December 31st is the last day to register on-line for the Floral Glove Online University Course.  If you haven’t checked this out yet, the course is an exploration of couched gold threads as used in the 17th century.  That is thick gold threads, wires, pipes and purls that are held down onto the fabric with a separate thin silk thread.  It is different from the Gold Master Class (registration until March 31st) which explores gold which is threaded in the needle and stitched through the fabric.

The project is a needlework tool etui that is shaped like a tabbed Stuart-era gauntlet.  If you want more info on the course, go to the Online University page.  I am using little movies to describe the classes – check them out.

As many of you have surmised, the jacket will be exhibited first at Winterthur Museum in Delaware.  Jill Hall had contacted Linda Eaton, curator at Winterthur during the early project conception and Linda had been involved in the project from the beginning to lend support to the original exhibition.  Part way through the project, they expressed interest in having the jacket travel to Winterthur when the exhibition would travel.  When changes were needed in the exhibit plans, we immediately thought of Winterthur as they were familiar with the project and had been planning on requesting a loan in the future.  It seemed a natural for a switch of order to facilitate a smooth transition of project completion to exhibition with Winterthur graciously giving space until the exhibit at Plimoth was ready to launch.

We have been working with Linda to prepare the jacket for exhibition at Winterthur.  Linda and the entire staff at Winterthur are very excited to be able to facilitate the public exhibition of this fantastic project.  Not only will they be dedicating some wonderful space to the jacket, but plan on a much larger exhibition to be mounted in 2011 which will use the jacket and the research surrounding it to tell a much larger story about materials culture and needlework.  Jill, Wendy, the entire lead team and myself are pleased with the partnership between Plimoth and Winterthur.  Winterthur is known for their excellently curated embroidery exhibitions that occur about every two years and coincide with a popular symposium that blends a high level of scholarship and teaching.  I have been honored to be a teacher at it for the last two symposiums and I know that they will do an outstanding job.

One of the ideas in the works is to have a flat screen next to the jacket that would tell the story in film, interviews and slides.  This would enable us to express what this project means much more effectively than any static exhibition would.  Another one of my dreams is to properly light the jacket – not only for conservation but also to allow people to modify the light to see what it would have looked like at the Reveal.  As you can imagine, all this costs money.

As with all museum exhibits and especially in these times, proper ’story-telling’ is expensive and for most museums, exhibitions must be funded externally.  We have quietly started the fund-raising process but would like to include the thousands of readers in that effort.  This has truly been a grass-roots project and I suspect the fundraising will be the same.

Uniquely, the development office was very helpful to build a special web page on the Winterthur site to enable those interested to donate small amounts via credit card.  I believe that this could be a new model for institutions that have not yet understood the power of the craft-person movement.  Over and over I have heard individuals who have worked on the project lament about how embroidery collections are not seen in museums and how they ‘wish’ there was a way to make a $5-$25 contribution matter and for our numbers to be heard.  Well, here is your chance.  To get the ball rolling, Thistle Threads will match your contributions, no matter how small, up to a maximum of $3000 by December 31st of this year.  There is a button on the sidebar to click that takes you to the restricted fund page at Winterthur where you can make a donation that is restricted to the Jacket Exhibition.

I hope that you will join me and not only fund the exhibition but also help to make ripples happen in the museum community that will benefit our ability to have embroidery and costume cared for and exhibited in the future.  I know this seems lofty.  But heck – making a jacket like this seemed crazy too.

Tricia

P.S.  From the number of weekly visitors to the blog – a $5-$25 contribution from everyone would fund the entire exhibition at Winterthur before the end of the year.  Now that would be power in numbers!

I wanted to publish the speech that was given by Ellie Donovan, Executive Director at Plimoth Plantation at the Reveal – it was a lovely tribute to the embroiderers, lacemakers and craftspeople who made Faith and had faith in the project.  During the remarks, a slide show was playing on the wall with a photo journey of the project and included an eight slide listing of all who worked on the project.  I wanted to add that list again below – especially as we added almost 20 to the list that night alone on the yet to be finished coif!  So we are now 260+ and going up in the last few weeks of the stitching on the coif.  Any omissions are unintentional and I hope that you will let me know so I may continue to correct our master list.

For those who are reading this on the Plimoth Plantation website, this is the last entry there.  Since March 15, 2009 the blog has resided at www.thistle-threads.com/blog.  Understanding that the project has become bigger to the community than the original intentions, Plimoth realized that it would need a long term home where the enthusiasm around embroidery and costume started in the original blog on the museum website could continue after the project was complete.  We invite those who have recently come to read about the project to continue to follow the path that Faith takes and read about the numerous offspring that this historic project has given birth to.

Tricia

SPEECH BY ELLIE DONOVAN, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF PLIMOTH PLANTATION

JACKET REVEAL, DECEMBER 10, 2009

Welcome everyone! Thank you for being here today for this wonderful celebration.

Before we go in to the next room to see what Elizabeth is wearing, I’d like to take ten minutes to talk with you about faith and gratitude. Over three years ago, our colleague, Jill Hall, showed me a few small photos of an early 17^th-century embroidered jacket, pointed at one, and said “we’re going to make that.”  Then she briefly described what would be involved in this effort.  I was amazed, even incredulous, at the thought of such an undertaking, but Jill had faith – that sure and passionate knowing that sees a vision and allows us to “believe in things when common sense [may tell] us not to.” (George Seaton)

Not long after that conversation with Jill I had the pleasure of meeting Tricia Wilson Nguyen. Now, some of you may doubt that faith can move mountains, but don’t worry, if you need a mountain moved, give Tricia a call. Her faith is an enthusiastic, energetic, unwavering focus that is an inspiration to many. I recently read a quotation perfect for this project: “Weave in faith and God will find the thread.”  But for tonight we must paraphrase and say “Weave in faith and Tricia will find the thread.”

Faith, as most of you may already know, is the nickname for the marvelous Plimoth Jacket. A triumph of research, skill and passion, a masterpiece of scholarship and craftsmanship. The people who worked on the jacket dubbed it Faith because it took a ‘Leap of Faith’ for everyone involved to believe that such an improbable project could be accomplished. And it took Faith, that over a long time frame and various challenges the project would be completed and the resources would be there when they were needed.

I could spend the next two hours naming all the people who contributed well over 4,000 hours to this project in countless ways, but I have promised to keep this to ten minutes.

So first, I’d like to thank the following people for going “above and beyond” to make this garment a reality. They researched, conferred with experts, studied, discovered lost techniques, collaborated, tried and succeeded – beautifully.

Jill Hall – Co-project lead and head of jacket construction

Tricia Wilson Nguyen – Co-project lead and head of embroidery

Wendy White – Workroom manager and contributor to embroidery and lace spangle development
Carolyn Hastings – Lead on lace

Mark Atchison – creator of the Lace spangles

Justin Squizzero – Silk Lining

And Denise Lebica – designer and creator of the wardrobe that accompanies the jacket tonight.

The significance of this garment, not only to embroidery but to the field of living history in general, cannot be overstated. A friend of the museum likened the Plimoth Jacket to Mayflower II in its importance as a reproduction object. Like the ship, the jacket required that same mixture of vision, faith and passion, scholarship, collaboration, technology, craftsmanship and recovery of ancient skills. I am proud to say that the jacket brilliantly illustrates Plimoth Plantation’s long tradition of commitment to well-researched and meticulous reproductions.  Tricia reports that a curator recently told her that the project was “the most groundbreaking work in textiles in decades.” Museums throughout the US and Europe are aware of the project and have been following it for some time.

The sublime magic of this one object is that it was crafted by over 250 different people and yet is unified in its breathtaking beauty. It was made by expert hands and by those who had never held a needle before. As a result of this inclusive project the field of embroidery has been markedly changed and a new vitality is evident. Knowledge that might have been lost forever has been restored; techniques and materials have been recovered from the past.

Tricia tells me that Lamora Haidar, the distributor who spearheaded the development of the Gilt Sylke Twist thread, recently remarked how in this down economy she sees a bright future for needlework – lifted not only by the inspiration of the jacket project but by the influx of young, vibrant and enthusiastic individuals whom the embroidery team trained here. The team worked hard not to find the best of the best – but to take anyone who was interested and help them be the best. That is perhaps the most lasting legacy of the project – a new future for an old craft.

We are grateful for the generosity of all who touched the project. Those who read the embroiderers blog and called to purchase a sample kit to help us pay for the project – excited to help in the way they could— from afar. We thank those who gave of their time again and again to come to Plimoth to work in a simple workroom plying their needle or bobbin on an object they could never own and for some, perhaps never even see completed in person. These volunteers had faith and they spent small fortunes in travel and accommodations – coming from all over the US and from other countries, for the pleasure and satisfaction of contributing to something they felt was larger than themselves.

And to our generous donors – we offer many heartfelt thanks for your wonderful support that made this project possible.  Yours is the kind of faith that keeps the mission of Plimoth Plantation alive and well.

We are also grateful for the kindness and generosity of those who saw other needs here at the Museum and wanted to help, such as the individuals and groups who founded a fund to conserve textile treasures in our collection so that future generations would be able to know them. And the stitchers and those who read the blog who volunteered to knit and repair gloves and stockings so that the Colonial interpreters would have warm period-correct accessories for the sometimes harsh New England weather. Many of these volunteers had never visited the Museum—but heard about the need through the jacket project.

There are indeed hundreds of people to thank, but tonight I want to acknowledge two in particular.

To the lead team on the project: Jill, Carolyn, Mark, Justin, Denise – I know you’ll all join me in offering special thanks tonight to Tricia and Wendy for sticking with us all through thick and thin, for seeing the project through to completion and for being devoted supporters of Plimoth Plantation. (Wendy and Tricia come up)

Tricia and Wendy – Words cannot adequately express our gratitude. But since a picture is worth a thousand words I’m hoping that this will convey our thanks every time you look at it.

In closing, may I say to absolutely everyone who had something to do with the creation of the Plimoth Jacket… The quality of your work and your commitment shines out in every silken thread, in every bit of lace, in every shimmering spangle.  And I am sure that no recognition I could give, no gratitude I could express, no words of praise I could say to you, could equal the satisfaction you must already feel for having been a part of this amazing project. As William Butler Yeats said…

Had I the heavens embroidered cloths

The blue and the dim and the dark cloths

Of night and light and the half light

I would spread them beneath your feet…

Thank you.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS WHICH WERE PLAYING ON THE WALL WITH ADDITIONAL NAMES ADDED THAT EVENING

Stitchers

Lace Makers

Spanglers

Special Thanks

Lamora Haidar of Access Commodities

Bill Barnes of Golden Threads

Neil Halford of Benton and Johnson

Kate Smith of Eaton Hill Textile Works

Joan Toggitt/Zweigart

Jan at Delectible Mountain Cloth

Au Ver a Soie

Anonymous donor of slate frame for 3-years

Scott Sweet, Sweet and Son Metal Finishing

Peter Evonuk, Department of Small Metals, Mass School of the Arts.

Ed Nute

Shay Pendray, NeedleArts

Curators and Researchers

Susan North, V&A

Lynn Szygenda, Embroiderers’ Guild

Pam Parmel, MFA Boston

Linda Eaton, Winterthur

Melinda Watt, MET

Christina Carr, MET

Han Vu, Bard Graduate School

Jenny Tiramani

Claire Thornton

Devon Thein

Joanna Hill

Final Thanks

Elizabeth Rolando who made ‘Faith’ come to life

The hundreds of stitchers who purchased sample kits to fund project

Donations by countless individuals to the jacket project

The readers of the blog who have made this project a world-wide phenomena

There are some perks with spending three years working on a project of this magnitude – you can sometimes swing a photo or two for your own scrapbook.  Here is a picture that I really wanted taken to recognize the lead team on the project -

Jill Hall, Co-project manager and head of construction

Tricia Wilson Nguyen, Co-project manager and head of embroidery

Wendy White, Workroom manager and contibutor to embroidery and lace spangles

Carolyn Hastings, Head of Lace

Justin Squizzero, Silk Lining

Mark Atchison, Lace Spangles

Thank you so much to my colleagues for joining me in this crazy venture – it has been a tremendous pleasure working with you.

Tricia

It took Faith that we would get this piece done!

Photo credit: Ed Nute