Posts

Shisha Embroidery: Mirrorwork from 13th century Persia to 21st century catwalk

Image
My Grandmother was an amazing embroiderer and one of her favourite techniques was shisha embroidery which involves stitching shiny mirrors or metal to fabric. I wanted to try this technique out for myself and incorporated it into my newest piece of embroidery – an experimental gold and silver piece in which I tried out new techniques including bullion knots and, of course, shisha. My gold and silver abstract embroidery The history of shisha, also known as ‘sheesha’ or ‘abhala bharat,’ can be traced back to 13 th century Persia (modern day Iran) with the term ‘shisha’ coming from the Persian word ‘shisheh’ meaning ‘glass.’ The technique was spread by travellers during the Mughal Empire to India and further into southwest Asia. A bag that my Grandmother made embellished with shisha embroidery In early examples of shisha embroidery, the lower classes used chips of mica and shiny beetle wings to emulate the glittering garments of the wealthy upper-classes. These shiny adornments were la
Post a Comment
Read more

Les Tricoteuses: The Knitting Women of the French Revolution

Image
What comes to mind when you think of the French Revolution? Terror? Violence? Guillotine? Regicide? Mobs? Riots? Starvation? Knitting?... Knitting? Yes, you read that correctly. Whilst it may not jump to the forefront of everybody’s minds when you think of the bloody years following 1789, knitting played an interesting role in the course of the revolution. The role of women is often forgotten in the history of the French Revolution. “Liberty, Equality,” and, tellingly, “Fraternity” became the three words synonymous with these revolutionary years. But what of the role of women? Perhaps the most famous actions by women during these years was the women’s march on Versailles in October 1789 when the hungry women of Paris forced King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette to leave the gilded gates of the Palace of Versailles and move to the Tuileries Palace in Paris with the aim of forcing the King to recognise the hardships people were suffering. Less famous is the tale of the knitting women or
Post a Comment
Read more

The Mindful Power of Embroidery

Image
Welcome back to TigerTailTextiles: The Blog! I took a break to focus on my exams but now I am ready to start writing again about the fascinating aspects of the world of textiles. This blog post will be about a hobby that I have discovered my love for recently: embroidery and more specifically the mindful benefits that embroidery can have. As someone that has suffered with ME/CFS since the age of nine, I’ve tried a variety of low energy activities that I can enjoy from my bed. Finally, I discovered hand embroidery which is, for me, the perfect low energy activity that I can pick up and put down depending on how I am feeling. Not only have I found it fun and satisfying to create beautiful pieces of art, I also discovered the mindful and therapeutic effect that embroidery can have. Daffodil Mindful Embroidery Kit Shop here Mindfulness is usually defined as becoming conscious and aware, focusing one’s awareness on the present and calmly acknowledging one’s feelings, thoughts and sensat
Post a Comment
Read more

How did “The Disabled Soldiers Embroidery Industry” Challenge the Gender Norms of Early 20th Century Britain?

Image
By the end of World War I (WWI) over a quarter of a million soldiers returned from the war, severely disabled. They were shell shocked, blinded and crippled and trying to recover from the atrocities of war. Many of these men ended up housebound and the problem arose of how these disabled soldiers were meant to work and find suitable employment? The answer came in the form of threads and cross stitching.  In 1911, 3 years before the start of WWI, Annie Collin founded a charity called “The Friends of the Poor” with the aim to ‘bridge the gap between the rich and the deserving poor.’ The charity gained the support of Princess Mary Louise, daughter of King George V and Queen Mary. Ernest Thesiger was an actor, artist and friend of the Princess, who’s hands were severely wounded in France during WWI. He saw first-hand the impact that embroidery could have on injured soldiers when he visited a friend in hospital. He suggested to the Government that they should set up an embroidery scheme f
Post a Comment
Read more

Environmentally Friendly Fabrics - Did you know that fabric can be made from milk or seaweed?

Image
I n this age of global warming and organised climate change protests, we have become much more aware of the environmental impact of the products that we are using. This means that many people now seek to use more environmentally friendly products in their projects and everyday life.  The fashion and textiles industry has a massive environmental impact. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reported that it accounts for over 10% of the global carbon dioxide emissions and 1.5 trillion litres of water per year. According to The Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) over £140 million worth of clothing is put into landfill each year. By 2050, it is estimated that 25% of the worlds carbon budget will be used for the fashion industry which would make it one of the most polluting industries, second only to oil!  Maybe this should not be so surprising when we consider that so many fabrics including acrylic, elastine (lycra), nylon and polyester are derived from petroleum.
Post a Comment
Read more

Ethel Mulvany and the Changi Prisoner of War Quilts

Image
On the 15th of February 1942, Singapore fell to the Japanese. Thousands of civilians and allied soldiers (including 1,000 women) were imprisoned in the notorious Changi Prisoner of War camp. For the first few months of captivity the prisoners were treated fairly well with food, medicine and events, however, that all changed as the prison became more and more overcrowded. It was built to hold 600 prisoners but, by 1944, it held over 4,000.  Food and medicine became scarce and the Japanese, who had not signed the Geneva Convention, ran the camp however they wished. Malnutrition, diseases, brutality and deaths from dysentery, malaria and vitamin deficiencies abounded.  The women were separated from the men and communication was forbidden between the groups. In 1942, an inmate, Ethel Mulvany, came up with the idea to create quilts to pass messages to their men disguised as an act of womanly kindness. Mulvany was a Canadian who moved to Singapore during WWII with her husband, a military doc
Post a Comment
Read more

Sewing and the Reformation of Prisoners

Image
Elizabeth Fry was born in 1780 and, as a Quaker, she worked to improve the lives of the poor, sick and imprisoned. In 1813, Fry visited Newgate Prison, London where she was astonished by the appalling conditions that the women and children were being held in. The women’s section was overcrowded and dirty. They lived in small cells where they slept on straw and did their own cooking and washing. She began to work to reform prisons and pushed for legislation to make the treatment of prisoners more humane. In 1817, Fry founded the British Ladies’ Society for Promoting the Reformation of Female Prisoners. She campaigned for segregation of the sexes, female matrons for the female prisoners, religious worship, education and employment. She introduced items into the prison for the women to sew and knit, to give the prisoners a purpose. She favoured patchwork as it meant the prisoners could sew in small, confined spaces and it was repetitive to settle their minds. Patchwork also grows over tim
Post a Comment
Read more