Table of contents for Fall 2024 in PieceWork

The crafters who came before us were certainly aware of the time, labor, and materials necessary to create clothing and household linens. And they treated their handmade items with care: darning, repurposing, and passing them down across generations. In 2024, sustainability may be what motivates us to look to the remedies of past makers to restore and reuse textiles, and repairing old fabric can also renew our respect for the original producer, whether they labored by hand or by machine. Our ancestors were resourceful at breathing new life into old garments— and many of their methods are still applicable today. In these pages, Dawn Cook Ronningen's soldiers' mending kit will help you keep your supplies close at hand; and Kaffe Fassett fashions useful and beautiful objects that you can make…

One year into my current job as an archaeological curator in Maryland, I was making a study collection of artifact highlights from a site near Annapolis known as Towne Neck (circa 1661–1673). Among the artifacts that made it onto the display box were a window lead (to hold a glass pane), fragments of a jug and bowls, an earring fragment, and a cloth pin. Another item that made the cut for my little display was a rock. Usually rocks—or “lithics” in archaeology speak—don't dominate studies of seventeenth-century sites, but this rock seemed unusual. It's black and smooth except for two little dimples on opposite sides, different from anything found locally in Maryland, and it's shaped like an egg. My first thought was that this weird rock was used as a…

Elizabeth Zimmermann (EZ to her fans) wrote in her well-loved book Knitter's Almanac, “Let us give some thought to the well-being and enjoyment of your descendants, patch up our lares and penates, and hang on to them, so that the future will inherit at least some relics of our heedless and wasteful age.”1 Elizabeth is known as an innovator who introduced Americans to the imaginative characteristics of circular knitting through a steady stream of submissions to craft magazines, two PBS television series titled The Busy Knitter, her newsletter publication Wool Gathering,2 an annual summer Knitting Camp event (the first of its kind), and the publication of her six books, which are all still in print to this day: Knitting Without Tears, Knitter's Almanac, Knitting Workshop, Knitting Around, The Opinionated Knitter,…

Few American consumer textiles have generated the prolonged interest and mythmaking that feed sacks have over the past century. Decades after the cessation of their manufacture, they continue to be bought, sold, hoarded, and reproduced, and they are the stuff of lore. They remain popular among collectors, craftspeople, and artists in the United States and beyond. Feed sack is a catch-all term for a woven cloth bag used to contain consumer dry goods such as flour, sugar, and grains. This type of bag has many names: feed sack, feed bag, cloth commodity bag, flour sack, sugar sack, and more. Animal feed, fertilizer, seeds, and even items such as cement mix, ballots, clams, tobacco, and plastic beads were packaged for sale in the same type of cotton and rayon bags. Although…

Make, Sew and Mend Traditional Techniques to Sustainably Maintain and Refashion Your Clothes Bernadette Banner Salem, MA: Page Street Publishing, 2022. Paperback, 200 pages, $22.99. ISBN 9781645674863. Furoshiki The Japanese Art of Wrapping with Fabric Aurélie Le Marec Tunbridge Wells, Kent, UK: Search Press, 2022. Paperback, 112 pages, $19.95. ISBN 9781800920262. String Quilts Sustainable Patchwork Projects Using Fabric Scraps Carolyn Forster Tunbridge Wells, Kent, UK: Search Press, 2024. Paperback, 176 pages, $25.95. ISBN 9781800920828. Cardigans For Every Body Because Every Body Is Worthy Tian Connaughton Self-published, 2023. Paperback, 142 pages, $29.99. ISBN 9798987617618. On Mending Stories of Damage and Repair Celia Pym Chalford, UK: Quickthorn Books, 2022. Paperback, 96 pages, $35. ISBN 9781912480586. The Mending Directory Over 50 Modern Stitch Patterns for Visible Repairs Erin Eggenburg Tunbridge Wells, Kent, UK:…

The diamond shape is a firm favorite of mine, and it is a recurring motif in my knitting and quilt designs. I have an incredible quilt in my antique collection that provides me with constant inspiration: it is composed of diamonds paper-pieced from half-inch hexagons—thousands of pieces of scrap fabrics arranged to produce incredible shapes. Unfortunately, I do not have the background information about this quilt; however, the maker has left a wonderful legacy that I enjoy. It is also an inspiration that works in tandem with my knitting—whether it be in a tumbling-block throw or a scarf, the diamond motif is so versatile. It even makes a regular appearance in my swatch blankets. I am always on the lookout for inspiration while traveling, and one year I was struck…

Nearly forty-five years ago, two immigrant families lived in the quiet countryside of New York State. They were the Peterses and the Zimmermanns, and theirs were the only two houses this side of the Rutgers Kill. On the other side was the village—five houses. Across the meadow between these families ran a narrow grassy path made by the children running to each other's houses to play. The Peterses were Norwegian, and Mrs. Peters was always called “Honey,” firstly because she called everybody else “Honey,” and secondly because she was so sweet. When the time came for the Zimmermanns to move—the frequent fate of newcomers to this country—Honey Peters came across the grassy path with a farewell gift: a pair of beautiful handknitted mittens from her home country. They were accepted…

The fuchsia is a genus of small to bush-sized plants with vibrant-colored, bell-shaped, drooping, nectar-rich flowers that attract butterflies and hummingbirds. This is the fourth and final silk-ribbon design adapted from the flowers stitched on the magnificent mid-nineteenth-century British pelerine housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. Fuchsias were discovered in the Dominican Republic in 1695 by a Jesuit monk and were named after Leonhart Fuchs, a German botanist. In 1871, James Lye began hybridizing fuchsias in Britain and eventually created about 68 stunning varieties that are as popular today as they were then. At this time, 50 to 100 species of fuchsias are found occurring naturally in two main regions in the world—Central and South America, and New Zealand and Tahiti. Fuchsia plants quickly became…

One of the things I love best about designing textiles is the communal aspect of creating them. Think of the old sewing bees that created wonderful patchwork quilts. Professional designer Brandon Mably joined my studio 31 years ago as a complete novice; he quickly learned to sew, knit, and stitch needlepoint and has collaborated with me on designmaking and teaching about textiles and color all over the world. People are often astounded by how much we produce each year—the books, collections, articles, museum shows, and lectures we turn out. One of the secrets is that we encourage each other when doubt about a project or design inevitably sets in. A lot of people waste time wallowing in despair, which we seem able to bypass. What follows is an example of…

Sewing rolls have been made for centuries for use by men, women, and children. Popular names for sewing rolls include housewife or huswif, roll up, and needle roll. Other names include comforts and sewing kits. Examples are found around the world made from many different materials and sewn in numerous styles. A popular style of these ingenious little rolls is a mending kit that was often carried by members of the military. Keeping a uniform and clothing in optimal condition aided a soldier's success. A soldier with a foot blister from undarned or poorly repaired socks was at a disadvantage compared to a soldier with healthy feet. Missing buttons and torn clothing could also make a soldier less effective. Retired Lieutenant Commander of the British Royal Navy Tom Seddes shared…

Ever since she was a child, Elettra Wiedemann has been concerned with climate change and the health of the planet and has always tried to speak to that. As a top model, she was involved with eco-fibers and tried to encourage designers to use them for their collections. She pursued research in food and cooking as a way to address environmental issues and earned a Master of Science in biomedicine, biosciences, and society from the London School of Economics. That, along with her business acumen and connections in the textile industry, led her to an awareness of the intersection of farm and fiber and to relationships with the farmers in her community who were trying to make use of the fleece from their animals, at a time when the infrastructure…

Elizabeth Zimmermann's thrifty mitten re-palming method offers knitters a way to preserve an already knitted, well-worn pair of mittens. For knitters who have not made their own mittens, I decided to provide a relatively simple mitten, with several shaping options. Of course, you may include any variations that occur to you. Would you rather have a plain or a color-patterned gauntlet? Or maybe eliminate the gauntlet altogether and make ribbed cuffs? This pattern has a palm thumb with no gusset, but you might like a side thumb to make the mittens ambidextrous. As in most knitting, there are an abundance of options. MATERIALS ◆ Brown Sheep Company Lamb's Pride Worsted (85% wool/15% mohair), 190 yd (174 m)/4 oz (113 g): 1 skein Clematis (A) for mittens, and 1 skein Kiwi…

Fast fashion, with its connection to environmental damage as well as its social costs through sweated labor, is at the heart of many twenty-first-century debates. Suggestions to combat the problem usually include generalized advice about learning to repair clothing, buying secondhand or vintage, renting garments, and making do with less.1 Visible mending is gaining in popularity as a creative and artistic means of dealing with damage to garments that draws attention to repairs through eye-catching contrast.2 The professional and home dressmakers of the nineteenth century were masters of the practical art of extending the life of garments. Fortunately, they have left a wealth of information, in both publications and surviving garments, that offers many potential and updated applications for consumers who are seriously reevaluating their wardrobes and current shopping practices.…

My life has been a series of obsessions. In my teens, it was horses. I spent all my available time on horseback, even taking a prize in the Devon Horse Show in Devon, Pennsylvania. In my twenties, my passion was dance—modern dance in the style of Martha Graham. In my thirties, after our son had started school and I had time on my hands, knitting became my obsession. This obsession came as a surprise because, while I was an honor student and a Phi Beta Kappa in college, I was a complete idiot when a sorority sister tried to teach me to knit. I just couldn't get it. I made a hopelessly messy, ragged swatch, threw it away, and said that knitting was not for me. Then when I was…

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 COLORADO Lambspun of Colorado 1101 E Lincoln Ave Fort Collins, CO 80524 (800) 558-5262 lambspun.com ILLINOIS Fine Line Creative Arts Center 37W570 Bolcum Rd. St Charles, IL, 60175 (630) 584-9443 fineline.org IOWA Blue Heron Knittery 300 W Water St Decorah, IA 52101 (563) 517-1059 blueheronknittery.com KENTUCKY LSH Creations 1584 Wellesley Dr. Lexington, KY 40513 (859) 321-7831 lshcreations.com MASSACHUSETTS WEBS - America's Yarn Store 75 Service Center Rd Northhampton, MA 01060 (800) 367-9327 yarn.com MICHIGAN Chicks With Sticks, LLC 5401-3 Portage Rd Kalamazoo, MI 49002 (269)552-9276 chickswithsticksyarns.com The Hen House Quilt Shop 211 S Cochran Ave Charlotte, MI 48813 (517)…