January Meeting
In January YES members got together to enjoy some stitching and to catch up with friends.
In the morning Angela started a group off with Wessex stitchery. Designed by Mrs Margaret Foster in the 19th century, Wessex stitchery is a counted thread technique based on a set of simple stitches that can be combined to make diverse patterns.
Angela's sample piece for stitch club
A piece of Angela's Wessex stitchery sampler
Many members worked on their own projects during the morning session. Pauline's work caught my eye. She was continuing with a lovely 'memory' textile. It had been started some time ago in a workshop with Jessie Chorley who specialises in contemporary illustrative embroidery. Pauline wanted to celebrate the life of her mother by incorporating textile pieces (including netting from a hat, fabric from a dance dress and items from her inherited sewing box). It was being created with a lot of love.
A section of Pauline's textile piece
As we were talking about this piece Celia brought over some small pieces she had been working on. After clearing out her mother's house she had kept a lot of photographic negatives and was wondering what to do with them. Noticing the holes on the sides she thought she could stitch into them - very innovative!
One of Celia's pieces using old photographic negatives and sewing box items attached to a painted calico background
"Belles in Bloomers" - Meredith Towne
In the afternoon we gathered round to listen to a guest speaker. Meredith Towne is a dress historian and Costume maker and her focus in this session was the cycling craze of the 1880's/1890's. Drawing on contemporary sources (books, magazines and newspapers) she vividly described how women's lives in particular were influenced at that time. Although predominantly a middle class hobby, cycling permeated much of society and allowed people to travel more widely and independently. What women could wear whilst cycling was subject to societal pressures and over the course of her talk Meredith transformed herself from a modern, lycra-clad athlete into a stylish cyclist of a bygone era! We enjoyed hearing about liberty bodices, woollen stockings, corsets, leg-o-muffin sleeves, brogues and hats. Using a pattern from the 1890's Meredith had recreated a fabulous costume (bloomers and jacket) fit for a "New Woman" of the era who could be a fashionable yet respectable intellectual, worker, suffragist and cyclist.
Meredith in her cycling costume and straw boater hat
Items from Meredith's collection of historial cycling artifacts
merithtowne.co.uk
merry@meridithtowne.co.uk
Our next meeting will be on Saturday 3rd February. Visitors and new members are very welcome.