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Autumn has arrived at Croome as the last changes were made to our installation, “My Happy Place”. The vibrant colours of autumn are powerful and warming, and the display has already attracted a lot of positive comments from visitors. There is a dramatic Remembrance Day tribute, a carpet of leaves from our friends at PETA, toadstools and fungi to admire, a hibernating dormouse, a nature table, a pair of walking boots and a stunning Green Man, to name but a few of the additions. The Autumn panel is glorious and conveys the beauty and splendour of this time of year using a myriad of techniques.
So our year long journey through the seasons created in textile art is complete. It has been a long journey – nearly two years in the planning and an enormous effort and collaboration from our fantastic members. New members have been swept along too and have willingly contributed their work following in-house mini workshops, resulting in pieces for our installation. This feature of mini workshops is an exciting development for Threads and will continue as members share their expertise, enthusiasm and skill in the true nature of collaboration, spreading the love of textiles.
We have a lot to be proud of. The installation has been a huge success and is in place until January 8th 2024. Threads has grown and, as we enter our third very successful year, we are already planning and plotting for our next exciting textile adventure!
Thank you to all members who have contributed to “My Happy Place”.
Sara D.
Garden Tools
Geraldine’s happy place is creating textiles in the garden. For her, textile art is using materials and stitches to express ideas, images and feelings. Gardening is her happy place; she loves the smell of the earth and creating pictures with plants. Her mother loved gardening and Geraldine feels connected to her in the garden. Geraldine has her mother’s button box and bits of broken jewellery and she has stitched some of these into her creations. She says her mother would have loved to have seen the results, with her treasures and her dad’s coat buttons included.
Geraldine’s loose plan evolved as she worked and the results are surreal rather than real. Once she has started, the challenge is always when to stop! It made her feel good to work with different techniques, making felt, painting and manipulating Lutrador and threads. The project gave her a purpose to create and a deadline to finish … always useful!
Winter Water Bottle
Christine, who often stitches with a hot water bottle on her lap or on her back, was inspired to do this piece whilst watching many different types of birds frolicking on various seed heads that she had left in her garden during the winter. The birds’ antics made her smile and helped her to get through the lockdowns and cold days.
A cotton fabric, printed with seed heads using stencils and fabric paint, was used as the base material. The seed heads were filled in using free machining. The bird outlines were individually drawn, cut to shape and then backed with Bondaweb to attach them to the base material. Machine stitching was used to emphasise the shape of the birds and their feathers. The background was stitched using a free machined Vermicelli stitch (sometimes known as Stipple Stitch).
The Jellyfish
This colourful creature was made using the wet felting technique. Wool top fibres were laid evenly over a circular resist template, up to three layers per side. The fibres were made wet using hot soapy water. Then the piece was rubbed and rolled until the wool fibres meshed together to form a new fabric. The soap was washed out, a small hole was cut in the centre of one side and the resist carefully removed. Further manipulation was required to form the hollow, dome shape and after a lot of pulling and stretching, the ‘body’ of the jellyfish was stretched over a mixing bowl to dry. Wool has a memory so if you let the form dry over a mould, it will retain that shape. The curly fronds were created using thin ‘snakes’ of wool fibres that had been wet felted and then, whilst wet, stretched over a pencil in a spiral formation and kept in place with a thick elastic band. Again, the wool has a memory and, as it dried out, it retained the spiral shape.
Jellyfish may be found on the beaches in Gower and Cornwall and even in Australia, but never has such a spectacular specimen as this been seen!
The Rock Pool
This magnificent structure was created under the guidance and expertise of one of our members, Julia. She coordinated the making of this stand-alone exhibit and made the bulk of the pieces within in. She ran workshops for members to create embellishments such as rocks, shells and crustaceans using silk paper.
Silk paper making uses the fibres from the silk moth cocoon in various forms such as tops, throwsters waste and ‘hankies’. The fibres can be bought dyed in a range of fabulous colours or natural, and can be painted. The fibres are laid down onto a base of plastic or greaseproof paper, ensuring the fibres slightly overlap. The fibres are then ‘glued’ together using wallpaper paste containing methyl cellulose and left to dry on a fine mesh sheet. When drying, the new material can be formed into various shapes by moulding over scrunched up silver foil or using a wooden stamp. When dry, the pieces can be stitched into or beads added. The overall effect of silk paper making is delicate and ethereal with its lustrous sheen.
Wild Flower Meadow
The meadow was created using free machine embroidery and members were encouraged to have a go following a process demonstrated by two members.
Each flower is made using free machine embroidery sewn on soluble fabric. Soluble fabric is a non-woven product that needs to be stretched inside an embroidery hoop. With the feed dog down and a suitable foot on the machine, you are free to create flower shapes and leaves. It is very important that all the stitching interlocks. Sometimes, organza can be used to create a colourful layer to be stitched into, as well as the soluble fabric. When the stitching is complete, the excess soluble fabric is trimmed away and it is rinsed under warm water and left to dry. The soluble fabric is a glue-like substance and this gives structure to the stitches and shape to the flowers and leaves. Once the flower and leaves are dry, florists’ wire was used to create a stem and the wire was wrapped with florists’ tape. Wooden cotton reels were used to stand the flowers up in.
Our members had a great time recreating their favourite flowers or using their imagination to produce wonderful pieces of floral fancy.
The Wedding Cake
In keeping with the theme of My Happy Place, what better than a summer wedding and the wedding cake?
The idea was to create something with impact, something which emphasised the notion of extreme happiness and jubilation. Something with BLING! The creative process considered how the making of such a textile sculptured piece could involve as many members as would like to contribute.
The three-tier form was made from card, each tier covered in white cotton cloth which would allow attachment of a textile embellishment. A colour swatch was provided which guided the choice of summer colours to be used in the piece. We decided upon violet in all its shades and tints as the predominant hue. The technique of Suffolk puff was proposed, giving the opportunity for members of the Threads’ group to make as many of these textile rounds as they wanted.
The Suffolk puff form resembles a flower; a simple running stitch gathers a round of fabric into a decorative form which can then be assembled into a larger textile piece. Single puffs allowed the use of many different patterned and plain fabrics cut from the smallest pieces of scrap fabrics in a stash. Further variety was achieved by using different sized puffs and an assortment of bead and button embellishment.
Once the Suffolk puffs were finished the final design and arrangement was planned, arranging the puffs from top tier to bottom. Consideration was given to the flow of colour from one tier to the next, leaving white space covered in shades of white and cream Suffolk puffs to emphasise the cascade of colour and glitz. Chartreuse green, as the complimentary colour to the violet puffs, was introduced by the application of ribbon at the base of each tier. The Suffolk puffs were either pinned or glued on to the base and a cascade was created for extra beauty. Finally, a free machine embroidered flower posy topped the cake in the complementary colours.
Extra items are part of this ensemble – a cake slice, a Holy book and wedding rings. All set for a glorious summer wedding!
Summer is in full bloom at Croome! The pojagi panel sings with colour and vibrancy as Threads’ members captured their Happy Place in stitch. The images range from flipflops to summer garden reading, beach holidays to cottage garden flower beds and lots more. Many varied techniques have been used and visitors are taking time to look at each panel and admire the workmanship of our multi-talented group.
The seats, archways and panels reflect the three seasons now represented:
Winter, with cool colours, snuggly quilt, steaming hot chocolate and hot water bottle, exquisitely embroidered boots, a pile of logs for insects to make their home, a curled kitten on a cushion and a tiny teddy to cuddle.
Spring, with its promise of growth and renewal. Clambering clematis, mosses and primroses, garden tools and gloves, seed packets and seed trays, the bird table with feeding birds and a greedy squirrel, a cheeky robin building her nest in a silver teapot and a giant hare.
Summer comes with a blast of colour and the sculptured pieces in the centre have a whimsy about them - the giant peapod, the exotic vines, floor panels and birds and the summer meadow drifts with butterflies are a visual treat. There are the Take One Stitch towers which represent a huge variety of chosen stitches in a myriad of colours. The summer seat houses the stunning wedding cake, wedding shoes and bridesmaid dress and jacket.
On the cupboard in the alcove is a range of exquisitely stitched pieces to look closely at and admire. The table now contains three wonderful books of hand stitched excellence - a seasonal record of plants and flowers.
And then there’s the Rockpool. Nestled snuggly in the fireplace, this amazing structure contains shells, limpets, sea creatures, anemone, seaweed and even a jelly fish.
This installation is an amazing achievement from our wonderful Threads’ members, all 80 of us. Such a collaboration is a joy and I am truly proud of everyone who has contributed. It looks FANTASTIC and has already got the Croome stewards buzzing! AND we still have Autumn to come!
Sara D.
Our theme reflects personal responses to concepts of sanctuary and well-being. For Threads’ members, to have a needle, thread and fabric is a happy place in itself, so each item you see is the product of someone taking the opportunity to relax and reflect whilst creating an original piece of art.
The installation, which opened on 21st March, will evolve with the seasons, reflecting the elements that bring joy or solace through the year. Visitors will notice that nature is always inspirational, whether in the garden or in our beautiful landscape. Of course, calendar and life events are also represented, along with simple daily pleasures.
Textile enthusiasts visiting the exhibition may well spot examples of hand-embroidery styles and machine-stitched work. The hanging panels have been constructed using pojagi, a Korean patchwork style which has concealed seams. Felting techniques have been widely used for the 3D pieces. Soluble fabric, typically with machine stitching, is used on other 3D items.
The framework represents a shelter, its “walls” being made of sheer fabric. The semi-transparent fabric has a dream-like quality, and the decorated panels float like feelings and ideas around this sanctuary. These panels have been designed and created in response to the theme across the seasons.
Spaces between the walls allow us to see into the interior, with 3D textile artworks on the benches and floor space reflecting different aspects of a “happy place” for the artists.
If we have tempted you to come along, please visit www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/Worcestershire-herefordshire/croome for opening times and visitor information. We should love to see you!
We are thrilled to be returning to exhibit at National Trust Croome Court after a very successful installation entitled ‘Changing Perspectives’ in 2019. Please look at the photos on the website.
For 2023 we have created an evolving body of work based on the title ‘My Happy Place’ – a physical, geographical or emotional place that is our personal place of happiness. Members have been asked to represent their happy place through stitch.
We have interpreted this in a huge variety of ways using a myriad of textile techniques and materials drawing upon the four seasons to use as a stimulus for our work. Starting with winter and building throughout the year, we will create a visual feast for visitors to enjoy.
Four arched structures symbolising the four seasons will surround a quiet, central space. Each arch will have a display of stitched textile pieces that represent the current season, depicting My Happy Place and this will be supported by 3D textile work within the central space.
The panels are stitched together using a traditional Korean patchwork technique known as pojagi. The seam allowances are concealed within seams, as with the flat fell seam in dressmaking. The fabric chosen is deliberately translucent, to allow the visitor to see through the panels and perhaps catch a glimpse of the methods used and the interesting 3D creations that will be exhibited within the central space.
The display will change as the season changes and new pieces for each season will be put in place, building as the year progresses.
We are running in-house workshops to work on collaborative items, such as needle felted birds, machine embroidered flowers for a wild flower meadow and beautiful butterflies that will add to the installation, inspired by the natural world.
The aim is to capture the essence of sanctuary and well-being which we strive for – especially after the challenging time we have all had. More than ever, we realise how important it is to take care of ourselves, not just physically, but emotionally too.
Sara Drewett
Creative Lead Croome 2023
The view from Croome house is an idyllic image of English country parkland. However, we know this is the result of Capability Brown’s first landscaping commission, commencing in 1751. Small, farmed fields and a village were swept away to create the country park we now know – change indeed.
The idea of ‘change’ to the grounds was the starting point for the members of Worcester Embroiderers’ Guild’s installation. We looked at the social and political events that have left their mark on Croome Park. Resulting ideas ranged from the disappearing village, the creation of the lake and gardens, life during WW2, St. Joseph’s School for Boys, the International Society for Krishna Consciousness and, most recently, the arrival of the National Trust and its plans for taking the estate forward.
Working in their own style and mostly in collaborative groups, the members have tried to depict aspects of these important moments through textile art work. For some, their medium has been felt, others have applied fabrics which, in some cases, have been naturally dyed, creating pattern and foliage found in the landscape. In all cases, the inspiration was to depict a Changing Perspective on a room setting – creating all the fixtures and fittings from textiles.