Índex per Spring 2024 a PieceWork

From rug makers who wove while caring for babies, to shepherdesses who embroidered lace while tending to sheep, throughout time industrious people have been able to elevate their standard of living by the humble work of their hands. Nimble needleworkers produced much-needed clothing and salable items while working other jobs or tending to the home, herd, family, or flock. The textiles they crafted were not only a testament to their resourcefulness (and often the need to take advantage of precious daylight hours) but also to their creative abilities. Many of these multitasking workers were women, some of whom used training and education in handwork as a means to assist the impoverished, such as the nineteenth-century Carmelite nuns who launched an Irish-lace industry described in these pages by Gene O’Sullivan. However,…

To admire the tall, tapering, knitted chullos (Andean hats) of Taquile Island, Peru, is to appreciate a 500-year-old story of community, craft, and self-reliance. To identify the exceptionally fine knitted designs of butterflies, birds, and flowers on that chullo is to recognize the value of the natural world and the centuries-old dependence on agriculture of the indigenous people who inhabit this island. To notice the vibrant bands of red and blue against which the motifs are set or to puzzle over the chullos whose upper half is knitted in solid stark white is to understand the ways a community’s social structure is echoed in its textiles. Taquile is a small island that is just over three miles long (5.6 kilometers) situated in Puno Bay in Lake Titicaca, a lake that…

The popular belief that the language of flowers (floriography) originated around the start of the Victorian Age could not be farther from the truth. Flowers have long been used symbolically in religious celebrations, art, folklore, and literature of the Greeks, Romans, Egyptians, and Chinese. Arguably, the earliest recorded floral communication with the gods may have happened some 35,000-65,000 years ago at the grave site of a group of Neanderthals at the Shanidar Cave in Iraq. Flowers featured prominently in many ancient cultural events in Europe, India, Asia (China, Japan, and Korea), and precolonial Africa to symbolize love, honor, and respect. The avid British and European interest in the language of flowers began when it was first introduced to British society from the court of Constantinople (Ottoman Turkey) by an English…

The Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History has a textile collection that contains over 50,000 items; the sheer size of it makes it difficult to be aware of every treasure. I have been volunteering at the Smithsonian for over 22 years and was delighted one day to come across a bag that I recognized as being embellished with Armenian embroidery. I am familiar with Armenian needlework, as I have an Armenian friend whose home was full of needlework from her country. Her mother taught me traditional needle lace-making techniques, and I taught myself how to do Marash embroidery, which is the signature stitching tradition from Armenia. When I saw the small bag in the Smithsonian collection, I happily recognized the embroidery as Armenian Marash embroidery. In addition, the purse had…

1 Happy Decorations Who doesn’t smile when they see a pom-pom? Clover makes it easy to craft batches of them with their pom-pom makers. The extra-large size (shown here) comes with instruictions and measures 4½ inches across. clover-usa.com 2 A Helpful Accessory Keep those pins close with this ring pincushion from Brooklyn Haberdashery, It has an elastic ring to fit sizes 6.5-8 and soft wool to hold your pins in place. Best of all it is available in a variety of colors to match either your project or your outfit, brooklynhaberdashery.com 3 On the Go Don’t let adventure keep you from taking a project along for the ride. This ball holder from Mielke’s Fiber Arts is lightweight on the wrist and can hold thread balls of various sizes, so that…

For over a hundred years, women in the Polish village of Koniaków have crocheted stunning lace designs in fine cotton thread. Despite its beauty and uniqueness, Koniaków lace flew under the global radar until 2003, when a group of lacemakers began crocheting risqué lingerie instead of doilies. But crocheted undergarments are only a small part of the story of Koniaków lace. Lucyna Ligocka-Kohut, who heads the Koniaków Lace Center and Museum, sums up her community’s lacemaking tradition in three words: “Art. Tradition. Passion.” THE ART OF KONIAKÓW LACE When you first see Koniaków lace, you may think of snowflakes, intricate flowers, or stars. Worked in white or ecru cotton thread with delicate lines and swirling motifs, Koniaków lace has an ethereal feel. The most important thing you need to know…

Your interest in the written word started at a young age and led to a career in journalism. When and how did your love of craft begin? I was pretty solitary in early childhood in my little backwater Oklahoma town. World War II rations were in place, and toys were few and far between— or handmade. My mother gave me needles and thread to play with when I was as young as three, and I remember feeling empowered by these tools. I remember sewing scraps of cloth to a stick and calling it a doll. At the same time, I began making little books out of scrap paper with crude drawings. I’ve never stopped loving making things from scratch. PieceWork was first launched 30 years ago. What similarities and differences…

Ballet is a stylized form of dance that originated during the Italian and French Renaissance. Catherine de Medici (1519-1589) brought ballet from Italy to France, where it developed further due to her noble influence. An influx of money from aristocrats helped fuel the rise of the literature, ideas, music, scenery, and costumes that brought dance to the courts of Europe. L’Academie Roy ale de Danse (now the Paris Opera) was founded by Louis XIV in the latter part of the seventeenth century, which is why the vocabulary of ballet is made up of French terms. Eventually, ballet flourished throughout the courts of Europe. THE EVOLUTION OF BALLET ATTIRE As time progressed, dance masters and choreographers placed more importance on costumes and ballet wardrobes. They sought costumes and dance attire that…

Growing up in rural Shetland in the 1950s and 1960s, I was surrounded by folk whose knitting brought warmth to the family as well as essential cash income. There was no paid work available for the women in our home (my mother, unmarried aunt, and grandmother), nor for any of the neighbors. If work had been available, there would have been no transport. Work for them was tending to life on the croft, usually with an eye on the weather and/or the clock. The clock was to see when it was time to “flit da coo”—the cow was tethered to one spot to keep her from roaming into the crops, and she had to be moved to a new patch of grass regularly and milked twice a day. They also…

Women’s Work From Feminine Arts to Feminist Art Ferren Gipson London: Frances Lincoln, 2022. Hardcover, 224 pages, $38. ISBN 9780711264656. Byzantine Silk on the Silk Roads Journeys between East and West, Past and Present Edited by Sarah E. Braddock Clarke and Ryoko Yamanaka Kondo London: Bloomsbury Visual Arts, 2022. Paperback, 400 pages, $44.95. ISBN 9781350099333. The Dress Diary Secrets from a Victorian Woman’s Wardrobe Kate Strasdin New York: Pegasus Books, 2023. Hardcover, 320 pages, $28.95. ISBN 9781639364213. Clones Lace The Story and Patterns of an Irish Crochet Máire Treanor Fremont, CA: The Lace Museum, 2023. Paperback, 200 pages, $35. ISBN 9798988003502. Every Thread a Story Traditional Chinese Artisans of Guizhou Province Karen Elting Brock, Linda Ligon, and Wang Jun Atglen, PA: Schiffer Publishing/Thrums books, 2020. Box set, 160 pages, $49.95.…

It would be hard to imagine a more unlikely group to establish a thriving international business than the Carmelite Nuns. Yet, their involvement in the lace trade in nineteenth-century New Ross (located in southeast Ireland) assisted many struggling families and helped bring this beautiful art form to prominence on the world stage. Within the Christian tradition, the most visible nuns engage in apostolic endeavors in health care, education, and social work. Hidden within monastic enclosure, the contemplative Carmelites live austere but joyful lives of prayer: they are the hidden beating heart of the Catholic Church. THE MONASTERY AND NEW ROSS IN THE 1800S The Reformation of the 1540s resulted in the dissolution of all Catholic monasteries and the banishment of nuns from the diocese. The eighteenth-century Penal Laws then sought…