Our March Meeting
Stitch clubs were in full flow this month. Helen's group were very busy creating foundation-pieced trees and stars. Helen had brought additional tree samples and new star templates. Some of the group continued piecing trees whilst others had a go at stars. Diane had been particularly industrious in the past month finishing six small blocks and making them into a bag. Diane had used a William Morris fabric charm pack for her patchwork so the colours were very soft and harmonious.
Helen's small but perfectly pieced samples
Diane's bag made from foundation pieced blocks
In the other stitch club Eileen was encouraging those who were working on their boro pieces. Chris had retrieved a piece she had started some time ago and slung in the back of a cupboard! Although it wasn't her usual style of work she was giving it another go in the spirit of 'make do and mend' which she had embroidered onto it. The small and tidy stitches were starting to harmonise the piece nicely.
Chris's sample of boro
Elaine was also making steady progress with a colourful piece of boro. Her process was to tack colourful patterned fabric scraps onto the base and then to attach coloured buttons. She was matching the colours of the embellishments to threads which she intends to use for the stitching.
Elaine's boro with embellishments
Jill's 'chicken scratch' embroidery
March competition
The competition requirement was for a commercial design from a book, kit or magazine and a great variety of pieces were submitted. It is always lovely to see finished work and every piece had merit. The competition was judged without anyone knowing whose work was being presented and voting revealed three entries with the most votes. However Angela's whitework drawn thread sampler (from a pattern designed by Linda Driskell) was our ultimate winner.
Angela's drawn thread sampler.
Runner up pieces were Celia's reworking of 1930's transfers and Monica's satin stitch and goldwork flower.
This month the 'Travelling book' featured fabric collage researched and created by Jill.
Our afternoon speaker - Gill Roberts - "The Corset Unlaced"
Gill Roberts gave a wide ranging talk on corsetry in the afternoon session. She is an embroiderer as well as a dressmaker and the first part of her talk was about the history of corsetry. We learned that even before Victorian times people (mostly women) wore foundation garments to conceal their bodies, fit themselves into clothing and be presentable according to the fashions of the time. However corsets were also made for men and children and the styles altered over time as new materials were discovered and garment fashions changed. Many of the images she showed of corsets and advertisements for them were bizarre to modern eyes and possibly detrimental to health but that's fashion for you!
Gill moved through the ages to explore recent couture designers' use of corsetry on the catwalk and its evolution to wedding and occasion-wear. Gill took a very non-judgemental approach to corsetry and its links to lingerie, burlesque and fetish-ware for both men and women. She described how some people today alter their bodies in quite radical ways through the use of tight lacing in corsetry to please themselves and also to present themselves to the public gaze as an artistic endeavour.
Nowadays mainstream corsetry is designed to enhance and celebrate the body and be very much on show. Gill's own work certainly falls into this category and she had brought along examples of her beautifully embroidered dresses which feature made to measure and very flattering corsetry. By basing her garments on historical patterns she was able to explain how complex and labour intensive it is to create a corset even using modern materials. For Gill the smooth surface of a corset provides a canvas for embroidery and embellishment and we greatly admired her skill.
Our next meeting
We will meet in Haxby Memorial Hall on Saturday 5th April. Visitors and new members are very welcome to come along and meet us.