Category: Uncategorized
Covid 19 – September 2020
Poo, Poisons, Science & Serendipity – Dr Susan Kay Williams
This talk Susan entitled Poo, Poison, Science and Serendipity and I am sure I was not the only one to be intrigued by what was to come. She is a great collector of fabric and thread sample books and we found it fascinating to see how her research over the years has shown the development of both natural and synthetic dyes. I never realised that guano was collected and used to make a yellow dye and that green, which was made with arsenic, became very popular in the early 1800s. This material put the weaver, the maker and the wearer at risk and we were shown a sketch published in 1861 by Punch which was entitled the Arsenic Waltz.
Credit – A skeleton gentleman at a ball asks a skeleton lady to dance; representing the effect of arsenical dyes and pigments in clothing and accessories. Wood engraving, 1862. Credit: Wellcome Collection. CC BY
Credit: Image below taken from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michel_Eug%C3%A8ne_Chevreul
Credit: Image below taken from Dr Susan Kay Williams’ presentation
Report by Ros
3D Floral Collage workshop – Nikki Vesey-Williams
Pamela Smith – January 2020
Report and photos by Ros
Christmas Lunch with Lt Col Neil Stace
As a bit of fun, Neil and a friend joined the sewing group at Primary School and his interest in stitch developed from there. He talked about various tours of duty in Afghanistan, Bosnia, Northern Ireland and explained that there was always down time which had to be filled which is why he included a sewing machine along with his kit. Neil sees himself as a soldier who sews and an engineer who does not need a pattern which is why he designed and made a wedding dress for his female driver in Bosnia. Another story that I particularly found interesting was during his second round of duty in Afghanistan in 2010 he had the challenge of re-introducing cottage industries to the local ladies which had to be done discretely through an interpreter. It was so successful that after a couple of months the ladies had set up stalls in the market selling their crafts.
Thank you Neil for sharing these amazing stories and opening our eyes to a side of our craft that most of us knew nothing about.
Thank you to Vernice for sharing the photo she took of Neil in Salisbury earlier this year and to Lindsay for her “Salvador Dali” photo of our Christmas lunch table!
Report and photos by Ros
Anne Hellyer – “Set the Town Alight” workshop – November 2019
Liz Brooke Ward – November 2019
In 2006 Liz was awarded the Charles Henry Foyle award for Stitched Textiles. Her work was entitled “On to the Eastward” and was her interpretation of a maelstrom.
Report and photos by Ros
Nikki Vesey Williams – October 2019
I was so very sorry to have missed your talk Nikki, another time! Ros
Jennifer Hughes workshop – September 2019
To start the day Jennifer showed us some samples which she and her friends had worked especially for this workshop.
Report by Ros
Photos by Ros and Jennifer