Textile Stories Study Day 2018

Yesterday I went to the latest Textile Stories Study Day, organised by Professor Deborah Wynne of the University of Chester. The theme this year was 'Working Textiles: Textile Workers', and looked at textiles in relation to work, working people and working practices. The event was organised in collaboration with the Friends of the Flaxmill Maltings.

Shrewsbury Flaxmill Maltings was the world's first iron-framed building. It was built as a flax mill in 1797, converted to a maltings in the late 19th century, and closed in 1987. It then lay derelict for almost 20 years, and is currently being restored by Historic England.

The Jubilee Tower of the flax mill, image © Historic England

The first speakers were Penny Ward and Maralyn Hepworth of the Flax Museum. Smartly attired in period clothing, they spoke about the process of turning flax into linen, and what information has been discovered so far about the lives of the mill workers.

Part of the Friends of the Flaxmill Maltings display

About the mill

Next Brenda Rewhorn spoke about 'Tatting: Lace for Working People', followed by Jane Thomas, whose talk on 'Traditional Smocking: Workers and Clothing' included the beautiful traditional worker's smock which she had made herself (and which I foolishly forgot to photograph).

Display of tatting shuttles and tatted items

Smocking display

After this there was a break for a delicious buffet lunch, and a chance to look at the various displays and demonstrations. This included a display of clothing made from early sewing manuals by Sarah Thursfield, whose book The Medieval Tailor's Assistant (now revised and enlarged) was invaluable when I made a (very, very vaguely) medieval stage costume for a friend a couple of years ago.

Demonstration of heckling - preparing the flax for spinning

Sarah Thursfield's clothing display

The first speaker after lunch was . . . me! Deborah is my dissertation supervisor for my Masters, and had asked me if I'd like to speak a the event. I gave a talk on gendered roles in clothing production, inspired by these two advertisements from consecutive issues of Vogue Pattern Book from 1950.

A dressmaker and a tailor, very differently portrayed

It was the first time I've done anything like this, and it's fair to say that I was nervous!

The final speaker was Deborah herself. The original idea of the Textile Stories Study Days was to look at the links between textiles and literature, and while the brief has expanded over the years (this was the sixth study day), the literary link remains. Deborah's talk was titled 'Cotton in the 19th Century: From Southern U.S. Slavery to Manchester’s Mill Workers' and looked at two novels; 'North and South' by Mrs Gaskell, and 'The Quest of the Silver Fleece' by W. E. B. Du Bois.

As ever, it was a varied and fascinating day; thanks to Deborah for organising it.

The Story of Wool

Last Saturday I went to the latest of the University of Chester's Textile Stories Study Days. After last year's Quilt Stories, this year was all about wool. Fittingly, the event took place at the university's new campus in Shrewsbury, which was once an important centre of the the Welsh wool trade.

The first speaker was the textile artist Fiona Nisbet, talking about 'Wool - from sheep to fabric'. Many of the audience members who had brought their knitting along probably already knew some of the things she spoke about. For me however it was all new; how a sheep's health affects the quality of its wool, how wool differs across a sheep's body, the differences between breeds and how this affects the use their fleece is put to. I knew a little more about the process of converting fleece to yarn, but still learned a lot.

Woven textiles by Fiona Nisbet

On the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare's death, and two days after the 200th anniversary of Charlotte Brontë's birth, it was appropriate that the next talk should include work by both authors. 'Woolly Stories' was presented by Dr Graham Atkin and Professor Deborah Wynne, and looked at references to wool and the wool trade in literature. Dr Atkin began with pastoral literature such as poems by Edmund Spenser, and then moved on to Shakespeare. Whereas 'pastoral' work tended to be more about ideas than actual nature, the sheep shearing scene in "A Winter's Tale" shows that Shakespeare was well aware of the wool economy, and its importance to Elizabethan life.

The Brontës were also well aware of the importance of the wool trade; they were surrounded by it in Haworth. At the time when they were growing up the town had 30 woollen mills. Professor Wynne explained how this fed into the Brontës' writing; for example in their earliest pieces the fictional realm of 'Angria', despite being modelled on Africa, had moors covered with sheep and its wealth came from woollen mills! Rather more realistically, Charlotte Brontë's novel 'Shirley' is based on the Luddite riots of 1811-12.

There was plenty to do during the lunch break; as well as a delicious buffet there were demonstrations by the Shrewsbury Guild of Spinners Weavers and Dyers, plus an exhibition of items brought along by attendees.

Modern and traditional spinning wheels

Examples of dyed wools

Spinning demonstration

Items knitted by attendees

Embroidered woollen Kashmiri shawl, so fine that you can see through it

Woollen and knitted items from Latin America

Moving on from the pastoral idyll, Thelma Thompson's talk about being a modern-day shepherdess on Wenlock Edge in Shropshire gave us the pastoral reality. From the obvious fact that you have to really like being outside, via the precarious economics, to the sheer amount of paperwork involved. Forget any ideas of getting away from it all to a simple life; in her first year of keeping a small flock she amassed 2.5kg / 5½lb of documentation!

The final speaker was Professor Sandy Black, author of Knitting: Fashion, Industry, Craft. Her talk 'Wool in Knitting and Fashion: From underwear to couture' covered knitting from the earliest (12th to14th century) fragments in the V&A to the 21st century revival in hand knitting. Along the way it took in 17th century brocade knitting, stocking knitting, the beginnings of home knitting patterns in the 19th century, the couture knitting of Women's Home Industries, . . . and a knitted hand grenade!

Brocade knitted jacket in the V&A, 1600 - 1625

Knitted hose, 1640s, image © Victorian and Albert Museum, London

Barbara Goalen wearing a Women's Home Industries sweater, © Getty Images

Knitted hand grenade by Rachel Matthews

It was a fascinating day, covering so many different aspects of the story of wool. Thanks to everyone involved, and I'm already looking forward to the Story of Silk next year.

Quilt Stories

Yesterday some friends and I went to “Quilt Stories”, the latest Textile Stories Study Day run by the University of Chester.

The Textile Stories Project looks at the meanings of textiles in everyday life, and this was the third study day it has held. The day consisted of a number of talks about various aspects of quilts and quilting, plus a chance to look at quilts which other attendees had brought along, all interspersed with generous quantities of tea and cake (although of course nowhere near the quilts!).

The first speaker was textile artist Christine Garwood, who spoke about how she uses fabric and stitching to create her artwork. You can see some of her work here.

From creating new work we moved to a very different aspect of quiltmaking: conserving old quilts and other textiles. Jacqui Hyman of the Textile Restoration Studio spoke about cleaning old pieces, stabilizing them to prevent further deterioration, storage, and display.

The final speaker of the morning was Claire Smith, who was a researcher for the V&A exhibition Quilts: 1700-2010. As well as telling us about a number of the quilts which appeared in the exhibition, Claire also provided insights on how the selection process for the exhibition worked and how the exhibition space was designed; all aspects of an exhibition which (if done well) largely go unnoticed by the visiting public.

1730-1750 clamshell bed hangings, © Victorian and Albert Museum, London

Detail of an 1829 quilt by Elizabeth Chapman, © Victorian and Albert Museum, London

Back view of the above quilt, showing the paper foundations, © Victorian and Albert Museum, London

After a delicious buffet lunch, quilter Pat Salt talked us through her design process, and how she develops her quilt series. She had brought examples of her work, and there were oohs and aahs from the audience as quilt after lovely quilt was unfolded for us. Thanks to my friend S for taking the photographs.

Fabric 'breaking out' of its triangular patch

Unwanted fabrics were dyed yellow for use in this quilt

Kantha quilting on Blue Jugs quilt (detail)

Seam allowances on the front are a feature of Pat's work

Appliqué mini quilt

The final talk of the day was given by Fiona Roberts and Liz Johnson, on the University’s 175th Anniversary quilt.

Although I have mentioned this quilt before in this blog, it was only in the context of the magnificent cake made for the unveiling ceremony. Fiona and Liz talked through how the quilt came to be, the stories behind some of the blocks, and the challenges familiar to anyone who has ever been involved in a group project: the joy of deadlines, and just how different interpretations of the measurement “14 inch square” can be!

The completed quilt

The quilt in progress

A completed block and its inspiration, the floor of Senate House

Initial plan for the 'Founders' block

It was great day, with a varied and enjoyable program. Thanks to Deborah Wynne and her team for organising it all, and for allowing me to use images from the Textile Stories blog, as I had forgotten my camera. It’s a long time since I’ve made a quilt, but I may just be inspired to make another.