..... darn it......

10% off our next 2 workshops  /  earlybird tickets We've got the summertime blues as 2 or 3 participants have had to drop out of our upcoming workshops for various reasons.  But there are also greens, yellows and reds in abundance all around us!  Yes, the temperatures in south west France have moved up to the 30s most days now, the gardens are at their colourful peak and when we're not enjoying regular dips in the salt-water pools to cool off we're learning a little bit more about the arty craft of darning......   We all know how technological advances have engaged us in constant fast-forward motion making life overscheduled, stressed and hurtling towards the next task, whether at work or at home.  We mostly rush our food, our family time and even our recreation. If, like us, you can make space to sit in the shade for a few moments we'd like to pass on a little information about the slow art of hand-darning as a method of repair, embellishment, and a means of prolonging the life of a garment for economic or sentimental reasons.   Darning offers the stitcher an opportunity to slow down; the hand moving the needle into and then out of the fabric in a soothing, rhythmic pattern offering simultaneously a quiet time to unwind and a meditative recharging of the spirit whilst producing something useful yet beautiful.   Traditionally, darning is often employed where patching is impractical or would create discomfort for the wearer, such as on the heel of a sock, cardigan elbow or trouser knee.  It generally employs a simple running stitch "woven" in rows along the grain of the fabric, with the stitcher reversing direction at the end of each row, and then filling in the framework thus created, as if weaving and  But simple over-and-under weaving of threads can be replaced by various fancy weaves, such as twills, chevrons, etc., achieved by skipping threads in regular patterns. The length of the stitches are often varied to produce geometric designs.Though the skill and techniques of darning and pattern darning are essentially the same, the line between them holds significance in the intention of the maker. Is this pattern being used to repair and extend the life of the garment, emphasise its historical use or simply  to enhance and embellish the piece; possibly all three?     Since the original purpose was to reinforce weakened fabric or replace areas where the fabric had been ripped or disintegrated it was usual to match the repair threads as closely to the fabric as possible and if the fabric had a pattern, it was necessary to find suitable replacements for all the colours. Many sewing baskets contained scraps of fabric that could be unraveled and threads reused. The repair was worked from the topside where fabric remained, and rewoven where it was completely gone.   Our knowledge of pattern darning originates from textiles from Egypt dating to the 11th century.  Traditional embroidery using pattern darning is found in Africa, Japan, Northern and Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Mexico and Peru and designs for pattern darning seem to be carried forward from generation to generation.  Current darning methods are remarkably similar to the much older Egyptian designs. The skill is believed to have moved north along trade routes and is called skakkaglit in Iceland where it appears on altar cloths, bed linens and curtains. In this stitching, we start to see wool thread being used on linen and church inventories mention skakkaglit as an adornment.       Sashiko has been used in Japan for centuries for the continued reuse old clothing and is most famously visible on their Boro clothing (should you ever find yourself with some spare time in Tokyo, we highly recommend a visit to the Amuse Museum  where you will find an amazing private collection of Boro garments).  Starting with a couple of layers of old cloth, a new layer of fabric was added on top using tiny stitches. Sashiko means "little stabs" and resembles grains of rice. Traditionally the thread was white and the fabric indigo blue. Several styles of sashiko developed over time but the most basic pattern is called Moyozashi. This pattern is very geometric with straight or curved lines. The main difference with this type is that the lines do not cross. There should be a tiny bit of fabric showing between the stitches. If the geometric design does meet and cross, then the style is called Hitomezashi. The more colorful version is Nanbu. Kogin is also a derivative of Hiteomezashi but it follows the weave of the fabric and the stitch extends up to five threads in length with fabric threads showing between the stitches.   Our 5-Day workshop, KNITTING, DARNING & MENDING, this September, is to be led by Celia Pym,currently enjoying a UK Craft Residency at Cove Park, Scotland, who has travelled widely in Japan studying their darning, knitting and stitching techniques since completing her degree at Harvard University.   For many years Celia has been the enthusiastic, leading light in the art and craft of "Visible Mending", it's history and value in the household which combines the skill and philosophies of textile repair.  A small hole in a sweater might be darned with a matching yarn for practical purposes, but "Visible Mending" combines the utilitarian with the decorative by choosing contrasting colours and perhaps a different weight of yarn, maybe adding pattern and picture to the work. This visible mend brings frugality, design and frivolity into one place, literally stitching history into our daily lives as clothing and household linens sprout small testaments to a lineage of stitching as an essential skill in the human story. Several places have recently become available on both Celia Pym's Knitting, Darning and Mendingworkshop, 21st to 27th September - a hands-on adventure learning beautiful traditional methods to repair - as well as a couple at Claire Wellesley Smith's Weekend event from 7th to 10th October.  We'll be writing more about Claire's exquisite work and teaching methods in our next newsletter, but if you can step in and  book a place at either event before the middle of August, we can offer a 10% discount as late-comers.        And just a little reminder that we still have tickets for the incredible Gigspanner concert the weekend before Celia Pym's workshop, (www know this because Gigspanner have performed here twice before!).  So if the idea of some first class music, followed by a few days of quiet B&B accommodation in an amazing location, before moving into the world of stitches, we'd be happy to sort it out for you.  Bring your partner and we'll give you a special rate.

Tickets for Concert only

... feeling like February......

February has arrived and for most of us it has brought with it wet weather, grey skies and a bracing wind after what had been a mild warm winter so far.

On the positive side, the time indoors will be spent productively dealing with those overdue sewing tasks, whilst making an early start on the spring cleaning chores before our workshop season arrives with Åsa Tricosa's Weekend Knitting Masterclass at the end of April. Something really exciting to look forward to (Åsa's workshop, not the chores, that is).....

 

Asa Södeman is never one to sit back on her laurels; she's off to the Edinburgh Yarn Festival in March where you will find her hosting a couple of three-hour demonstrations:  one on Collars and Cuffs, and the other on the Marlisle technique, a new system of creating decorative texture and colour shifts in handknitted fabric with a particular focus on seamless knitting in the round.  Her workshop here will concentrate on tailoring beautifully crafted, top-down garments, with special attention to all those details that make for an expertly finished, knitted garment.  As a moderately competent knitter myself, I'm looking forward to learning those professional touches Åsa is celebrated for, as well as assimilating some of her wonderful Scandinavian colour sense. 

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Edinburgh seems to be the place to be at the moment for anyone into textiles, yarns, and all things  in-between. Fiona Rutherford, who will be leading her first workshop, Tapestry Weaving, with us in September this year, is starting her year with an exhibition of new tapestries at CONVERGE 2016 Visual Arts Scotland, 29th January - 20th February,  "I'm delighted that my triptych, "Familiar Rhythms", has been selected for this exciting mix of fine and applied art and design showing at the RSA galleries". She'll also be showing a selection of her tapestries under the theme "Fragments" at the Knitting & Stitching Show, Royal Highland Centre, Edinburgh, from 28th April to 1st May, when she herself will be available to talk to.  Well worth a visit!

During Fiona's workshop here, participants will be using lightwieght wood frame looms and a vibrant range of her personal Swedish cotton and linen yarns to weave colour and shape. Whether you are new to tapestry weaving or you want to take time to expand your ideas and weaving technique further in a creative environment, Fiona will guide you through the steps of how to create a small tapestry mounted and ready for you to take home.

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If, however, your neck of the woods happens to be Stateside, and Vermont at that, you might like to take the opportunity to view the work of innovative and talented "stitch artist", Emily Barletta whose work will be on view at the exhibition, Intimacy and Materiality,at the Helen Day Arts Centre in Stowe.  

We still have a few places remaining on Julie Arkell's Workshop here: Birds on a Table at the beginning of June. Julie's events here are always a joy, and participants this year will be encouraged to bring nature books they love, a favourite shell, dried flowers or any other nature find, all of which will be used to populate their unique nature table.  As usual, our regular workshop leader and firm favourite,Julie, will be sharing some her celebrated paper maché, knitting, stitching and collating techniques.

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We know that Julie would just love the fabrics of Kekfesto Cotton, a small UK importing company run by the aficionado, Gilly Thomson, which sells dozens of Hungarian, indigo printed, patterned fabrics. Reminiscent of Dutch Delft, but also remarkably similar to traditional hand-printed textiles of Japan, these textiles originally came from India, delivered as presents to the French court in the C17th and immediately became fashionable among ladies and nobles .  By the turn of the C18th more than a hundred workshops were operating in Hungary with printing technology and patterns that were top secret within each particular guild.  Today only eight workshops remain, and whilst still producing  the traditional patterns they also experiment with modern ones.  Luckily for us, Gilly stocks most of them.   

   

Enjoy a fabric-full February!

Katie

a conversation with Patricia Roberts.........

I first met Patricia Roberts in person a couple of years ago, when I approached her about the possibility of her leading a knitting workshop for Les Soeurs Anglaises, but I have been visiting her wonderful shop in Kinnerton Street, London for many years and known her by reputation for far, far longer.  In fact, I can honestly say that Patricia and her designs were responsible for my taking up needles to attempt something a little more serious and fashionable than the ubiquitous stripy scarves I had been making for long-suffering relatives for years.  Complicated some of of her designs may be, but worth the effort, always.

So I thought it about time to find out a little more about her personal stitching history, and I'm sure you will find it as intriguing as I did.

What is your first memory of knitting?  Do you remember the first item you knitted and do you still have it?

My very first memory of knitting was from when I was about 5 years old and my mother knitted me a red scarf to prove to my father that she could knit. I had to wear it to school and I was so embarrassed, because of all the dropped stitches.

My mother disliked anything homemade, because  as a girl she had always had home made clothes and longed for shop bought ones. I don’t think my mother ever knitted again after the red scarf, and my father’s teasing.  So it was my grandmother, who was a good craftswoman, who taught me to knit, when I was six.  Most of my friends had small rosebud dolls, which their mothers had knitted clothes for from “Women’s Weekly” patterns. My mother bought me the doll, but as I didn’t have the patterns, I made up my own, the first item being a fully fashioned (I was obsessed with increasing and decreasing) little dress in fine yellow wool with blue spots on it.  I don’t know what happened to it, but I was very proud of it at the time. I have continued to be obsessed with shape in conjunction  with stitch craft.

From where do you get your inspiration?

Inspiration can come from anywhere and anything and often an amalgam of different inspirations uniting to become something, which has very little relationship with the original. For instance one of my designs was an amalgam of  Fuzzypeg’s  coat from the “Little Grey Rabbit” books combined with a quilted cup and saucer. 

 

                                          Fuzzypeg's coat           A Patricia Roberts' pullover

How long is the process from first idea to finished item?

The length of time depends on how complicated the design is. For instance if a design has a particularly large complicated chart, the chart alone will take ages to complete and developing the stitches can be a slow process.

How do you arrive at the final design of an item?

The designs evolve as I work on them, particularly the stitches. I do a sketch of the shape of the garment and a rough idea of the stitches, then work on a stitch block, working the stitches out on graph paper and at the same time knitting, unraveling and reknitting until it is correct. The shape of the garment is particularly important and I work out the best use of the stitches within its dimensions.

Patricia Roberts' designs

Which fashion designers were you most influenced by when you first started?

A french designer called Lil, whose designs “Lil pour l’Autre”   machine knits were so cleverly shaped.  In the late 60’s and early 70’s they also had their own brand of luxury hand knitting yarns.

 

Lil pour l'Autre designs circa 1970

At what stage did you consider yourself a “professional knitwear designer”?

When I first saw one of my designs in a magazine. It was a yellow cabled sweater in “Honey” magazine.

Which current designer’s work are you most excited by?

I have the greatest regard for John Galliano’s work. It is often so cleverly executed. It is such a pity about his drunken comments.

John Galliano for Vogue

In which direction do you see hand-knitting going?

Currently the style is leaning towards the retro, always good for hand knits.

Original 1950 and 1960 knitting patterns

What one item/piece of equipment/skill (other than needles and yarn)  do you think is essential for the successful knitter?

A tape measure.

What is it you enjoy about teaching knitting?

Last year we had such an enthusiastic group of participants. Each had brought along a garment that they had knitted previously, which made a good talking point. Everyone was set the same brief and it was interesting to see how they all came up with something different.

Patricia's Knitting Workshop, Les Soeurs Anglaises, 2011

What are you looking forward to during your visit to Les Soeurs Anglaises?

Beautiful surroundings, the food, the visit to the secret brocante, the musical evening; it was all such fun.

A bowl of pasta on the last evening

Thank you Patricia and we look forward to seeing you at the end of May.

If you're ever in Hyderabad....

There's nothing like travel to broaden your mind and make you realize what difficult lives most people in the world have just trying to keep body and soul together.  


Les Soeurs are always interested to see what's going on locally on a textile level and during a recent trip to India we had the great good fortune to meet the remarkable and inspirational  octogenarian, Suraiya Hassan, who has given up her comfortable life in a wealthy Muslim family to live amongst, support and train the impoverished, unskilled widows of Hyderabad.

Suraiya Hassan

 By teaching them how to produce historical North Indian patterns on original-style looms - a skill generally lost or forgotten in the wake of modern technology - she has provided, over the last eight years, a much needed source of income for their families whilst re-introducing the traditional skills of spinning and weaving.  And, as if that wasn't enough she has also provided - and helps run - a small school for their children.  All this at an age when most people are enjoying the a well-earned rest.

The textiles are woven in both silk and cotton (or both) and a length of five meters can take two women, working together on a loom, anywhere upwards of three months to produce (only 3 inches a day).  Suraiya sources all the old patterns and motifs from original items of clothing that she collects and very often just small scraps, all that remains of a ceremonial jacket or sari.

This is not a charity (Suraiya is quiet adamant she will not take contributions) but if you would like to support this worthy venture and are interested in purchasing a length of these frankly gorgeous reproductions (a minimum length of 10m as it takes two days to set up the loom for each new colourway), Suraiya will take orders and can arrange to send you photographs and details via email from which to choose.

All I can add is that these fabrics are ridiculously well-priced considering the work that goes into them, though import tax would most probably bring the costs up to a more reasonable level.


suraiyas2009@gmail.com