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An Introduction to Textile Techniques: Weaving & Printing
One-day course
+44 (0)20 7942 2000
Textiles are the most intimate and the most varied of all the decorative arts but they are such familiar objects, clothing our bodies and decorating our homes, that we seldom stop to consider how they are made.
Cloth-making pre-dates pottery-making by thousands of years. It is underpinned by an understanding of basic mechanics and mathematics which, over the centuries, became more and more complex allowing weavers to create luxury fabrics with woven designs to delight the eye of wealthy patrons.
Printing patterns onto woven cloth has a more recent history and is dependent on an understanding of chemistry. In Europe its commercial history dates back to the middle of the 18th century when strenuous efforts were made to produced relatively inexpensive, colourful and washable fabrics for a global market.
Join us on this textile arts Study Day as we explore and explain these two complex textile-making processes: weaving and printing.
Suitable for participants aged 18 or over.
Suitable for participants aged 18 or over.
Study Day Leader
Jennifer Wearden
In the 28 years Jennifer worked with the Museum’s Textile Collection she curated a V&A exhibition called The European Art of Textiles and authored/co-authored several V&A publications including Samplers, Ottoman Embroidery, Oriental Carpets and Iranian Textiles. More recently, she has been delivering courses on the history of textiles and dress.
I loved every minute. It was a wonderful and varied programme. Completely absorbing. Previous V&A Academy Course Attendee
Course overview
This V&A Academy Study Day will take you behind the scenes of the recently opened V&A East Storehouse, bringing you face-to-face with the V&A's extraordinary collections and it will guide you through two complex techniques used to produced patterned fabric: by incorporating the design into the weaving process and by printing the design onto woven cloth.
Your study day will begin with a lecture on weaving by Dr Silvija Banić, Curator of Textiles before 1800 in the Performance, Furniture, Textiles and Fashion Department, and a lecture on printing by Jennifer Wearden, former Senior Curator of Textiles. These will be followed by two sessions looking at examples of woven and printed textiles from the Museum’s Collection to consolidate what you have learned from the lectures and perhaps they will inspire you to discover even more about the designing and making processes.
This study day is designed to complement the 10-week online Spring Term course ‘Textiles: Materials, Techniques & History’ led by Jennifer Wearden but you do not need to be enrolled on a course to join a Study Day event.
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Being up close with treasured objects from the V&A's collections brings your learning to life. Get precious time with incredible exemplars, as well as with our expert tutors and your fellow learners.
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One-day course: An Introduction to Textile Techniques: Weaving & Printing
24 February 2026
£100.00
Need help enrolling? Talk to the admissions team:
+44 (0)20 7942 2000
Open 10.00 - 13.00, Monday to Sunday (closed 24-26 December)
Header image: Furnishing fabric of roller-printed cotton, England, c. 1830, © Victoria and Albert Museum, London