18th May 2023

'Dearly Beloved, a history of wedding dresses' was an interesting and informative presentation from Jill (of Belladonna Roses) who is an embroiderer and corsetier .

Historically wedding dresses became the 'best' dress which was worn on Sunday and other special occasions not as we now have when the wedding dress is worn once for the wedding ceremony.

Originally wedding dresses were not white but varied colours (plain or patterned) eg green (for fertility). Green dresses were expensive as they had to be 'double dyed' first in blue and then in yellow. In Scandanavia black was worn as a wedding dress.

 

Wedding dresses were opulent but made in the style of the day so they could be reused.Corsets were worn under the dresses The actual wedding service only had a small number of people attending and was early in the day eg 8.00 or 9.00 am and was followed by the 'breakfast feast'.

This pink dress has a 'looped up' skirt which can be let down and features quilting to combat the cold, it is a functional dress.

 

 

Mary Queen of Scots/France wore a white wedding gown in 1565, the first to do so . Following this Royalty wore white, whilst those with aspirations wore ivory/cream, this best dress being saved until they were presented at court.

Veils started as an evening accessory and then as fashions changed began to be used at weddings although they did not initially cover the face. 

The white Georgian dress in muslin with its low neck and short sleeves would not have been suitable for church, so would have been worn with a polece /spenser jacket to provide a high neck and long sleves for modesty in church.Quite often over sleeves and pelerine (large collar), or under sleeves below puff sleeves were worn. The dresses in 1860's were made within a week and the fresh flowers were sewn on overnight.

 

 

 

 Detachable trains( attached at waist/shoulder/neck) were used to make the dresses more practical. Lace was only used after Empress Eugene of France wore so much at her wedding.In 1867 jacket, bodice and skirt were used as wedding ensembles.

 

 In France in 1880 beading and embroidery started to be used on wedding dresses.

This dress (far right) has a boned bodice, an overskirt and train, all made from 2 layers of tulle with vintage lace.

 

 

The 1950's saw the arrival of 'off the peg' wedding dresses (cream dress) as well as patterns for people to make their own dress as evidenced in the white shorter dress

Crochet wedding dress from the 1980's

 20th April 2023

Lynne Stein with a presentation 'Hook,Prod,Punch and Tuft'

 

Mini workshop 1.00 - 3.30pm 

Part 3 -   Embelishment Dorset Buttons, Suffolk puffs etc

 2024 Notice board - 

Connected Threads -Stitch together

Meets twice a month on the 1st and 3rd Monday from 9.30 - 12.30, at St Annes Community Hub Nantwich . Open to all members, £3.00 fee payable at each meeting, bring your own stitching/knitting etc.

Tea/Coffee Rota

21st November - Judy F , Jude

NB Volunteers requiredfor January 2025 onwards

New co ordinator for tea/coffee  is Lynn

Exhibition 2027 at Nantwich Museum 'Inspired by Nantwich'

 

16th March 2023

'A layered story'  presentation by Suzette Smart

 

Suzette has always stitched and created starting at a young age, using kits, weaving , sewing etc and this is what she always wanted to do. She did a B Tech in Art and Design which involved collage and wire and then went on to a degree in Fashion and Textile design.

Whilst her children were young Suzette bought a machine which she used for free embroidery, creating stories and thread pictures (no fabric used). This constrained the size of her pieces of work so she included fabric, this has also involved repurposing of pieces of existing work into her new work through the process of collage.

 
Piece created for Exhibition in 2016 - used a vintage dress as the base /foundation which Suzette cut up and re put together - it is based on a map of where she lives with journeys depicted in thread.

For this Suzette used a dress that she had as a child as a template and then included ideas from nature. She uses pieces of fabric with memories, paint, mixed media to recreate the dress shape and decorates it with birds, flowers, fruits and words.

This was inspired from the garden during the 'lockdown' period, with the darker flowers reflecting the mood. The background was created using fabric crayons for the rubbings with the story being told in the top layers (flowers/words etc)

This piece is worked on a old tablecloth and features hexagons, windows, (open fabric to reveal image) animals which are created through stitch and then applied and images transfered onto fabric which is cut up and collaged onto the background.

 16th February 2023

'World Textiles' presented by Sue Simper 

Sue is a teacher with a passion for textiles, she has taught creative textiles and been involved with the Quilters Guild. Throughout she has collected a wide variety of textiles from around the world to provide inspiration, record traditional making techniques as well as patterns/decoration, identify lifestyles and cultures of the people who made them.

 

We enjoyed looking at and handling the textiles and were encouraged to think about and discuss, how they were made, what they were used for , where they originated, what they told us about where people lived, their beliefs etc.

 

 

 

 

 

Mini Workshop from 1pm 

Print and Stitch Rolls  (first of two mini workshops)

First workshop session will be printing 

 19th January 2023

 Cancelled due to Bad Weather Alert

Speaker - Christine Kelly

Presentation - Gentlework,emotion and Stories in Stitch

Mini Workshop from 1pm 

Print and Stitch Rolls  (first of two mini workshops)

 

 15th December 2022

This was our Christmas Celebration with a 'Surprise Speaker' and buffet lunch.

The speaker was Dave Draws (named as he draws and creates map illustrations) and the presentation was 'Unconventional Illustration Path'

Dave is based in Cheadle, Manchester and works producing murals and maps, some of his work is local but he has also worked abroad in Berlin, Hong Kong and Paris to name but a few of the places.

His work has developed into packaging eg 'Lancashire Tea', Rum bottles and labels, whilst his maps have been put onto mugs, place mats, cushions and trainers.

 During Covid he created an NHS map Manchester with the money going to the NHS, he now undertakes workshops including some in schools and also has an online shop.

The lunch a selection of savoury and sweet items, a drink and tea or coffee, was much appreciated providing a festive social gathering for members.