:: May 2002 
Review
All About Cotton, A Fabric Dictionary & Swatchbook
If you are looking for a reference book for fabric fibrework, you should consider treating yourself to Julie Parker's All About Cotton. This is the third volume in her series which began in 1991 with All About Silk and continued with All About Wool in 1996. The format for all three volumes is the same. Fabrics are arranged alphabetically for ease in locating and are described in meticulous detail on the left page. Beneath each description is a How to Use section on what types of garments to make with the featured fabric. At the base of the page, variations of the main fabric are presented, training the reader to be able to make distinctions among the fabric in its many forms.
On the right page, the author provides a checklist of the fabric's characteristics including sewing rating, suggested fit, suggested styles, what to expect, cost per yard, wearability, suggested care, and where to find. There is also a small box featuring background information related to the fabric.
The fun feature of Julie Parker's books is that they come with actual fabric swatches for the reader to affix on each page, preferably with double-sided clear tape. The fabrics selected are quite attractive and literally give you the feel of the fabric before you decide to work with it. For a fibreworker, attaching the swatches to their respective pages approaches the enjoyment of exploring a scratch-and-sniff book for a pre-schooler.
The volumes have an 11' X 8 1/2" horizontal layout and are spiral bound with cardstock covers. The revised edition of All About Cotton has a wrapped cardstock cover which CyberFibres finds more awkward to use, but easier to find on the shelf because the title is printed on the portion of the cover that wraps around the spiral binding.
A final praise-worthy feature of All About Cotton is that the author includes a glossary of related terms at the end of the book. The only thing left to the reader's imagination is what to go forth and do with all the information! That is as it should be