Public History – Community Art – Heritage Textiles
Author: everystitchastory
Hello I'm Laura a public historian, textiles practitioner and community arts facilitator and I run Every Stitch A Story. My work champions the power of textiles to help individuals and communities uncover, explore and document past and present narratives by creating and preserving tangible textile objects.
Today I have had the pleasure of sharing ‘The Making of The Brailsford Bayeux’ with Matlock Needlecraft Group. It’s truly wonderful not only to share the incredible achievement of this project but also to inspire other communities and groups to undertake similar projects, albeit on what I suspect will be on a somewhat smaller scale.
The Matlock Needlecraft Group have an impressively long history and some incredibly talented and knowledgeable stitchers amongst them (some of whom have been members since the late 70s!). My visit coincided with early discussions about a potential new collaborative project of their own. They are considering creating a piece to celebrate the recent relocation of works historically created by the group to Masson Mills.
They group (whom I can honestly say are the most incredibly warm, friendly and welcoming women) meet at The Imperial Rooms in Matlock on Wednesday mornings. They welcome stitchers and knitters of all ability levels. If you enjoy stitching or would like to give it a go, do pop along to a meeting or call Lesley on 07773 950636 for more information. I’ll certainly be keeping in contact to see how their project develops.
The Brailsford Bayeux is now ‘on tour’ and we welcome interest from groups, communities, museums and venues who would be interested in displaying the embroidery and or having a talk about the process of the making of it. Please email me Laura_Burrill@Outlook.com for more information.
The dust has settled after a whirlwind community project which took over not only my life but the lives of many within our sleepy Derbyshire village of Brailsford.
Our aim was to create a narrative embroidery to commemorate the coronation of King Charles, inspired by the Bayeux Tapestry. This was to take the form of a central panel depicting an imagined scene of the Coronation Day. King Charles, Queen Camilla and the Archbishop of Canterbury were to take centre stage; with a procession of some of the community groups we have here in Brailsford, streaming from community meeting places. This central story was to be surrounded by, we hoped, 100 embroidered squares to create a border top and bottom.
We wanted to include and encourage as many people as possible within the community to take part. And wow, people did. With open hearts, minds and enthusiasm.
This project has been heart-warming and humbling. Participants willingness to step out of their comfort zones and try something new or share their time, experience and knowledge has meant that together we have created something far beyond our wildest dreams.
For many taking part was not easy, but that didn’t stop them. From taking days off work and organising child and pet care, to overcoming significant physical and mental health barriers, villagers joined us.
In workshops and from homes participants overcame these barriers to be faced by something that clearly had left an indelible, and for some, unpleasant mark from their school days, needlework! Despite fears of ‘I can’t do this’ and I’m not good enough’ the mantra of ‘connection not perfection’ soon meant large numbers of beautifully crafted squares began to pile up. We received a whopping 406 squares in total, 4 times our original goal. These squares tell stories of the place we call home, they share memories, document our passions and communicate our love and gratitude.
As confidence grew so did the number of those working on the central narrative embroidery. 26 women worked this panel in just 7 weeks. It is an incredible achievement, not helped by my last-minute decision to add a border. I am so incredibly grateful to you and every single one of the 282 individuals who have taken part.
I have witnessed disparate parts of our changing and expanding community come together, neighbourly disputes resolved, mental health issues relieved, loneliness diminish, new friendships made, old friendships rekindled. With participants as young as 2 and as wise as 94, knowledge, skills and stories have been shared between multiple generations, we have learned from each other and become more connected with the place we live.
It has been an honour to be a part of this project and I hope that everyone who has taken part is proud of what we have created together. It is more than an embroidery, it represents the threads of our community which have strengthened, developed and expanded over the last three months. These threads of connection now bind us together whilst also reaching out to future generations. They tell the story of the place we live and who we are.
The Brailsford Bayeux is now going on tour! Its next stop will be the Ashbourne Methodist Church from Thursday 13th July – Saturday 15th July… keep an eye on the Brailsford Bayeux Facebook page for further announcements.
Huge thanks to every single person that took part, shared their time and talents. A special thank you to Teresa Mikula & Richard Faulkner for capturing the project on film.
I’m super excited to share that I’m running a short series of workshops in June and July sharing the art of slow stitching.
The mindful art of slow stitching has increasingly become a regular part of my textile praxis over recent years. For me it has been a private, explorative process, focusing on process rather than outcome. As a self-confessed perfectionist, addicted to the daily hustle, outcomes and productivity, it has challenged me to view my textiles work through a new lens. Guided by the Japanese philosophy of ‘Wabi-Sabi’ my slow stitching practice is focused on searching for beauty in imperfection, embracing impermanence whilst revelling in slowness and process. Slow stitching is now an activity I reach for on a daily basis, it slows my mind, soothes my need to create when I have only minutes for textiles practice (because let’s face it life is busy!) and as it turns out has resulted in beautiful miniature pieces of textiles art that are full of meaning. So now I’d love to share this beautiful form of textile creation with others.
I’ve seen first-hand through the various community textiles projects I have facilitated that hand stitching has the ability to heal, sooth and provide an outlet for people to express themselves; even when they don’t consider themselves creative. It requires simple skills, which can easily be picked up, limited materials and equipment and takes up barely any space. So why don’t you join me? Classes will be small and sociable with all materials and equipment provided. Plus, there’ll be refreshments of tea, coffee and biscuits… well you can’t be creative without sustenance!
Drawing on traditional hand sewing textile practices from around the world I’ll guide participants through the process of repurposing unwanted and discarded textile fragments, utilising the most basic of hand sewing stitches, to create beautiful pieces of textiles art to treasure and share.
Introduction to Slow Stitching: Textile Collage Card
Friday 30th June: Brailsford Methodist Church 9.30am – 1pm
Join me to discover the basics of slow stitching and create your very own beautiful textile collage card.
Join me to discover the art of slow stitching and create your very own beautiful textile drawstring bag. This larger project runs over two sessions. The first workshop will focus on exploring composition and the basics of slow stitching, the second on bag construction and potential variations.
£50 includes all materials and equipment.
This series of classes can be booked as a course package for the discounted rate of £60.
No needlework experience is necessary for any of the classes, I’ll be on hand to guide you through the simple stitches and processes to help you create beautiful and meaningful pieces of textile art. We’ll be using reclaimed, recycled and vintage fabrics from my collection of textiles amassed from across the world (doesn’t everyone buy fabric when they travel?). But I encourage participants to bring along scraps of fabrics that are special to them to incorporate into their work or use as inspiration.
BOOKING ESSENTIAL. To book or for more information please contact me on Laura_Burrill@outlook.com
We are incredibly lucky in Brailsford to have a couple who used to work in tv and radio news, they have kindly captured the process and development of the project for us.
A sneak peek at the final stages of The Brailsford Bayeux… no spoilers though, you’ll have to wait until the grand unveiling ceremony on Saturday 29th April, All Saints Church, Brailsford!
I’ve been dying to share this news for weeks; admin done, materials sourced, and plans made I can now finally share my latest commission. The Brailsford Bayeux; a community stitch project bringing together the people of Brailsford & Ednaston in celebration and commemoration of the coronation of HRH Charles III. Working together with the Brailsford & Ednaston Churches Together Group and local residents we are making an ENORMOUS embroidery inspired by the Bayeux Tapestry. This is by far the most ambitious project I have worked on to date and once finished will, we hope, will be well in excess of 5 meters!
The coronation of HRH Charles III will take place at Westminster Abbey on Saturday 6th May 2023. The ceremony will see His Majesty King Charles crown alongside the Queen Consort. The Brailsford Bayeux will commemorate this historic moment in time, depicting a procession of well-wishers, made up of community organisations and groups from the locality who travel from important local landmarks and community spaces.
The Bayeux tapestry, which is actually a large embroidery and not a tapestry, acts as our inspiration. The original narrative hanging was commissioned by William the Conqueror’s half-brother and tells the story of the events surrounding the conquest of England by the Duke of Normandy. The original is made of 9 panels of linen joined together, in total it is a whopping 68.3 meters long and 70cm wide. Our narrative hanging will not be quite this big but with the help of parishioners we hope to make it as large as possible.
The original hanging was crafted by three groups of workers using 4 basic stitches (stem, chain, split and laid or Bayeux stitch) in 10 colours of wool thread. We hope that everyone in the village will get involved, from experienced stitchers through to those who have never picked up a needle before, everyone can add their mark. We’ve got open stich sessions planned throughout March at the Brailsford Methodist Church, see below for details. Plus, as always, I’m open to running sessions with community groups so if you live in Brailsford or Ednaston and would like to get involved let us know!
Every Stitch A Story 