to join the other podcast that we make every month.

    So here is the episode of Travels with Textiles that was uploaded for Friends in May this year, just as UNESCO announced that it was adding an old quilting practice to the list of crafts that have intangible cultural heritage status.

    Quilting in a flat frame with a rocking stitch has a history that stretches back certainly to the 16th century and maybe much further. This is one of the original forms of quilting on cloth, creating beautiful and complex patterns as it is done. This technique often produces a style of quilting known as whole cloth quilts.

    Hand quilting in a frame is being placed on the Red List of Endangered Crafts by the Heritage Crafts Council as the number of elderly practitioners of this skill, mainly in Wales, Northern England and the Scottish Borders continues to dwindle and quilting frames disappear.

    But here we talk to two quilters who are seeking to reverse that by recognising, protecting, and reviving whole cloth quilting, and the tools needed to carry it out.

    For more information about this episode and pictures of the people and places mentioned in this episode please go to https://hapticandhue.com/tales-of-textiles-series-7/.

    And if you would like to find out about Friends of Haptic & Hue with an extra podcast every month hosted by Jo Andrews and Bill Taylor – here’s the link: https://hapticandhue.com/join/

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    42 mins
  • The Witches of Scotland: How a New Tartan Became a Living Memorial
    Jun 5 2025

    A very special tartan has just started to roll off the weaving looms of the Prickly Thistle Mill in the north of Scotland. This brand-new design in black, pink, red, and grey is part of a powerful campaign to remember the thousands of overwhelmingly female lives lost to accusations of witchcraft between the 1500s and the mid 1700s. This was one of the bloodiest miscarriages of justice Scotland has ever seen. Records suggest that at the time Scotland accused and executed more people than any other country in the world.

    The Witches of Scotland Tartan sold out long before it went into production after its registration was spotted by an eagle-eyed American, testament to the fact that the tragedy of the witchcraft trials spread to America with the colonists of the 1600s. It also speaks volumes for the power of textiles that the two determined women, who have been campaigning for a pardon for all those accused of witchcraft in Scotland, have chosen a fabric that can be worn by all as a living memorial to those who lost their lives, rather than a statue or a fixed monument.

    Cloth has a great power to hold the memories of those we have loved, but this may be the first time it has been called in use as a national memorial, to commemorate injustices done to unknown thousands who are long dead. It brings new meaning to the campaigns to exonerate witches in a world where these accusations don’t seem to have died but merely changed shape.

    For more information about this episode and pictures of the people and places mentioned in this episode please go to https://hapticandhue.com/tales-of-textiles-series-7/.

    And if you would like to find out about Friends of Haptic & Hue with an extra podcast every month hosted by Jo Andrews and Bill Taylor – here’s the link: https://hapticandhue.com/join/

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    43 mins
  • Textile Waste and the Catastrophe at Kantamanto
    May 1 2025

    Early this year there was a catastrophic fire at the world’s biggest market for selling and upcycling second-hand clothes. Kantamanto market, in Ghana’s capital Accra, was accidently set alight, and most of the small stalls in the retail part of the huge market burnt to the ground. Two people died, many were injured, and the livelihoods of thousands of people were destroyed, driving many of them into debt and desperation. But the impact of the fire spread much further than that.

    You may not have heard of Kantamanto market, but it plays a vital role in dealing with our textile excess. This is where many of the clothes we donate to charity shops, goodwill centres, or put in textile bins end up. The West African market takes bales of clothing from all over the world and does its best to recycle them. But what can’t be used is dumped at informal waste sites or burned, causing mounting environmental problems in Accra’s streets and on Ghana’s beautiful beaches.

    This episode of Haptic and Hue’s Tales of Textiles looks at the tragedy and the ingenuity of Kantamanto and tracks the global cost of fast fashion and textile excess. Will the demand for cheap textiles and clothing stop increasing year on year and can they ever be properly recycled? And what can we as consumers do about it?

    For more information about this episode and pictures of the people and places mentioned in this episode please go to https://hapticandhue.com/tales-of-textiles-series-7/.

    To join Friends of Haptic & Hue with an extra podcast every month hosted by Jo Andrews and Bill Taylor – here’s the link: https://hapticandhue.com/join/

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    40 mins
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this such a well produced podcast! She really gets into textiles, art, fiber! love it, so informative.

go deep into textiles!

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So many stories and history of textiles and techniques. Really a beautiful podcast and immensely appreciated for its variety of subjects.

History, Story, and Inspiration

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