Whilst hunting in my local newsagent’s for the latest copy of “inspirations”, I came across another magazine, called “Selvedge” whose ethos is (and I quote) “Our aim is simple: to provide a textile publication which fits seamlessly into their creative lifestyle. Directed towards an international, discerning audience, Selvedge covers fine textiles in every context: fine art, interiors, fashion, travel and shopping.”.

A quarterly (?) publication, it’s a lovely produced edition, but I was a bit reticent to spend £7.50 on it, so with some regret, I put it back on the shelf.  Later that day however, I found their website, and what a great and useful website this is…well worth bookmarking and searching through.  Whilst you don’t get the benefit of getting the articles because of the font size (yes, you WILL pay the money to read!), you do get the experience of being able to turn each page of the latest edition as if you had it in your hand.  This is what you spend your money on!

You also get to see the pages for the advertisers, again as laid out in the published edition, and can link through to the matching websites where ever possible.

It’s certainly a website I will be returning to, and I will have to convince myself that I have the money to afford

Through an aquantance of a friend, I’ve ended up with a couple of editions of Workbox, a needlecraft magazine, which is dated late 1990/early 1991. It’s interesting to see that for a magazine dedicated to crafting, it’s printed virtually completely black and white (apart from the front cover and the occasional one off inside). Even people’s completed items are reproduced without any colour, which is a shame.

It’s also interesting to compare this magazine against other magazines that have been produced since. These editions seem to focus heavily on advertising, and after a quick skim through of a couple, there’s very little “here’s the step by step of how to make the cover items” provided.

I’ve since had a quick look on the web, and found that the magazine is still printed and the website can be found here. Whilst not the most professional looking website (I have no idea how old the producers are or what funding they have), it at least looks like it’s updated regularly. I do get frustrated when I see websites like this though. Having spent the last 10 years playing around on the internet – and actually producing my own pages once in a while – I start chomping at the bit when I see so much potential going to waste. Internet is another major sales and media channel, and should be utilised as much as possible, to be as professional as possible. sigh.

Having seen the covers to recent editions, I think I have seen the magazine in the shops, but have never been interested in buying it. I might have another look at a recent edition and see if anything has changed.

Right off to have a flick through the magazines!