Sarah Dallas' area of interest and expertise as a designer and researcher is Knitwear for Fashion. This encompasses the contrasting approaches to knitwear; the advanced technology of electronic computerised knitting machines and the craft of hand knitting. She has authored three books of knitwear designs: Vintage Knits (2002), Sarah Dallas Knitting (2005) and Scottish Inspirations (2006).
Another strand of her research, closely linked to her design practice, is her relationship with the Fashion Museum in Bath. The Sarah Dallas Collections of Womenswear and Menswear 1976–1989 are being archived at the Fashion Museum.
Rowan Sarah works closely with Rowan, the premier yarn brand in the sector, on a seasonal basis. See Practice.
Recent design work is included in the following publications:
Rowan Knitting & Crochet Book, No. 50, A/W 2011, published by Rowan, 2011.
Rowan Knitting & Crochet Book, No. 49, S/S 2011, published by Rowan, 2011.
Rowan Knitting & Crochet Book, No. 48, A/W 2010, published by Rowan, 2010.
Rowan Knitting & Crochet Book, No. 47, S/S 2010, published by Rowan, 2010.
Rowan Knitting & Crochet Book, No. 46, A/W 2009, published by Rowan, 2009.
Rowan Knitting & Crochet Book, No.45, S/S 2009, published by Rowan, 2009.
Rowan Knitting & Crochet Book, No. 44, A/W 2008, published by Rowan, 2008.
Rowan Knitting & Crochet Book, No. 43, S/S 2008, published by Rowan, 2008.
Sarah Dallas Archives Closely linked to her design practice is Sarah’s relationship with the Fashion Museum in Bath. The Sarah Dallas Collections of Womenswear and Menswear 1976 – 1989 are being archived at the Fashion Museum. This involves continually sourcing and collating a representative collection of Sarah Dallas garments and artefacts for the Museum with particular emphasis on the design process. This includes recording research material, sketches, specification drawings, knitted swatches, woven fabrics, correspondence to suppliers and manufacturers, costing sheets, knitted and woven garments, catalogues and press cuttings. This material is currently being documented, numbered and labelled by a museum archivist in collaboration with Sarah Dallas and entered on the Museum database. This enables easy access of this material and subsequent referencing, selecting and ultimate viewing at the Museum. To date over 4,000 artefacts and garments have been entered on the database. The archive of garments and artefacts will be used to illustrate fashion and knitwear styles, trends and developments of these decades.
Focus on Four British Fashion Designers, 1970s and 1980s This exhibition was held at the Fashion Museum in Bath from July 2007 to May 2010. The exhibition focused on the Womenswear Collections of Autumn/Winter 1986 and Spring/Summer 1987 from the Sarah Dallas Collections currently being archived at the Museum, and included garments, accessories, development work and design sketches.
Future Fashions Now: New Design from the Royal College of Art The exhibition was held at the Victoria and Albert Museum from May 2009 – January 2010, and curated by Deirdre Murphy. Sarah was an organiser and curatorial helper for this exhibition of Royal College of Art student design work at the Victoria and Albert Museum. The exhibition showcased work by the 2008 Royal College of Art Fashion MA graduates, featuring highlights of their final collections, grouped in themes; Concept, Form, Technique and Detail. Snapshots of the design process reveal how research, bold illustration and strong practical skills have helped these young designers build collections worthy of the catwalk.
In the Loop 2: "Knitting: Origins and Evolution" A conference held at the Shetland Museum and Archive in September 2010, in collaboration with the University of Southampton organised by Dr Carol Christiansen and Linda Newington.
The curatorial team at the Fashion Museum, Elaine Uttley and Caroline Ness, presented a paper titled The Sarah Dallas Archive. The paper introduced the large archive of work by Sarah Dallas held at the Museum. The collection includes 20 years of Sarah’s working drawings and designs, letters and yarn samples, as well as knitted garments from the late 1970s to the early 2000s. They explored the various themes that this unique primary resource for the study of fashion knitwear offers to researchers. These ranged from the practical (for example, how do you store and create records for literally hundreds of disparate objects?) to the historical and cultural. The archive can, for example, be used to look at the rise of the knitwear designer in the 1980s, or how traditional Fair Isle technique is used in a fashion context for different markets, or indeed how contemporary designers work with museums to slowly turn the nuts and bolts of their working life into a valuable research tool.
See also Rowan publications under Current and Recent Projects.