Piecework, Fall 2020
This issue has a wide range of topics on hand needlework of various kinds, literally across the centuries. These are just some of what you will find in this issue.
So you see on the cover an example of upcycling of vintage fabric scraps from feed sacks by Dawn Cook Ronningen which accompanies another article on feedsack clothing. If you are thinking as my students did -- Ick, clothing made from feedsacks-- think again. The companies producing chicken feed, etc., realized that women would buy theirs if it had the nicest patterns printed on the sacks, and they began a lively competition and produced all kinds of floral, geometrics, themed patterns of all kinds. I saw one with a lady in a bubble bath once.
Then you see close up of Norwich stitch (also called waffle or southern cross) in a sampler created by Deanna Hall West. After that is a medieval manuscript, a Twelfth-Century Bible to be exact, with hand-stitching to fix a tear in the parchment (thin animal skin) from an article by Deirdre Carter which makes you realize that needleworkers are everywhere. And finally a knitted hat, pattern included, one of several in this issue, a Pottmutz or Pomerian hat created by Cornelie Muller-Godecke. There is a second layer around the lower part, the same idea as watch caps that turn up to keep the ears warm without the having to turn anything up.
If historical patterns for knitting, embroidery, and other needlework intrigues, you will learn a lot from this magazine and come away with ideas and patterns. Find it at your local bookstore or newsstand or here online where you can also find a lot of extras too: https://pieceworkmagazine.com/