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This spring I had the chance to venture off to London,
England to visit my daughter who is studying for her Masters in Musical Theatre
there. I pre-booked my BritRail
pass and Oyster card (for the tube in London) so I was all set to venture out
on my own! I arrived before
Kathleen’s spring break began – just happened
to fly into Birmingham where the HUGE sewing, embroidery and crafts shows were
in progress. Yes, “shows” is
correct – three shows in two arenas!
The NEC – site of the shows - adjoins the airport, so it is just steps
from where the plane lands. And
overload is the word for the 2 ½ days I spent wandering the exhibits and
vendors. Their shows include not
only merchants but also exhibits of embroidery student work, special theme
exhibits, displays by many guilds or special groups such as embroiderers, lace
makers, luceteers, silk painters, felters and scrapbookers. This show had a very large exhibit on
the history of lace. And, I even saw some of the costumes from “Downton Abbey”
on display.
I managed to squeeze in a trip to the new home of
the Embroiderers’ Guild (UK) in Walton-on-Thames.
I spent 5 hours there examining the contents of the
storage box that holds their 17th century collection of embroidered
pieces. So with white gloves on my
hands, and camera at the ready, I oohed and ached as I examined many precious types of embroidery. Some of their special pieces have their
own storage case (photo of the gloves).
The collection is stored in a special room. And on the
walls around the study room are more modern examples from their
collection. I even saw Louisa
Peele’s chatelaine in the collection case.
I saw the Golden Spider Cape in the Victoria & Albert
Museum – the spider’s silk fiber is an amazing colour – the spools of the
spider silk look like gold metal threads!
On display were the cape and a large shawl. There was also a”cartoon” of the cape showing what stitches
were to be used in what areas of the cape.
And yes, the V&A and most museums over there do allow
you to photograph as long as it is without flash.

While Kathleen was finishing up her term essay, I ventured
out to Knebworth (on the train route to Cambridge) and took 3 days of classes
at Art Van Go. This is an art
supply store that also carries a wide selection of textile and stitch items! I did lots of sample pieces of
texturizing fabric surfaces and foiling them. And I discovered that putting plastic wrap on not-quite-dry
acrylic surfaces causes the plastic wrap to adhere permanently if not removed
once you get back to the B&B!


magazine and investigated online before I went to the UK). We had talks by four people throughout the day. Dorset was the center of the straw hat industry in the 1800s, so the museum had many of their treasured hats – straw and sun bonnets- on display. The last speaker’s topic was “What is in the Queen’s handbag?” – You will have to read his book to find out!!!!
Together, Kathleen and I also visited Oxford, Cambridge and
Bath - taking more photos everywhere we went. Even photos of the brick work patterns on buildings or the
flower shapes in the sidewalks – all possible design sources for
embroidery. Oh yes, we even went
punting on the river Cam in Cambridge!
So, when you are planning your next journey, don’t forget to
check out possible textile sites ahead of time. You never know what you will come across once you are there!
Barbara Gilbert
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About EAC

- EAC Blog
- The Embroiderers' Association of Canada (EAC) is a national non-profit educational organization whose purpose is to have a fellowship of persons who enjoy needlework and wish to learn and share their knowledge; and thereby to work towards maintaining higher standards of design, colour and workmanship.
Our aim is to preserve traditional techniques and promote new challenges in the Art of Embroidery through education and networking.

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