Inspirations Issue 112

from the editor

LET’S CELEBRATE! As the weeks roll by and we edge closer and closer to the end of another year, our thoughts inevitably turn to celebration and December is certainly a month for big celebrations! For many people Christmas is at the top of the list and many festivities include large family and community gatherings that involve eating and drinking, exchanging gifts and simply enjoying the company of those we love. Just a few days earlier, the winter solstice is celebrated in the Northern Hemisphere and a few days later, the New Year is welcomed with parties and fireworks across the world, along with hopeful resolutions for better and brighter things to come. People gather at the same time annually across the globe to talk, laugh, sing and have lots of fun. The…

pierre fouché

Q: Your respect and appreciation for the tradition, history, and craftsmanship of lacemaking are evident, and you are dedicated to both preserving the past and teaching the future generations. Where does this appreciation of the craft come from? Why do you feel so strongly about preserving and promoting it? A: I just had this same discussion with a lacemaker friend, and we concluded that we pity anyone who does not have something as engaging, inventive, enjoyable, immersive, challenging, and rewarding as bobbin lace! To borrow someone else's phrase: ‘Like most junkies, I eventually became a dealer’ – albeit a dealer in skills in my case. The lace community, for too long isolated in little pockets all over the world, has grown connected in incredible ways, and as soon as someone learns…

moroccan buttons

Aziza Bourouaha is a widow in her fifties. She grew up in a strict household where girls stayed home until they were ready to get married. Unfortunately, Aziza’s husband passed away from diabetes, leaving her with a daughter but without an income and no skills. This was when Aziza took the bold step to become a buttonmaker and breadwinner instead of moving back to her family home. She worked on her own, travelling to sell her buttons in the bigger cities. “But after a while, I stopped travelling. I got worn out.” Today Aziza is part of the Cherry Buttons Cooperative set up by Amina Yabis. Although buttonmaking is not a collective craft, it is human nature to not work in isolation. For the women of Sefrou, buttonmaking only happens once…

between the covers

A Sea to Stitch Elisabetta Sforza | Self-published 2020 | Soft Cover 88 pg ISBN 978-88-943526-2-7 | RRP $54.95 In this book, Elisabetta Sforza extends a lyrical invitation to become immersed in a contemplative experience while stitching from her newly designed alphabet inspired by one of her greatest loves, the sea. Each letter in A Sea to Stitch is embroidered to resemble waves breaking on a beach, with a section framing an ocean view with sea gulls flying above an ocean dotted with whitecaps. A selection of seashells and a starfish stand out from the shoreline with raised embroidery, representing treasured memories. Marine ropes, carried aloft by sea breezes, curl around each letter like meandering thoughts. The book is presented as a comprehensive travel guide offering a choice of seven destinations, a complete set…

twelve secret voices

“It all started when I needed a nice tablecloth!” In December 2018 Anne and Damian Ward of Llangammarch Wells had family from Australia and South Africa over for a Christmas visit. When looking for a 'nice tablecloth' in a bag of assorted white goods in the Brecon British Red Cross Shop, Anne found a bedspread that has taken her and her family on a time travelling and international journey of incredible historical discoveries. They have been to villages and towns in the UK and Wales, to Flanders Fields, the Somme, Hollywood USA, a Benedictine Abbey in Ireland, and to Australia, New Zealand, Canada and South Africa- and all during a world-wide lockdown. This bedspread is hand embroidered with twelve regimental badges that were all active in World War One. It is entirely,…

seeing red

This delightful sweetbag, a favoured accessory, borrows from the blackwork tradition and the motifs popular at this time but uses rich garnet rather than black. Worked onto antique white linen, the drawstring bag is stitched with stranded silk and trimmed with two-colour cords and tassels made with lustrous perlée silk. before you begin We recommend that you read the complete article and instructions in the pattern download See the pattern download for the alphabet and number chart All embroidery is worked with ONE strand of thread unless specified this design uses Back stitch | Blanket stitch Detached blanket stitch Double running stitch Two-colour twisted cord Up and down blanket stitch loop Whipping requirements Fabric 30cm x 45cm wide (12" x 18") piece of 32-count antique white linen 20cm x 40cm wide (8" x 16") piece of ivory silk dupion Supplies 3cm…