21st March 2024

'My felted journey with botanical colours'  was unfortunately cancelled as Helen (our speaker) was ill.

'The unstitched coif' a presentation of work which was created to contribute to a PhD research project by Toni Buckby was delivered by Sue Jones one of the core group members.

In 2023 information went out to find 40 stitchers to stitch a piece of 'Blackwork' based on an archive from the V & A.

400 people from all over the world applied, there was funding for a core group of 40 although any of the others could join and stitch if they wanted too.

One workshop was held at the V&A, another at Sheffield Hallam as the PhD was in conjunction with Hallam. At the workshop they looked at historical Blackwork, fabrics, stitches, how it could be used in modern times etc.

The project was based on a panel (15" x9") from the 1600's which featured a coif - an Elizabethan headdress. This panel however had had the original stitching/embroidery removed leaving just the outlines.

Each of the members (150) started with a printed panel of the coif, the fabric for the core group was Italian and 75 threads to an inch - a strain to see when stitching!

Sue wanted to use colours rather than black, her first flower took some 30 hours of work, then via the social media chat (set up for the group to exchange ideas, problems etc) Sue learned that someone had identified the flowers/plants and the flower she had completed was not in a colour which she considered suitable so she unpicked it, and restarted using appropriate colours.

At the conclusion there were 77pieces of work these were created by people from all over the world with members ranging from the youngest at 13 to the oldest at 85. Some had used traditional blackwork for all of the coif, others used a mix of stitches including backstitch and beading, some had even tried to link it up with electronics to produce,for example a flashing of an eye in animals or birds or flower centre.

Members had decided on their own threads eg pure silk for the sheen, vintage sylko etc, some used applique and machining, others just outlined the shapes of flowers, leaves, animals and birds. 

 

 

As part of the project members had to record information about the choice of stitches, techniques, colours etc so at the end for each piece of work there was a record of the person, the stitches, time taken (for Sue 250 hours!)  and the work.

 Currently the V&A are having extensions but the hope is there will eventually be an exhibition of the work, the curator had looked at all the exhibits and emailed each contributor personally.

 

 

It was most interesting to not only hear about the project but to see so many different and varied outcomes from the same starting point of the original coif  design.