Tea Towels Transformed

NZ publication available from Fishpond

Every tea towel might tell a story, but nothing rhymes with 'tea towel' - is this true?

There is a lot of interesting information surrounding the humble tea towel ... The name 'tea towel' originates from early 19th century Victorian England. The tea towel was the linen of choice for Victorian ladies who liked its absorbent, fine weave soft linen fibres. They deemed it ideal to dry their expensive and delicate china, glassware, and serving pieces without scratching or leaving surface lint. A popular Victorian pastime was to embroider personalised tea towels which were used at tea time to cover food, to wrap around the outside of the teapot (tea cosy), and to take care of any spills....During the early 20th century , American housewives showed great ingenuity by transforming empty animal feed cotton into dish towels( tea towels). The feed sacks were cut into suitably sized pieces of material, and the women would embroider intricate designs onto plain cotton to give them a decorative and feminine look. The coarse cotton weave of the feed sacks was more difficult to embroider than the finer weave of linen, nonetheless embroidery was decoratively applied .
( from http://www.all-tea-towels.co.uk )

art print tea towels by Thea and Sami

Only a couple of days ago, I was reminded about the practice of embroidering tea towels. My mother and her two friends, for quite a few years, set themselves a collaborative challenge of embroidering the linen tea towels released by the Country Womens' Association (CWA) as part of their annual cultural studies.

These tea towels have been transformed into works of art...

These tea towels started with commercially printed outlines and then were hand embroidered, appliqued and embelllished by these three embroiderers who collaborated on the design, divided up the work, handing the tea towel on from one to another.

While a lot of the embroidery on these tea towels may be considered traditional, there are also many contemporary techniques used to achieve desired effects, textures and dimension.

These beautifully worked tea towels won competitions some years ago, but are now usually hidden from view in storage This week, I was very lucky to see them and I relished the opportunity to take these photos. Congratulations Joyce, Nola and Hannah - these are really creative textile art works you can be very proud to display. Happy Mothers Day!

"Temari Or Not Temari?" Tutorial

Background Information: Temari (literally translated “hand ball”) is a Japanese folk craft that is alleged to have originated in China and was introduced to Japan five or six hundred years ago. Traditionally, the balls were constructed from wrapped kimono fabric remnants and silk threads. They were made by mothers and grandmothers for children to play with. Nowadays, decorative embroidered temari represent a highly valued and cherished gift symbolizing friendship and loyalty. Recently I've wondered if your don't use traditional techniques whether you should call what you create "temari". That is an ongoing debate but today I share what I do to make a "non-traditional temari".... 1.I start with a polystrene ball ( traditionally the balls were wound silk scraps or other organic materials) and begin to wrap with approx 4 ply wool, turning the ball as I wrap. 2. I then wrap another layer of wool in a similar fashion , this time a 3 or 2 ...

Bilby Infatuation

Wrapped wire and fabric bilby sculpture : Wilma Simmons 2016 Over the years I have been fascinated with the plight of the bilby and it has inspired quite a few of my cloth creations... With long pinkish-coloured ears and silky, blue-grey fur, the Bilby has become Australia’s version of the Easter Bunny. Unlike the rabbit, bilby numbers are falling rapidly. There were originally two species but the Greater Bilby is now commonly referred to simply as ‘the Bilby’ as the Lesser Bilby (Macrotis leucura) is thought to have become extinct in the early 1950s... Bilbies are nocturnal, emerging after dark to forage for food. Using their long snouts, they dig out bulbs, tubers, spiders, termites, witchetty grubs and fungi. They use their tongues to lick up grass seeds. Bilbies have poor sight and rely on good hearing and a keen sense of smell. To minimise threats from predators they’ll mostly stay within 250m of their burrows, but sometimes roam further afield depending on the food...

Countdown to Christmas 20 - Fruitcake song!

There are many songs about fruit cakes - not all of them referring to the Christmas cake we know and love.It is really surprising to learn via Google that there are 89 listed songs with references to Christmas cake or fruit cake - not all of them complimentary. Probably one of the most famous folk songs about Christmas cake is Miss Fogarty's Christmas Cake (a favourite sung by The Irish Rovers). This first recorded comical Christmas song was written by C Frank Horn in 1883 in Pennsylania, as a variation of an Irish folk song, 'Miss Mulligan's Christmas Cake' . The chorus might give you the hint that Miss Fogarty's cake was not for the faint hearted or those who suffered from a weak stomach. Chorus : There were plums and prunes and cherries, There were citrons and raisins and cinnamon, too There was nutmeg, cloves and berries And a crust that was nailed on with glue There were caraway seeds in abundance Such that...

Empress Wu Designs with Wilma

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