Embroidery is a lost art, the beautiful 'Lesage' work on silk organdy, artists like Madeleine Vionnet and Elsa Schiaparelli documented in gorgeous books for posterity... Magazines like Inspirations, where the design for the feathers came from, is filled between the covers with exquisite works. The living treasures of the embroidery world will pass on and I wonder if we will find a way to preserve the history of stitches in such a way that those who come after us will be able to follow. I think of the cut-work embroidery that was pretty common place when I was younger, the exquisite heavy cottons laden with monograms and cut-work, with threads pulled and re-woven into lattice work across the bedsheets I found in Scotland; the feel of aged linen sheets in Italy - finely embroidered with the name of the owners so they would not be misplaced in the communal laundry. Sleeping on these sheets that were well over 50 years old during the hot and sweltering months of August when all of Europe was on vacation and those who were serving in the Navy in Naples were sweating it out in barracks rooms with multiple fans oscillating so loudly that it was hard to sleep. My roommate had purchased some new percale sheets - she was sweltering - I slept soundly on the perfectly wrinkled linen sheets with delicate threads of color woven on the turned down top sheet found in an out of the way alley that was filled with stalls containing linens, porcelain wash basins and covered chamber pots. I wish that I had thought ahead to years down the line when these things would be so hard to find.
It is comforting to see younger needle workers who are re-designing the old quilts into not quite art quilt, not quite homespun. Colors are more vivid, the rules are mastered and broken and I even saw something about embroidering store-bought sheets for a newly wed couple. No longer are monograms the norm, some were embroidered with well wishes, some with fertility rites, some with passages from the bible.
In an economy where there is little left over for luxuries, let alone for the holidays looming upon us. Why not embellish something with colorful threads and make it a homemade holiday? For my part - I will put something up every week that can be made into a gift for you or someone you care about. I hope that there is someone out there reading this. That would be nice.
Cheers!
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| A peek at things to come - Fairies! |
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