Tabla de contenidos para Spring 2021 en PieceWork

PieceWork|Spring 2021

Notions

As an editor, I choose a theme for each issue, select authors and articles, and later begin editing the individual pieces. However, as all of the articles and projects begin fitting into place, they add new context to one another when seated side by side. Unexpected themes develop, and there are similarities in approaches, interests, or turns of phrase among authors. Eventually, when these pieces come together, it feels a bit like having a dinner party with people you may know very well, but your guests are only just meeting each other for the first time. The thread running through this issue—the theme that comes forward time and again—is of modern makers reaching to the past, connecting with needleworkers, and bringing those stories forward, illuminating needlework’s Hidden Histories. Even more…

1 min.

PieceWork|Spring 2021

The Great Queen and the Good Girl

There is something inevitable about thimbles as tokens of love and remembrance. They are tiny and so easy to carry around, hidden in a pocket or displayed on a chatelaine. Thimbles are intimate—worn not merely on the hand but on the tip of a finger. They can be beautiful—made from the same materials as a piece of jewelry and personalized in much the same way with inscriptions, symbols, names, and dates. But they are a symbol of industry, as well. Unlike a ring, they are useful—even a thimble formed from precious metal and sporting gems and painted enamel is nevertheless a tool. A ring or a brooch might be seen as a frivolous expense; but not a thimble. In my collection, I have two thimbles that I’ve often displayed side-by-side…

5 min.

PieceWork|Spring 2021

The Anatomy of a Collection

For Mom, nothing was more joy-filled than her time spent sewing. She was an incredible seamstress who could make magic out of the simplest materials. She was naturally skilled, was constantly developing her craft, and never stopped producing some of the most beautiful clothing and quilts I had ever seen. For that, she was a true hero of mine, and I will never forget, as a child, being lulled to sleep by the hum of her sewing machine in the next room. My sister and I put off sorting her sewing room, but one sunny winter afternoon, the time finally came. We could no longer ignore the inevitable and started dissecting the room’s contents. Bobbin-lace pillows, cupboard after cupboard full of fabrics, shelves full of patterns and books, and containers…

5 min.

PieceWork|Spring 2021

George Washington Carver’s Crochet Swatches

Over the 47 years that George Washington Carver (about 1864–1943) was at the historically Black Tuskegee Institute (now Tuskegee University), he created a large crochet-swatch library in his spare time. In 1941, people visiting his art galleries in the newly opened George Washington Carver Museum where these swatches were on display reported hundreds of swatches. Not all survived, but the ones that did show a variety of styles. Many of the edgings are quite elaborate, such as those designed by or in the style of Mary Card’s filet crochet (see PieceWork July/August 2017). He preferred flat styles. Only a very few use bobbles or Irish crochet. None incorporate any type of braid, such as coronation braid or rickrack. Crochet swatches are pieces of edgings, insertions, or motifs created to record…

11 min.

PieceWork|Spring 2021

Karin’s Swedish Circles

Karin Bergöö Larsson (1859–1928) was an exuberant and intrepid fiber artist who knit, spun, sewed, wove, and embroidered, most often in her singular, nontraditional manner. Her vision as a trained painter translated into the composition of extraordinary embroidered pieces that featured uncomplicated stitches elevated by her keen sense of color. Her needle art was a focal point in many of the famous paintings by her husband, Carl Larsson (1853–1919). This knitted bag is a tribute to Karin Larsson’s timeless aesthetic. It is based upon an embroidered length of black linen strewn with appliquéd vibrant linen circles. She embroidered the linen in unique combinations of only four stitches used to great effect: chain stitch, lazy daisy, French knots, and straight stitch. The unfinished piece is still on display at the Larsson…

7 min.

PieceWork|Spring 2021

Thawb Mufah’ah

This garment is made of pure silk chiffon and embroidered in gold zari thread with a front panel in orange and side panels in fuchsia, green, and orange. The garment has wide sleeves and an elongated tail at the back. This style is known as the thawb imyaza or myaza or mufah’ah. The thawb mufah’ah is a well-known style in most of the Gulf countries except Oman with its distinct colors and design. The colored sections are known as fuhuh (plural) or fah (singular). This is one version of the nashil garments, distinguished by the multicolored panels of silk separated by rows of zari embroidery. This dress is considered one of the most distinguished and beautiful traditional garments in the Gulf region. In the front, the garment has a badna…

1 min.

PieceWork|Spring 2021

Retail Shop Directory

ARIZONA Fiber Creek Suite 123 1046 Willow Creek Rd Prescott, AZ 86301 (928) 717-1774 fibercreekprescott.com CALIFORNIA Lacis Museum of Lace & Textiles 2982 Adeline St Berkeley, CA 94703 510-843-7290 lacis.com Babetta's Yarn & Gifts 4400 San Juan Ave #20 Fair Oaks, CA 95628 (916) 965-6043 babettasyarnandgifts.com Dharma Trading Co 1604 4th Street San Rafael, CA 94901 (435) 456-1211 dharmatrading.com Needlecraft Cottage 870 Grand Ave San Diego, CA 92109 (858) 272-8185 needlecraftcottagesd.com Cardigans Yarn and Fiber 3030 State St Santa Barbara, CA 93105 (805) 569-0531 cardigansyarnandfiber.com COLORADO LambShoppe 3512 E 12TH AVE Denver, CO 80206 (303) 322-2223 thelambshoppe.com Lambspun of Colorado 1101 E Lincoln Ave Fort Collins, CO 80524 (800) 558-5262 lambspun.com Shuttles Spindles & Skeins 760 S 43rd St. Boulder, CO 80305 (303) 499 4822 shuttlesspindlesandskeins.com FLORIDA A Good Yarn…

3 min.

PieceWork|Spring 2021

By Post

Feed-Sack Cloth It seems to be a universal human impulse to put serviceable fabric to a new use [“Make Do: Feed-Sack Fashion in the First Half of the Twentieth Century” by Heather Vaughan Lee, PieceWork Fall 2020]. In the attached photo, you see Õie Sarv showing visitors a blouse from her extensive collection of Setomaa folk dress from southeast Estonia. The back of the blouse is made from a grain sack and will never show because it is covered when worn by the top of the one-piece, sleeveless wool dress. Tiiu Kera Via email From Our Readers’ Hands It was a long while between the publication and my beginning this lovely pattern [“Trimmings: A Purse in Tatting and Beads,”* PieceWork May/June 2010]. Melissa Mead, I cannot thank you enough! A…

1 min.

PieceWork|Spring 2021

Necessities

Woolen Threads A rainbow of colorfast hues awaits your next needlework project. Weeks Dye Works’ Crewel Wool comes in 25 shades—from subtle to vibrant—dyed using environmentally responsible methods. In addition, each over-dyed skein matches colors found in the cotton-floss and sewing-thread lines. weeksdyeworks.com Stable Stitching The Clemes & Clemes Stitching Stand adjusts so you can work seated or standing, and the fully collapsible design folds easily to stow away when not in use. The stand accommodates classic hoops up to 1 inch (2.5 cm) thick or plastic snap frames, and it is available with 8- or 11-inch (20.3- or 27.9-cm) clamps for holding 6- to 11-inch (15.2-to 27.9-cm) frames. clemes.com Nature’s Palette Stitch your next embroidery project on a one-of-a-kind piece of fabric. HasbeenCraft sources antique French linen and hemp…

1 min.

PieceWork|Spring 2021

The Anatomy of a Collection

For adult children whose parents now reside in nursing homes or assisted-living facilities, cleaning out one’s family home becomes a rite of passage. Beginning the process is often the most difficult first step. However, this test of courage must be met at some point in almost every child’s life. For me, it was a lesson I never expected. My mother, Louise, left her home under unfortunate health circumstances in 2017. Her hasty exit, failing health, and requirement of skilled care prompted my siblings and me to make arrangements immediately. Knowing a return to her home was no longer possible, my sister and I knew it was time to begin the arduous process of cleaning out the family home. Since my mother was of the generation that threw nothing away, this…

1 min.

PieceWork|Spring 2021

Piecing Together the History of a Military Quilt

Unlined and fairly crudely hand-stitched, a historic quilt made up of small patches of brightly colored woolen cloth—the kind used to make military uniforms—came into my personal textile collection in 2010. The scarlet, black, buff, navy, and cream patches measure 0.67 inch (2.2 cm) and are sewn together to form different geometric patterns in a 5 × 5 block design. The quilt as it came to me in Australia does not have an edge treatment and is square, measuring 53.2 inches (135 cm) on each side. When I purchased the 160-year-old quilt, there was a note attached that read, “Made by wounded soldiers from the Crimean War, who being destitute cut up their uniforms and made them into rugs which were sold to benefit the men.” This quilt was probably…

8 min.

PieceWork|Spring 2021

The Zay Collection

Dr. Reem el Mutwalli’s love and lifelong infatuation with textiles, and in particular Emirati women’s dress, started at a young age. Growing up surrounded by the women of the United Arab Emirates’ ruling family, Reem understood that she had a unique insight into the mostly enclosed lifestyle of Emirati women. Born in Iraq, Reem came to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in 1968—the same year oil was discovered—as a young girl of five, when her father started working as an economic consultant to then crown prince, now the ruler of the UAE, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan. It was from his father, Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan, founder of the UAE, that Reem learned the importance of wearing traditional dress as part of everyday life and not as…

8 min.

PieceWork|Spring 2021

Schoolhouse Samplers

After teaching myself to cross-stitch, I began to stitch antique reproduction samplers. I researched and dreamed of owning my own antique sampler. I had admired many antique samplers and needlework pieces from afar in museums, antiques fairs, and more. The samplers I admired seemed inaccessible and too precious to touch in their pristine, conserved condition. For several years, I watched many auction sites selling antique samplers week in and week out, and I read anything I could find on the subject. Finally, I purchased my first sampler in May 2014 and the second soon after. Three questions guided my sampler search: “Did I like the sampler?” “Could I afford to pay the asking price?” “Would I be happy with this price if I found out that I had made a…

8 min.

PieceWork|Spring 2021

A Stitch in Time

The Pekinese (Chinese) stitch is a composite line stitch, consisting of a row of backstitches with the addition of interlaced loops, whereas the Chinese (Peking, Pekin, or ring) knot stitch belongs to the large international knotted-stitch family of embroidery stitches. There is confusion in the embroidery literature between these two similarly named stitches. Both have also been referred to as the Chinese, blind, or forbidden stitch. Generally, if the modern stitch name includes the word “knot,” it is referring to the Chinese knot stitch; however, if the stitch is called only the Pekinese stitch, it is usually the stitch illustrated in Figure 1 (see page 61). The blind and forbidden stitch appellations allude to the popular and well-known myth that they caused blindness in the young female stitchers because of…

7 min.

PieceWork|Spring 2021

The Last Word

Custom Shawls for the Curious and Creative Knitter Kate Atherley and Kim McBrien Evans New York: Abrams Books, 2020. Softbound, 192 pages, $27.50. ISBN 9781419743979. Little Women Knits Joanna Johnson Loveland, Colorado: Slate Falls Press, 2020. Softbound, 48 pages, $15.95. ISBN 9780578238654. Textiles Transformed: Thread and Thrift with Reclaimed Textiles Mandy Pattullo London, England: Pavilion Books, 2020. Hardbound, 128 pages, $29.95. ISBN 9781849945806. The Fabric of Civilization: How Textiles Made the World Virginia Postrel New York: Basic Books, 2020. Hardbound, 320 pages, $30. ISBN 9781541617605. The Pocket: A Hidden History of Women’s Lives, 1660–1900 Barbara Burman and Ariane Fennetaux New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press, 2020. Softbound, 264 pages, $25. ISBN 9780300253740.…

1 min.

PieceWork|Spring 2021

The Long Thread

Susan J. Jerome, Collections Manager, University of Rhode Island Historic Textile and Costume Collection Tell us about your duties and work at the Historic Textile and Costume Collection, University of Rhode Island. The University of Rhode Island Historic Textile and Costume Collection (HTCC) contains about 25,000 pieces, including clothing, accessories, household textiles, textile fragments, photographs, books, magazines, and textile-manufacturing equipment. My basic responsibility is to keep track of everything and to find as many ways as I can to make the collection accessible to students, faculty, researchers, and those interested in clothing and textile history. My tasks are diverse: editing and entering information onto the collection’s website, helping install exhibits, writing labels, assisting faculty and students, and researching artifacts. Faculty members use objects from the HTCC in a variety of…

3 min.

PieceWork|Spring 2021

Banned Embroidery

Avery strange system of nomenclature is used in Indian languages to describe products per their size. A small version of the item discussed ends with “i” and its larger variant with an “a.” For example, kichdi is a simple rice-pulse meal, while its counterpart kichda is a more sumptuous version with meat. With this understanding, you’ll soon see why I was quite surprised to receive a very large, exquisitely embroidered bag in the mail that would set me off on a new textile adventure. Mr. Salim Wazir of Museum Quality Textiles posted pictures of some excellent textiles created by the Dhebaria Rabari community for sale. What made this offering of eye-catching and colorful Rabari embroidery even more interesting was Salim’s explanation that the Dhebaria Rabari had banned the making of…

8 min.

PieceWork|Spring 2021

George Washington Carver

Most of us know George Washington Carver (about 1864–1943) as the famous African American agronomist from Tuskegee Institute (now Tuskegee University) who spent his career working to improve the lives of poor Southern farmers. But as a young man, Carver envisioned himself becoming a professional fine-art painter and enrolled in college as an art major in 1890. Because of his talent for painting flowers and plants and because of the well-established stereotype of a struggling artist, Carver’s art instructor convinced him to change his major to botany. Carver went on to dedicate his life to serving struggling rural families by teaching sustainable agricultural methods, introducing new crops and developing new markets for them. Still, Carver never abandoned his artistic interests, especially painting and crochet, continuing to pursue them as personal…

10 min.

PieceWork|Spring 2021

Swedish Style

In October 1997, the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) in London held the first exhibition of the works of famous artist Carl Larsson (1853–1919) and his wife, Karin, ever held outside of Sweden. The exhibit was entitled Carl and Karin Larsson: Creators of the Swedish Style. Lilla Hyttnäs, their extraordinary home in Sundborn, Dalarna, Sweden, was so integral to the Larsson’s legacy that the V&A exhibition contained five room sets, selected and transported with great care, composed of their original decor items and furnishings. The world may have been familiar with Carl’s paintings, particularly through the sales of early twentieth-century best-selling books of his art, such as Ett Hem (A Home). But to all but the cognoscenti, Karin held a more ancillary role: keeper of an enviably cozy house, mother…

8 min.

PieceWork|Spring 2021

Definitions

Thawb: Robe. A wide garment that covers and hides the body. It can be made of linen, cotton, wool, fur, or silk, and is worn by both men and women. Nashil: From the verb nashala, meaning to grab. Translates to cloth dyed in bright colors. Zari: Originally a two-syllable Persian word, Zar-dozi—zar meaning gold, and dozi meaning stitching. It is a complex embroidery with metal thread on silk, satin, or velvet and may include pearls, beads, and precious stones. Zari originated in India more than 2,000 years ago and has since spread across most of Asia and the countries previously under Ottoman rule. It was introduced to the Gulf countries from either Iran or India. A common mistake in the Gulf region is to refer to any gold-colored embroidery…

1 min.

PieceWork|Spring 2021

A Schoolhouse Sampler: Like Morning Dew on a Rose

Growing up in rural Ontario, Canada, an hour’s drive north of Lake Ontario, flower gardens were a rarity. Instead there were apple trees, ponds, creeks, hilltops covered in wild blueberries, lakes, wild flower and hay meadows, forests, and the rocks of the Canadian Shield. Some of my earliest childhood memories are of my mother reading her copy of Country Living magazine, so it isn’t a surprise that in my early teens, I found Victoria, my own magazine to collect and read. The pages were full of beautiful gardens, and I gravitated to the photographs abundant with roses. Inspired by Victoria’s imagery, I spent my allowance (and the money I eventually earned) on fabrics and vintage bric-a-brac to decorate my bedroom, my apartment, my home. Now many years later, I collect and…

3 min.