The priceless teatowel

Love these teatowels spotted in Selfridges.

The applique and embroidery reminds me of Katherine Eve's wonderful work in her graduation show last year. But at nearly £30 each they're beyond my pocket.

Embroidery and a birthday party....

Photos from our latest embroidery workshop in Harrow. Am so sorry not to be able to make these classes myself - but Katherine Eves, who is leading them with Katrina Williams, is keeping me up to date with photos and info.
So many people brought in their embroidery - the photos speak for themselves.... And birthday celebrations, too... a great day by the look of it. I think I glimpse our long-standing and hugely supportive Wendy Benn -recently back from Japan  - in one of the shots!  Katherine reports...

"Everyone's sewing is coming on nicely ...The lady in the jumper is Kiran. I thought we made a good pair.

The lady who made the placemats is called Mosea. She painted them as pictures first and then made them into placemats. The designs are all her own.

It was Sweet's birthday. And she sang You're my sunshine, my only sunshine, you make me happy when skies are grey.... which was lovely! I reminded them to bring something in next week. And the lovely lady who looks after them all said she would remind them. I hope they are going to wear their saris!"

(Am very sorry that I missed the singing!)

Goldwork

Birthday celebrations. Wendy Benn - far left

The fish motif, completed. Interesting how everyone adds a personal touch

Kiran and Katherine

And a close-up of Kiran's jumper

Next round of Faiths in Action workshops

Just to give the full picture: these started on Thursday 20th January at the Marlborough Hill Centre in Harrow. We have almost a full house. The idea is to give people of different faiths the chance to come together and build friendships through a shared interest - in this case, embroidery. Some familiar faces from other projects. Meherun, at the Asian Women's Resource Centre, has worked hard to bring people on board.
We have also advertised via Gumtree and local churches.
Leading things this week: Katherine Eves and Katrina Williams, the second workshop of the week for them.
Thanks to our funding from Faiths in Action (via Communities and Local Goverment) we can offer these sewing circles and the materials needed for them, free of charge.
There is also a lunch club at these sessions.

Tea party on Uxbridge Road

Our first event at Trillington House, Uxbridge Road. This is sheltered accommodation run by Notting Hill Housing (a major London housing trust). We have been hoping for some time to work on embroidery with groups of elderly people in residential homes, and at last we have the chance. It is an icy morning but everyone is in good spirits. We are very fortunate to have Rosa Martyn from the Royal School of Needlework (RSN) to demonstrate some stitches.  And of course Bridging Arts workshop assistant Katherine Eves and volunteer Katrina Williams, who has been a mainstay of the project from the start.

Katherine Eves talking about her new embroidered book, about her Uncle.

Andrew, telling the group his story

Rosa from the Royal School of Needlework, demonstrating crewelwork (embroidery with wool). She is embroidery a Christmas present for her grandmother.

 

 

 

 

 

A break halfway through.

Katherine Eves, an illustration graduate who has cast aside her drawing pen for the needle, shows her latest embroidered book. I show the dress embroidered for me by my mother, for my first birthday. This is a work of art, with a fringe of flowers from Cornwall (where I grew up) around the hem.

 Inspired, Norma and Sylvia go upstairs to fetch some of their own collections.

A needlepoint picture owned by Norma

Tania's crochet

Chhaya Biswas embroidery at the Women's Library

Handmade Tales
Women and Domestic Crafts
At the Women's Library
London Metropolitan University
Old Castle Street
London
E1 7NT
Tel: 020 7320 2222

A great show at the Women's Library, east London, curated by Carol Tulloch who had seen a piece by Chhaya Biswas of Restart 50+ at last year's Knitting and Stitching Show. Chhaya's piece is on show - wonderful!
Carol's aim (in a nutshell) -  to take a look at why women make, not buy. And to show "how domestic craft becomes 'a form of agency' and cultural capital for many women."
Went along with Katherine Eves, keen seamstress (what a word!) who has been helping me throughout the summer. We loved the 40s swimsuit.  The woman who created this couldn't actually sew. She cut out the pieces and her husband stitched them together - excellent team work.

The 40s swimsuit

Chhaya's embroidery

Background ... the swimsuit

Sugar paper captions

A nice touch - an unusual Visitors' Book

Katherine Eves, absorbed ...

New embroidery at the Furzedown Project, Tooting

A beautiful day. I am held up in traffic in Tooting and Katherine (Eves, Bridging Arts intern) takes advantage of the sunshine to get down to a little sewing while she's waiting...

We're at the Furzedown project to display the embroidery created at recent classes. There is a fine display.

Amtul has written a message.

Hyacinthe Quamina has embroidered Spanish needles, a flower she remembers from her childhood in British Guyana.

Abigail's exhibition piece; she has carefully hemmed this as well as all the other embroidery she created in the class. All on display at the Furzedown Project, Tooting, for the next few weeks.

Later we have a bit of a panic as we realise that we are short of embroidery hoops for tomorrow's class. I stop off at John Lewis on my way into town to my Arabic class. But they are out of stock and have been for some weeks. As is Liberty's. However, there is a very charming embroidered bag on the haberdashery floor.

I first heard it in the womb...

As promised, here are some images from the stitched book created by our intern Katherine Eves. I am hoping that Katherine will allow us to display this book when we're at the Knitting and Stitching Show - as its title links in so well with the Stitch project. It's about her connection to thread, fabric and stitch - and her deep affection for her Grandmother.