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Patch by Jane
I don’t want to give a story for my patch. I’ve had a lifetime of doing as I was told, being very good and doing as was expected of me. You go to school and they tell you what to do. You follow the role that is expected of you, have children and take care of them. You then find yourself taking care of parents, which I didn’t expect. Now, I can think, what about me? What do I want to do? And what I don’t want to do is to have to justify why I enjoy sewing. - This patch has been created using the smocking technique. Smocking was an early form of garment shaping, used to create cuffs, bodices, and necklines. Smocked fabric would produce 1/3 of the original fabric width, but would allow for fit and flexibility in garment design. The technique was used extensively on labourers work shirts or smocks, not as a status symbol as other embroidery was often used. The technique dates back to the 12th century BC and samples have been found at archaeological digs. Smocking makes its first literary appearance in the Canterbury Tales in 1386; it reached widespread usage in the 18th and 19th centuries.
Patch by Susan
A Room with a View. It seemed appropriate for me to stitch my own view of a coffee shop window in Cortona, Tuscany, Italy where I regularly visit when I am staying there, for this Art of Fiction project. I love going to Italy and enjoy the colours, landscapes, and architecture together with the way of life. The fabric is natural hand dyed cotton with machine stitching as an outline - a new method for me, and hand stitching, my preferred way of working, to bring out the detail. The button is from an outfit I wore as a teenager in the 1970's - a time that I first visited Italy and now in my 60's I have a home there to enjoy. Lucky me!