Saturday May 12th

Lindsay Roberts

Shibori learnt in India

Above, cotton and merino mix , indigo dyed. Batik.

The Border Tart-Tart’s Textiles Travels

On Saturday May 12th we were taken on a journey, starting in the Scottish Borders travelling to Gujarat in India and back to Scotland.

Lindsay shared with us her textile travels, learning first hand, techniques of dyeing, weaving and printing. It was in Gujarat that Lindsay developed her interest in Islamic pattern after visiting some of the area’s historical sites. She travelled to two different areas within Gujarat spending some time with local weavers and dyers. On her return to Scotland Lindsay trialled some of the methods she had seen .

Above. A boy’s dress hand embroidered with traditional patterns from the Kachchh area of Gujarat. Although much of the symbolism of these traditional patterns may be lost the young women still use them in their work.

A very enjoyable and interesting afternoon sharing Lindsay’s travels.

Catherine Lawes 14th April 2018

From Here to There and Back Again

Catherine drew a pattern of her life and influences through the many and varied textile pieces she brought to our society. Born in New Zealand,the child of emigrants, she returned to England aged 18, but New Zealand and it’s culture have remained her muse.

Her own journey in textiles started out with kits and then developed into individual works ranging from wall hangings and quilts to coats and jackets. Many of the pieces having been specifically designed as commissions for Knitting and Stitching Shows.

One particular aspect of Catherine’s textile art is landscapes inspired by favourite views especially New Zealand. To this end Catherine shared her expertise and skills with us the next day in her Layered Landscapes workshop.

The, partial, results, of this day school can be seen on our workshop page. We look forward to seeing the completed pieces in May.

Another fantastic speaker inspiring us all with her on journey into textiles.

Julia Soares-McCormick March 10th 2018

Queen of Fashion

What Marie Antoinette wore to The Revolution

Julia’s talk about Mari Antoinette was a wonderful insight into the 18th Century French Aristocracy and women’s styles of the time.

Her attention to detail, historical accuracy and enthusiasm for the subject was contagious. Members were encouraged to view the garments and ask further questions following Julia’s talk.

This article is deliberate in not including content of Julia’s talk as we would encourage everyone interested to visit Julia’s website to find out where she will be speaking in the future. A wonderful afternoon.

close up of Silk Damask used in the dress.

Silk trim on dress

On Saturday 11th December we were treated to an interesting and informative talk by Dr Susan Kay-Williams Chief Executive of the Royal School of Needlework. Dr Kay-Williams explained that the RSN was originally set up in order  to continue and preserve the great tradition of hand embroidery. She showed us slides of  students using a ‘slate frame’ , a traditional tool which dates back to at least the 18th century. The ‘slate frame’ requires the fabric to be stretched as taut as a slate to be worked on, hence the name.

Whilst having a base in tradition the RSN continues to challenge it’s students to interpret their ideas. One such challenge was to stitch a self portrait and we were shown images with embroidery worked on handkerchiefs and even a kitchen sieve.

Susan’s talk  covered a whole gamut of work from traditional crewel work, through to white work, black work, black work in red, stump work and a myriad of designs and interpretations of past and present students work.

My personal favourite, and judging by the gasp that went up as Susan showed the slide, many others too, was The Coronation Robe of Queen Elizabeth II from 1953. Susan showed a sample of the Gold Work undertaken by the RSN for the cloak.

Bringing us right up to date Susan talked about the hand embroidery on the cloak worn by Benedict Cumberbatch in the film Dr Strange. A great source of pride for the RSN is that, although many people may work on a particular design or project, all the work is identical. The cloak was a central character in the film and in order to withstand the rigours of filming 12 cloaks were made, each one having to be indistinguishable from the other.

Altogether a most enjoyable and educational afternoon.

Below. Dr Kay-Williams brought many samples of the work done by the RSN