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Threads of Life: A History of the World Through the Eye of a Needle
A globe-spanning history of sewing, embroidery, and the people who have used a needle and thread to make their voices heard
In 1970s Argentina, mothers marched in headscarves embroidered with the names of their “disappeared” children. In Tudor, England, when Mary, Queen of Scots, was under house arrest, her needlework carried her messages to the outside world. From the political propaganda of the Bayeux Tapestry, World War I soldiers coping with PTSD, and the maps sewn by schoolgirls in the New World, to the AIDS quilt, Hmong story clothes, and pink pussyhats, women and men have used the language of sewing to make their voices heard, even in the most desperate of circumstances.
Threads of Life is a chronicle of identity, protest, memory, power, and politics told through the stories of needlework. Clare Hunter, master of the craft, threads her own narrative as she takes us over centuries and across continents—from medieval France to contemporary Mexico and the United States, and from a POW camp in Singapore to a family attic in Scotland—to celebrate the age-old, universal, and underexplored beauty and power of sewing. Threads of Life is an evocative and moving book about the need we have to tell our story.
In 1970s Argentina, mothers marched in headscarves embroidered with the names of their “disappeared” children. In Tudor, England, when Mary, Queen of Scots, was under house arrest, her needlework carried her messages to the outside world. From the political propaganda of the Bayeux Tapestry, World War I soldiers coping with PTSD, and the maps sewn by schoolgirls in the New World, to the AIDS quilt, Hmong story clothes, and pink pussyhats, women and men have used the language of sewing to make their voices heard, even in the most desperate of circumstances.
Threads of Life is a chronicle of identity, protest, memory, power, and politics told through the stories of needlework. Clare Hunter, master of the craft, threads her own narrative as she takes us over centuries and across continents—from medieval France to contemporary Mexico and the United States, and from a POW camp in Singapore to a family attic in Scotland—to celebrate the age-old, universal, and underexplored beauty and power of sewing. Threads of Life is an evocative and moving book about the need we have to tell our story.
320 pages, Hardcover
First published February 7, 2019
785 people are currently reading
8260 people want to read
About the author
Clare Hunter
6 books112 followersClare Hunter has sewn since she was a child. She has been a banner-maker, community textile artist and textile curator for over twenty years and established the community enterprise NeedleWorks in Glasgow. She was a finalist of the Aesthetica Creative Writing Award with a story published in its 2017 Annual. She was also a recipient of a Creative Scotland Award in 2016. She lives near Stirling in Scotland. Threads of Life is her first book.
http://www.sewingmatters.co.uk
http://www.sewingmatters.co.uk
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 426 reviews
March 19, 2019
I am, admittedly, the perfect reader for this book (embroiderer + history nerd). I found it so utterly readable and fascinating—packed with many things I didn’t know and only a few things that were familiar to me.
From time to time, I found myself wishing for photos of the pieces the author mentioned, but then I came to my senses: embroidery is hard to photograph well. (Even leaving aside all of the pieces mentioned here that have been lost to the ravages of time or political upheaval.) No image can capture the tactile joy, the texture of thread worked by hand, the tiniest details, the thrill of taking in something that feels larger than life. This book made me want to hold all of these fabrics and textiles and artworks in my hands—which speaks highly of Hunter’s writing and her obvious love of her subject matter.
That was another thing I enjoyed: the author’s own involvement in needlework and craftivism, which was woven (pun!) throughout the book, memoir-style. I like that Hunter quietly places herself among the stories she tells, sharing glimpses into her own explorations and activism in needle and thread.
I could easily have read at least another hundred pages of this. Give me all your stories about stitching!
From time to time, I found myself wishing for photos of the pieces the author mentioned, but then I came to my senses: embroidery is hard to photograph well. (Even leaving aside all of the pieces mentioned here that have been lost to the ravages of time or political upheaval.) No image can capture the tactile joy, the texture of thread worked by hand, the tiniest details, the thrill of taking in something that feels larger than life. This book made me want to hold all of these fabrics and textiles and artworks in my hands—which speaks highly of Hunter’s writing and her obvious love of her subject matter.
That was another thing I enjoyed: the author’s own involvement in needlework and craftivism, which was woven (pun!) throughout the book, memoir-style. I like that Hunter quietly places herself among the stories she tells, sharing glimpses into her own explorations and activism in needle and thread.
I could easily have read at least another hundred pages of this. Give me all your stories about stitching!
June 20, 2023
Threads of Life is an incredibly well-researched and well-written book full of histories that demonstrate the cultural importance of sewing, especially to women. It's quite the achievement, but I found it rather hard to get through since the amount of information is overwhelming and, being someone who doesn't sew, there are only so many stories about sewing that I can realistically fully tune into. So quality-wise, this is a spectacular book. Enjoyment wise, it's a 3-star read for me.
Click here to hear more of my thoughts on this book over on my Booktube channel, abookolive.
Click here to hear more of my thoughts on this book over on my Booktube channel, abookolive.
February 15, 2019
I've been enjoying cross stitch for many years now and while it will always remain secondary to my passion for books and reading, it's an activity I thoroughly enjoy. I find it relaxing and rewarding to watch a piece take shape, stitch by stitch and thread by thread.
After seeing some ecclesiastical needlework and medieval tapestries at the Victoria and Albert Museum last year, I was keen to learn more about the history of needlework. Threads of Life - A History of the World Through the Eye of a Needle by Clare Hunter was a great place to start.
Packed with historical fact - sometimes a little too much - Threads of Life certainly does attempt to take on the history of the world.
I enjoyed learning more about the Bayeux Tapestry, the stitching completed by Mary, Queen of Scots and WWI soldiers suffering from PTSD. I was stunned to read about the Northern Ireland Game of Thrones Tapestry, and put the book down to watch the 30 minute coverage of the entire tapestry on YouTube. It was impressive and I hope to see it one day.
In fact, I often had to stop reading to go and look up certain artworks and artists like Mary Delany, Mary Linwood and more. I dearly wished the publisher had considered including photographs of any sort to complement the content within. Needlework is such a visual art and without any photographs or sketches (colour or black and white) I felt the book was lacking.
Threads of Life is recommended for readers interested in any of the ways needlework has been used to communicate a message, create desirable artwork, delineate between the rich and the poor, raise women out of poverty, provide captives with hope and the damaged a way to heal.
* Copy courtesy of Hachette Australia *
After seeing some ecclesiastical needlework and medieval tapestries at the Victoria and Albert Museum last year, I was keen to learn more about the history of needlework. Threads of Life - A History of the World Through the Eye of a Needle by Clare Hunter was a great place to start.
Packed with historical fact - sometimes a little too much - Threads of Life certainly does attempt to take on the history of the world.
I enjoyed learning more about the Bayeux Tapestry, the stitching completed by Mary, Queen of Scots and WWI soldiers suffering from PTSD. I was stunned to read about the Northern Ireland Game of Thrones Tapestry, and put the book down to watch the 30 minute coverage of the entire tapestry on YouTube. It was impressive and I hope to see it one day.
In fact, I often had to stop reading to go and look up certain artworks and artists like Mary Delany, Mary Linwood and more. I dearly wished the publisher had considered including photographs of any sort to complement the content within. Needlework is such a visual art and without any photographs or sketches (colour or black and white) I felt the book was lacking.
Threads of Life is recommended for readers interested in any of the ways needlework has been used to communicate a message, create desirable artwork, delineate between the rich and the poor, raise women out of poverty, provide captives with hope and the damaged a way to heal.
* Copy courtesy of Hachette Australia *
April 22, 2020
This book is both interesting and frustrating. On page 276, the author states, “sewing is a visual language” - yet she has produced a book with no illustrations of the needlecraft and textile art she is discussing. At times she seems to have picked her topics to allow her to stray into the memoir aspect of the book - and her experiences become rather repetitive and feel self serving. She places great emphasis on the traditional aspect of embroidery in various cultures - but then denigrates the use of kits, transfers etc using traditional methods as “uncreative” - forgetting that many of her readers stitch for relaxation, enjoyment and their own satisfaction without the desire to produce unique items for public display.
Sadly, there are factual errors too, indicating poor proofreading - in the very first chapter, for instance, she refers to Harold as Alfred at one point and at another as Edward the Confessor’s son when he was his brother in law (if Edward had had a son, the Norman Conquest wouldn’t have happened!) This leaves this reader wondering what other mistakes have passed her by unnoticed.
Having said all that, the author charts very interestingly the move from needlecraft as a high status occupation dominated by men to its downgrading into a domestic occupation done almost solely by women, contrasting the “luxury” stitching done by the middle and upper classes with the sweat shops in which women still work across the world. Amongst other things, she considers the effect of colonisation and slavery on traditional ethnic styles of embroidery, of stitching as therapy in various contexts including bringing together communities and uniting them in joint effort - and looks at attempts to raise textile art’s profile in the feminist movement.
So it’s a book of contrasts - but what I will say, is have your computer handy; as you read, you’re going to be googling a lot of the needlecraft she mentions to see what she’s describing! .
Sadly, there are factual errors too, indicating poor proofreading - in the very first chapter, for instance, she refers to Harold as Alfred at one point and at another as Edward the Confessor’s son when he was his brother in law (if Edward had had a son, the Norman Conquest wouldn’t have happened!) This leaves this reader wondering what other mistakes have passed her by unnoticed.
Having said all that, the author charts very interestingly the move from needlecraft as a high status occupation dominated by men to its downgrading into a domestic occupation done almost solely by women, contrasting the “luxury” stitching done by the middle and upper classes with the sweat shops in which women still work across the world. Amongst other things, she considers the effect of colonisation and slavery on traditional ethnic styles of embroidery, of stitching as therapy in various contexts including bringing together communities and uniting them in joint effort - and looks at attempts to raise textile art’s profile in the feminist movement.
So it’s a book of contrasts - but what I will say, is have your computer handy; as you read, you’re going to be googling a lot of the needlecraft she mentions to see what she’s describing! .
September 27, 2023
For me, this book was great as I am a quilter (both hand and machine) which is grouped under the same category of needlework. However, one doesn’t have to be versed in needlework to appreciate the amazing detail contained within it’s pages. I chose the audio version. The narrative was lovely, the storyline fascinating, and told in a calming method that became almost addictive in a busy world. The subject is interesting to both women and men since this art has been, and continues to be, practiced by folks of all ages. Mothers often taught embroidery to young daughters. Men also figured routinely in advancing techniques and stories told by each finished piece. The audio version of “Threads of Life” is quite an enjoyable experience. Recommended!
January 11, 2021
Having high hopes before reading a book like this one makes it difficult to write a non-scathing review. I had to remind my brain every few pages that I was reading what is primarily a memoir so that I could keep going. The almost complete lack of references within the body text to any sources for the historical content left me baffled. While I appreciate the fairly comprehensive bibliography at the end, this format for a book about history reminded me why I don't read popular "history" books anymore. (Memoir, memoir, memoir, she whispers to herself.)
February 10, 2019
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000...Description: Textile artist and curator, Clare Hunter travels through the centuries and across continents uncovering the lives of women and men who have used sewing and embroidery to tell their stories, sometimes in the most unlikely and hardest of circumstances.
From the political storytelling of the Bayeux tapestry's anonymous embroiderers, to the POWs who memorialized their lives in the harshest of conditions during WWII, to the marches celebrating one hundred year's of women's suffrage in 2018, this is a treasure trove of book. Clare Hunters reveals how sewing and embroidery are as much about identity, politics and memory as they are about craft and art. Threads of Life is also peppered throughout with moments from Clare's own life as a textile artist, for instance, her first adventures with needle and thread, or the discovery of a beautifully worked patchwork quilt in an aunt's attic decades later. Listeners will delight in this celebration of sewing as an intimate and powerful medium for telling stories.
Read by Siobhan Redmond
Abridged by Julian Wilkinson
Produced by Elizabeth Allard
October 18, 2019
(Note: I received an advanced reader's copy from the publisher via NetGalley)
I was disappointed in this title, the editor seems to have checked for spelling and grammar only. Historical facts were incorrectly presented (e.g. Harold Godwinson, aka Harold II, was not the son of Edward the confessor), insulting theological suppositions, and insensitive descriptions of POC are presented throughout the book. The lack of any photos also was a huge disappointment in a book aimed towards a medium who relies upon the visual. Clare Hunter does provide a cursory list of sources, but this book begged for footnotes or endnotes for statements she presents as facts, but cursory searching provided a different timeline or views.
Clare Hunter, however, nicely presents her views upon seeing the embroideries for the first time. Her wonder is well described. (Again, pity, we are forced to Google for the images.)
I was disappointed in this title, the editor seems to have checked for spelling and grammar only. Historical facts were incorrectly presented (e.g. Harold Godwinson, aka Harold II, was not the son of Edward the confessor), insulting theological suppositions, and insensitive descriptions of POC are presented throughout the book. The lack of any photos also was a huge disappointment in a book aimed towards a medium who relies upon the visual. Clare Hunter does provide a cursory list of sources, but this book begged for footnotes or endnotes for statements she presents as facts, but cursory searching provided a different timeline or views.
Clare Hunter, however, nicely presents her views upon seeing the embroideries for the first time. Her wonder is well described. (Again, pity, we are forced to Google for the images.)
February 15, 2019
From BBC radio 4 - Book of the week:
Textile artist and curator, Clare Hunter travels through the centuries and across continents uncovering the lives of women and men who have used sewing and embroidery to tell their stories, sometimes in the most unlikely and hardest of circumstances.
From the political storytelling of the Bayeux tapestry's anonymous embroiderers, to the POWs who memorialized their lives in the harshest of conditions during WWII, to the marches celebrating one hundred year's of women's suffrage in 2018, this is a treasure trove of book. Clare Hunters reveals how sewing and embroidery are as much about identity, politics and memory as they are about craft and art. Threads of Life is also peppered throughout with moments from Clare's own life as a textile artist, for instance, her first adventures with needle and thread, or the discovery of a beautifully worked patchwork quilt in an aunt's attic decades later. Listeners will delight in this celebration of sewing as an intimate and powerful medium for telling stories.
Read by Siobhan Redmond
Abridged by Julian Wilkinson
Produced by Elizabeth Allard
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000...
Textile artist and curator, Clare Hunter travels through the centuries and across continents uncovering the lives of women and men who have used sewing and embroidery to tell their stories, sometimes in the most unlikely and hardest of circumstances.
From the political storytelling of the Bayeux tapestry's anonymous embroiderers, to the POWs who memorialized their lives in the harshest of conditions during WWII, to the marches celebrating one hundred year's of women's suffrage in 2018, this is a treasure trove of book. Clare Hunters reveals how sewing and embroidery are as much about identity, politics and memory as they are about craft and art. Threads of Life is also peppered throughout with moments from Clare's own life as a textile artist, for instance, her first adventures with needle and thread, or the discovery of a beautifully worked patchwork quilt in an aunt's attic decades later. Listeners will delight in this celebration of sewing as an intimate and powerful medium for telling stories.
Read by Siobhan Redmond
Abridged by Julian Wilkinson
Produced by Elizabeth Allard
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000...
December 28, 2024
First there is the review in Italian then the English one –
Prima c'è la recensione in italiano poi quella in inglese
La meravigliosa storia di tutto ciò che conta attraverso il ricamo: ideali, speranze, sogni, idee, passioni, colori, linee, lotte e proteste. La scelta degli argomenti, delle protagoniste e dei protagonisti è squisitamente arbitraria e costruisce per noi una immagine appassionante e insolita del ricamo, nel passato e nel presente. L'autrice ama i ricami e le persone che li hanno creati, alcune famose e altre ignote e dimenticate, ricche, povere, abili oppure semplicemente importanti perché avevano qualcosa da dire e hanno trovato nel ricamo il modo per dirlo. Per la cruna dell'ago passano spesso quelli che hanno contato di meno per il mondo.
The wonderful story of everything that matters through embroidery: ideals, hopes, dreams, ideas, passions, colours, lines, struggles and protests. The choice of topics and protagonists is exquisitely arbitrary and builds for us an exciting and unusual picture of embroidery, past and present. The author loves embroidery and the people who created it, some famous and others unknown and forgotten, rich, poor, skilled or simply important because they had something to say and found in embroidery the way to say it. Through the eye of the needle often pass those who counted least for the world.
Prima c'è la recensione in italiano poi quella in inglese
La meravigliosa storia di tutto ciò che conta attraverso il ricamo: ideali, speranze, sogni, idee, passioni, colori, linee, lotte e proteste. La scelta degli argomenti, delle protagoniste e dei protagonisti è squisitamente arbitraria e costruisce per noi una immagine appassionante e insolita del ricamo, nel passato e nel presente. L'autrice ama i ricami e le persone che li hanno creati, alcune famose e altre ignote e dimenticate, ricche, povere, abili oppure semplicemente importanti perché avevano qualcosa da dire e hanno trovato nel ricamo il modo per dirlo. Per la cruna dell'ago passano spesso quelli che hanno contato di meno per il mondo.
The wonderful story of everything that matters through embroidery: ideals, hopes, dreams, ideas, passions, colours, lines, struggles and protests. The choice of topics and protagonists is exquisitely arbitrary and builds for us an exciting and unusual picture of embroidery, past and present. The author loves embroidery and the people who created it, some famous and others unknown and forgotten, rich, poor, skilled or simply important because they had something to say and found in embroidery the way to say it. Through the eye of the needle often pass those who counted least for the world.
June 14, 2020
I can’t sew and I’ve never tried embroidery so in many ways I’m possibly not the target audience for this book. However that didn’t matter as it was amazing. Hunter looks at sewing through history, cultures, heritage and skill. She looks at it not just as an art form but also it’s importance in protesting, identity, community and making statements. I loved reading this and found myself not wanting it to end. So much information and detail in every chapter and incredibly well written with themes flowing nicely into one another. A very enjoyable read.
June 19, 2019
I was about to give 4 stars to this book because it doesn't include pictures of the mentioned pieces but this wouldn't give justice to the very well written research of Clare Hunter.
The history of textiles and embroidery is full of tears, sadness and poverty and many of the stories brought tears to my eyes. This book is a tribute to the brave women who expressed their feelings, fought for a better world and made a living out of sewing. I feel very proud that my family is full of such women and I am very grateful that they passed the knowledge to me and now I am able to stitch my own embroideries for future generations.
If you are about to start reading this book be prepared to search for the images of the embroideries on the Internet. This isn't necessarily bad because through your research you will discover websites with plenty of information on textiles' history and important events that you may have never heard about in the past.
The history of textiles and embroidery is full of tears, sadness and poverty and many of the stories brought tears to my eyes. This book is a tribute to the brave women who expressed their feelings, fought for a better world and made a living out of sewing. I feel very proud that my family is full of such women and I am very grateful that they passed the knowledge to me and now I am able to stitch my own embroideries for future generations.
If you are about to start reading this book be prepared to search for the images of the embroideries on the Internet. This isn't necessarily bad because through your research you will discover websites with plenty of information on textiles' history and important events that you may have never heard about in the past.
November 14, 2022
Criminally lacking in photos.
November 26, 2021
While I appreciate Threads of Life and its subject matter, I really wish it included pictures of the embroideries. As I became lazier about google-imaging everything, I quickly lost interest in the book.
Some needlework mentioned that I really liked: John Craske's Dunkirk embroidery, Game of Thrones tapestry (and its full length), AIDS Memorial Quilt, and many others featured on Clare Hunter's website.
"Sewing has a visual language. It has a voice. It has been used by people to communicate something of themselves--their history, beliefs, prayers and protests...It connects the maker to the viewer across time, cultures, generations and geographies."
Some needlework mentioned that I really liked: John Craske's Dunkirk embroidery, Game of Thrones tapestry (and its full length), AIDS Memorial Quilt, and many others featured on Clare Hunter's website.
"Sewing has a visual language. It has a voice. It has been used by people to communicate something of themselves--their history, beliefs, prayers and protests...It connects the maker to the viewer across time, cultures, generations and geographies."
December 24, 2019
I was really looking forward to this book, and ordered it from my local library. I think it was a great idea for a book and the topics in the book are engaging, but I think what let it down was the lack of detail and in some cases, not all, the writing could have been better.
March 12, 2026
I was initially a little wrong-footed by Threads of Life: A History of the World Through the Eye of a Needle, as it is far from the systematic history that the cover led me to expect. Once I got used to the fascinatingly idiosyncratic structure, however, I really enjoyed it and learned a lot. Hunter draws upon a wide range of historical and personal examples to examine the significance that sewing has had across the ages. She begins with a Bayeux tapestry, which I have gazed entranced at myself, then Mary Queen of Scots' embroideries, and so to sewing as a form of rehabilitation for soldiers disabled by the First World War. Her case studies became more and more interesting as the book went on. Also included are elements of memoir, which further support her thesis that the importance of sewing as a communal activity has been sadly underestimated. Hunter has worked with community groups to create banners and other sewn artworks that bring people together, promote creativity and confidence, and build solidarity. Her accounts are particularly poignant as several are local to me in Edinburgh (and other parts of Scotland). However, she also discusses sewing across the world, always with an eye to what sewn objects have been valued enough to preserve over the years.
Inevitably, given the gendered nature of sewing in European culture (among others), sexism and feminism form part of the story. I particularly enjoyed the chapter on suffragettes. Hunter's broader points about how the histories of sewing and gender roles intertwine are distinctly thought-provoking:
In a contemporary context, I found Hunter's comments on commoditising textile traditions across the world notably insightful:
Threads of Life: A History of the World Through the Eye of a Needle is a sprawling, involving work of reflection on the historical and personal meanings of sewing. Once I got into it, I found the book a rewarding, informative, and unusual read.
Inevitably, given the gendered nature of sewing in European culture (among others), sexism and feminism form part of the story. I particularly enjoyed the chapter on suffragettes. Hunter's broader points about how the histories of sewing and gender roles intertwine are distinctly thought-provoking:
When the sumptuary laws (those that governed the quality and consumption of cloth and dress and other products) were revoked in 1630, the Worshipful Guide of Broiderers lost its legal power over the training or employment of embroiderers and its authority to legislate over quality. Embroidery was no longer a status symbol as the public indicator of wealth and power. Instead, these were evidenced through a person's personal circumstances. [...]
Women's attention to home-crafted textiles served to widen the gap between professional and amateur needlework. Domestic and decorative sewing became divorced from the professions of tailors, seamstresses, and professional embroiderers. An economic and social divide emerged between working woman who sewed to earn money and middle and upper-class women who chose sewing to signal their freedom from paid work. But their home-based needlework did more than create a class divide. It encouraged the idea, the ideal, of the feminine and of decorative sewing as a feminine craft.
In a contemporary context, I found Hunter's comments on commoditising textile traditions across the world notably insightful:
The project in Peshwar is just one of the many that have been and are organised to assist beleaguered communities to find an economic and social lifeline through needlework. Organisations like Common Threads and Clothroads provide training, workshop space, business skills, outlets, and an environment where women can debate issues which prevent them seizing a better way to live their lives. And yet, and yet. There is always the threat of cultural colonisation: of women being persuaded to relinquish sewing traditions and techniques to manufacture products the west will buy: fabric accessories like bags, spectacle cases, covers for iPads, computers and mobile phones - products that many of the women who sew them cannot afford to possess. This is especially at odds with the cultural and emotional needs of refugees, for whom community upheaval often strengthens the urge to keep traditions intact. The repetition of pattern and the certainty of design offer visual continuity in communities broken apart by social or political change. How to retain the integrity and authenticity of traditional embroidery while meeting the demands of a competitive market is a continuing dilemma.
Threads of Life: A History of the World Through the Eye of a Needle is a sprawling, involving work of reflection on the historical and personal meanings of sewing. Once I got into it, I found the book a rewarding, informative, and unusual read.
Read
June 11, 2024A brilliant book exploring the significance of needlework through history. Fascinating, moving and beautifully written.
August 31, 2019
"Sewing has a visual language. It has a voice. It has been used by people to communicate something of themselves--their history, beliefs, prayers and protests."~ from Threads of Life by Claire Hunter
Twenty-eight years ago I made my first quilt and it changed my life. As I honed my skills I was inspired by historic and traditional quilts but also by art quilts.
Early on I dreamed of being able to make quilts that represented my values, interests, and views. I eagerly learned new skills, from hand embroidery and hand quilting to surface design, machine thread work, and fusible applique. I have been making a series of quilts on authors I love. I have created a Pride and Prejudice storybook quilt, an Apollo 11 quilt, and embroidered quilts of the First Ladies, Green Heros, and women abolitionists and Civil Rights leaders.
I was excited to be given an egalley of Claire Hunter's book Threads of Life: A History of the World Through the Eye of a Needle.
Hunter identifies themes in needlecraft including power, frailty, captivity, identity, connection, protest, loss, community, and voice. She shares a breathtaking number of stories that span history and from across the world.
Hunter begins with the history of the Bayeux Tapestry, a panel of wool embroidery showing scenes from the Battle of Hastings in 1066. Its history illustrates the ups and downs in cultural attitudes toward needlework.
It was forgotten, nearly upcycled, and used for a carnival float backdrop. Napoleon put it in a museum until it fell out of fashion and was again relegated to storage here and there. Himmler got a hold of it during WWII and publicized the artifact and saved it from destruction. Then the French Resistance took possession of the Louvre and the tapestry.
900 years later, the tapestry attracts thousands of viewers every year, a worldwide cultural icon, and inspired The Games of Thrones Tapestry.
Yet, we don't know who designed the tapestry or embroidered it, the challenges and tragedies they faced. They remain anonymous
I was familiar with the Changi prison camp quilts created during WWII by women POWs in Japanese camps. Hunter explains how the women created images with personal and political meaning to tell loved ones they survived.
I had seen Mola reverse applique but did not know it was an invention of necessity. Spanish colonists in Panama and Columbia insisted the indigenous women cover their chests. Traditionally, the women sported tattoos with spiritual symbols which they transferred to fabric. In many cultures, cloth has a spiritual element.
Hunter also touches on Harriet Power's Bible Quilt, Gees Bend quilters, the Glasgow School of Art Department of Needlework, and Suffragists banners.
There was much that was new to me. How Ukrainian embroidery was forbidden under Soviet rule as they systematically dismantled cultural traditions. Or how the Nazis used Jewish slave labor to sew German uniforms and luxury clothing.
Hunter tells stories from history and also how needle and thread are employed today as therapy and as community engagement and to voice political and feminist statements. She tells the memorable story of guiding male prisoners in the making of curtains for a common room and how she worked with groups, Austrian Aboriginies and Gaelic women, to make banners addressing displacement and community disruption.
We also read about the history of sewing, the impact of industrialization and the rise of factory production, the home sewing machine, the shift from skilled craft to homemade decorative arts.
Art quilters and textile artists like Faith Ringgold and Judy Chicago are discussed.
Social awareness needlework included the quite well known Aids Quilt but also the little known banner The Ribbon, created to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Justine Merritt organized the sewing of peace panels to be stitched together. 25,000 panels were made. 20,000 people collected on August 4, 1985, to wrap the 15-mile long Ribbon around the Pentagon, the Arlington Memorial Bridge, the Lincoln Memorial, and to the Capital and back to the Pentagon. The media and President Reagen ignored it.
Threads of Life may seem an unusual book, a niche book, but I do think it has a wide appeal that will interest many readers.
I was given access to a free egalley through NetGalley in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.
February 21, 2020
De titel en de achterflap claimen dat het boek een wereldgeschiedenis van naaldwerk is, maar dat is een grove leugen. Zeker, naaldwerk speelt de hoofdrol in het boek, maar het is geen wereldgeschiedenis of zelfs een andersoortig (populair) historisch werk: het is in feite een collectie verhalen uit het leven van de schrijver, van momenten waarop zij betrokken was bij handwerkprojecten. Daar tussendoor presenteert ze een hoop voorbeelden van historisch handwerk - soms uitgebreid in een hoofdstuk, soms slechts kort in een paragraaf of zelfs een bijzin. Aan deze voorbeelden wordt af en toe een groter idee opgehangen over het gebruik of belang van naaldwerk, maar even zo vaak lijken ze zonder reden toegevoegd - of de reden moet zijn, 'het is een voorbeeld van naaldwerk in het verleden'.
Ironisch genoeg bevat het boek geen rode draad om de losse onderdelen aan elkaar te naaien. Hoofdstukken staan los van elkaar; voorbeelden binnen een hoofdstuk hebben soms geen onderlinge connectie; de genoemde jaartallen benadrukken enkel het complete gebrek aan chronologie. Er lijkt geen overkoepelend idee achter het boek te zitten, er is geen verhaallijn of duidelijke opzet. Anekdotes worden nodeloos uitgesponnen terwijl boeiende voorbeelden plots worden afgebroken om op iets anders over te gaan.
Toen ik het boek oppakte, verwachte ik zeker geen academisch werk, maar van een boek dat gepresenteerd wordt als 'wereldgeschiedenis' mag toch verwacht worden dat er een gedegen studie aan ten grondslag ligt. Dat lijkt niet echt het geval - de inleidende opmerking bij de bibliografie claimt zelfs dat het ondoenlijk is een complete bronvermelding te geven. Maar zelfs als iedere snipper informatie van een voetnoot was voorzien had dat niet kunnen verhullen dat het boek uiterst matig in elkaar zit.
Het kan goed zijn dat dit boek niet voor mij was - misschien is het voor andere naaldwerkers juist een boeiend en herkenbaar verhaal. Maar wie geïnteresseerd is in de geschiedenis van naaldwerk of het belang ervan, moet helaas elders zoeken.
Ironisch genoeg bevat het boek geen rode draad om de losse onderdelen aan elkaar te naaien. Hoofdstukken staan los van elkaar; voorbeelden binnen een hoofdstuk hebben soms geen onderlinge connectie; de genoemde jaartallen benadrukken enkel het complete gebrek aan chronologie. Er lijkt geen overkoepelend idee achter het boek te zitten, er is geen verhaallijn of duidelijke opzet. Anekdotes worden nodeloos uitgesponnen terwijl boeiende voorbeelden plots worden afgebroken om op iets anders over te gaan.
Toen ik het boek oppakte, verwachte ik zeker geen academisch werk, maar van een boek dat gepresenteerd wordt als 'wereldgeschiedenis' mag toch verwacht worden dat er een gedegen studie aan ten grondslag ligt. Dat lijkt niet echt het geval - de inleidende opmerking bij de bibliografie claimt zelfs dat het ondoenlijk is een complete bronvermelding te geven. Maar zelfs als iedere snipper informatie van een voetnoot was voorzien had dat niet kunnen verhullen dat het boek uiterst matig in elkaar zit.
Het kan goed zijn dat dit boek niet voor mij was - misschien is het voor andere naaldwerkers juist een boeiend en herkenbaar verhaal. Maar wie geïnteresseerd is in de geschiedenis van naaldwerk of het belang ervan, moet helaas elders zoeken.
June 25, 2019
I enjoyed this book so much I did not want it to end! I learned so much from it.
To get more out of the book, I read it with a digital device in hand so that I could look up the images of the work that Clare Hunter describes. It was very easy to find examples of the works, and I enjoyed the book even more because I was able to see them.
This book has made me think much more deeply about what I love about embroidery, and how I could use it more creatively and with a more informed approach. I am now looking forward to picking up my embroidery tools again, after many years of them being neglected. I am wondering what types of things I could make, and how I might engage others in this imaginative and tactile form of creative expression.
Very highly recommended.
To get more out of the book, I read it with a digital device in hand so that I could look up the images of the work that Clare Hunter describes. It was very easy to find examples of the works, and I enjoyed the book even more because I was able to see them.
This book has made me think much more deeply about what I love about embroidery, and how I could use it more creatively and with a more informed approach. I am now looking forward to picking up my embroidery tools again, after many years of them being neglected. I am wondering what types of things I could make, and how I might engage others in this imaginative and tactile form of creative expression.
Very highly recommended.
January 18, 2022
A lovely memoir-history-chronicle of embroidery, why it's been forgotten, or relegated to the dusty, unopened drawers of history, and why it deserves to take its place with the history of art. Feminist, activist, and affirming, here's a more extensive commentary from my blog:
https://missbatesreadsromance.com/202...
https://missbatesreadsromance.com/202...
June 19, 2022
Spent a lot of time looking up the various textiles and embroideries mentioned.
Well worth it, certainly enhanced the reading for me. Was fortunate that I knew about several techniques mentioned, this too added to my appreciation of her research. Very readable.
Well worth it, certainly enhanced the reading for me. Was fortunate that I knew about several techniques mentioned, this too added to my appreciation of her research. Very readable.
October 3, 2019
Recensie door Roosje
Uitgeverij Balans
Een paardentand en een vrouwenhand willen geen stilstand
Zelfs als je als vrouw van adel was, van hoge adel, als in de koningin van een land, moest je bezig zijn. Ledigheid is des duivels oorkussen; een paardentand en een vrouwenhand willen geen stilstand - dat laatste moest ik even opzoeken in Van Dale, want ik herinnerde het me het gezegde anders -. Die vrouwenhand was bezig met borduren, met naaien, met textiel. Dat was zo’n beetje mijn eerste gedachte. Hunter heeft me in no time op andere gedachten gebracht. Het is niet alleen dat vrouwen altijd bezig móesten zijn, door dat werk met textiel, naald, en draad konden zij wel degelijk invloed uitoefenen en hun leven vorm geven.
Ik aarzelde even voor ik me opgaf bij de uitgever om dit non-fictieboek te lezen en te bespreken. Tja, een boek over borduren en textiele werkvormen, is dat wat, kun je daar een interessant boek over schrijven? En, tja, zelf borduur ik niet; ik brei en haak en verstel wel - verstellen is een uitstervende bezigheid merk ik -; ja, dat wel. Ik weet wel een beetje wat het is om met je handen en textiel bezig te zijn. Borduren deed ik vroeger wel een klein beetje: mijn spijkerjasjes en indiakatoenen bloesjes. Ik had het op school geleerd maar de handwerkjuf had niet zo’n hoge pet op van mij naald- en draadvaardigheden. Ik kan haar nu verklappen dat zij daar toch ongelijk in heeft gekregen. Ik denk dat ze mij gewoon niet mocht, mijn ogen stonden verkeerd of zo, mijn haren waren te onstuimig, misschien deed ik haar denken aan iemand die zij niet aardig vond. Nou ja, dit soort dingen komen mij nog altijd in gedachten als ik denk aan handwerken. En borduren voelt voor mij dichterbij de verplichte steken, reeksen en figuren, de vaste patronen, de merklappen en dus het schoolse, het ‘zo hoort het’ dan het vrije haken en breien dat ik doe.
Ja, zulke overwegingen gaan me door mijn hoofd wanneer me een boek onder ogen komt. Wat een mens al niet denkt op een dag.... Ik heb de gok gewaagd, Clare Hunters Levensdraden werd mij toegestuurd.
‘Je neemt een draad, maakt een knoop in het ene eind en steekt het andere door het oog van een naald. Je neemt een stuk stof en duwt de naald er aan de ene kant in en trekt hem door de andere kant weer omhoog, tot een knoop hebt, of een boogje, of een waaier van steken. Meer is het niet: draad, naald, stof en de patronen die de draad vormt. Dat is naaien.’ (2019: 7)
Hunter neemt me eerst mee naar het tapijt van Bayeux, dat geen geweven tapijt is maar een meters lang geborduurd wandtapijt, dat de Slag van Hastings in 1066 verhaalt. Voor Engelsen en Fransen is dat een grotere historische gebeurtenis dan voor ons Nederlanders. Een enkeling herinnert zich van de geschiedenisles dat in 1066 Willem de Veroveraar het Kanaal overstak en Engeland veroverde voor de Franse troon. Hunters ervaring met dit beroemde tapijt is fantastisch, aanstekelijk. Ik ben terstond gewonnen voor de naaldkunst en haar enorme historische impact. Terstond herken en erken ik dat we via de naaldkunst de geschiedenis ook als vrouwengeschiedenis kunnen zien.
De hoofdstukken in dit boek vormen geen doorlopende geschiedenis, geen vervolgverhaal, maar kunnen afzonderlijk gelezen worden. Op deze wijze verkent Hunter zeer uiteenlopende zaken die met vrouwen en hun naaldkunst samenhangen. Lees zelf, is mijn advies, alweer.
Het stuk over Maria van Schotland, Maria Stuart - de eerste; de tweede was met ‘onze’ stadhouder Willem II gehuwd - geeft een kijkje in de keuken van de vrouwelijke politieke macht die door de naald en het borduurwerk kon worden uitgeoefend, subtiel maar zeer overtuigend. Maria Stuart kon op deze wijze een grote trots voelen en eveneens politieke macht blijven uitoefenen. Vrouwengeschiedenis pur sang!
Maar naald en draad verbeelden niet alleen vrouwengeschiedenis. Toen textiele werkvormen, in welke gedaante dan ook, maatschappelijk aanzien kregen, gingen ook mannen zich met het stiel bemoeien: wevers, borduurders, kleermakers.
Hunter heeft echt een prachtig boek geschreven over het sociale, emotionele en politieke belang van naaien, van textiel, van naald en draad (bijv. ib.: 253).
Haar mannelijke collega’s zien niet alleen hier geen brood in maar laten zich soms ook laatdunkend over haar onderwerp en onderzoek uit. Maar wanneer zij vertelt over haar onderzoek naar patchwork quilt en de verbinding die dat bewerkstelligt, zijn ook mannen onder de indruk.
Het begon allemaal met de uitvinding van touw, schrijft Hunter. De kunst om plantenvezels tot een draad te draaien maakte het makkelijker om bijvoorbeeld vis te vangen, grotere dieren gevangen te zetten en te domesticeren, baby’s op hun moeders rug te binden, zodat de vrouwen verder konden met hun werk.
Uit touw ontstond garen en uit garen kon dan weer stof geweven worden. Touw is al gevonden op een beeldje dat stamt uit 20.000 v.Chr.!
Ook borduren is een oud ambacht, zoals blijkt uit de vondst van versteende overblijfselen van kleren uit een periode van 30.000 v.Chr.
Denk aan eens de draad van Ariadne, waarzonder Theseus nooit uit het Minotaurische doolhof had kunnen ontsnappen, of aan de levensdraad die de Moirai, de oude Griekse Schikgodinnen, aan het spinnen waren. Als de draad op was, was het gedaan met je leven op aarde, dan kon je je obool gaan betalen aan veerman Charon en het dodenrijk betreden.
‘Je knipt je draad af, legt een knoop in het ene eind en haalt het andere eind door het oog van de naald. Je neemt een stuk stof en denkt na over wat je wilt gaan maken, wat je wilt zeggen, voor wie het zal zijn en wat anderen eruit kunnen opmaken.’ (ib.: 362)
Beslist niet alleen een uiterst interessant boek voor vrouwen, ook voor mannen. Deels omdat de geschiedenis ons allen toebehoort, deels omdat hiermee de rol, de positie, de machtsmiddelen, de uitdrukkingsvaardigheden van vrouwen nu eens benadrukt worden.
Uitgeverij Balans
Een paardentand en een vrouwenhand willen geen stilstand
Zelfs als je als vrouw van adel was, van hoge adel, als in de koningin van een land, moest je bezig zijn. Ledigheid is des duivels oorkussen; een paardentand en een vrouwenhand willen geen stilstand - dat laatste moest ik even opzoeken in Van Dale, want ik herinnerde het me het gezegde anders -. Die vrouwenhand was bezig met borduren, met naaien, met textiel. Dat was zo’n beetje mijn eerste gedachte. Hunter heeft me in no time op andere gedachten gebracht. Het is niet alleen dat vrouwen altijd bezig móesten zijn, door dat werk met textiel, naald, en draad konden zij wel degelijk invloed uitoefenen en hun leven vorm geven.
Ik aarzelde even voor ik me opgaf bij de uitgever om dit non-fictieboek te lezen en te bespreken. Tja, een boek over borduren en textiele werkvormen, is dat wat, kun je daar een interessant boek over schrijven? En, tja, zelf borduur ik niet; ik brei en haak en verstel wel - verstellen is een uitstervende bezigheid merk ik -; ja, dat wel. Ik weet wel een beetje wat het is om met je handen en textiel bezig te zijn. Borduren deed ik vroeger wel een klein beetje: mijn spijkerjasjes en indiakatoenen bloesjes. Ik had het op school geleerd maar de handwerkjuf had niet zo’n hoge pet op van mij naald- en draadvaardigheden. Ik kan haar nu verklappen dat zij daar toch ongelijk in heeft gekregen. Ik denk dat ze mij gewoon niet mocht, mijn ogen stonden verkeerd of zo, mijn haren waren te onstuimig, misschien deed ik haar denken aan iemand die zij niet aardig vond. Nou ja, dit soort dingen komen mij nog altijd in gedachten als ik denk aan handwerken. En borduren voelt voor mij dichterbij de verplichte steken, reeksen en figuren, de vaste patronen, de merklappen en dus het schoolse, het ‘zo hoort het’ dan het vrije haken en breien dat ik doe.
Ja, zulke overwegingen gaan me door mijn hoofd wanneer me een boek onder ogen komt. Wat een mens al niet denkt op een dag.... Ik heb de gok gewaagd, Clare Hunters Levensdraden werd mij toegestuurd.
‘Je neemt een draad, maakt een knoop in het ene eind en steekt het andere door het oog van een naald. Je neemt een stuk stof en duwt de naald er aan de ene kant in en trekt hem door de andere kant weer omhoog, tot een knoop hebt, of een boogje, of een waaier van steken. Meer is het niet: draad, naald, stof en de patronen die de draad vormt. Dat is naaien.’ (2019: 7)
Hunter neemt me eerst mee naar het tapijt van Bayeux, dat geen geweven tapijt is maar een meters lang geborduurd wandtapijt, dat de Slag van Hastings in 1066 verhaalt. Voor Engelsen en Fransen is dat een grotere historische gebeurtenis dan voor ons Nederlanders. Een enkeling herinnert zich van de geschiedenisles dat in 1066 Willem de Veroveraar het Kanaal overstak en Engeland veroverde voor de Franse troon. Hunters ervaring met dit beroemde tapijt is fantastisch, aanstekelijk. Ik ben terstond gewonnen voor de naaldkunst en haar enorme historische impact. Terstond herken en erken ik dat we via de naaldkunst de geschiedenis ook als vrouwengeschiedenis kunnen zien.
De hoofdstukken in dit boek vormen geen doorlopende geschiedenis, geen vervolgverhaal, maar kunnen afzonderlijk gelezen worden. Op deze wijze verkent Hunter zeer uiteenlopende zaken die met vrouwen en hun naaldkunst samenhangen. Lees zelf, is mijn advies, alweer.
Het stuk over Maria van Schotland, Maria Stuart - de eerste; de tweede was met ‘onze’ stadhouder Willem II gehuwd - geeft een kijkje in de keuken van de vrouwelijke politieke macht die door de naald en het borduurwerk kon worden uitgeoefend, subtiel maar zeer overtuigend. Maria Stuart kon op deze wijze een grote trots voelen en eveneens politieke macht blijven uitoefenen. Vrouwengeschiedenis pur sang!
Maar naald en draad verbeelden niet alleen vrouwengeschiedenis. Toen textiele werkvormen, in welke gedaante dan ook, maatschappelijk aanzien kregen, gingen ook mannen zich met het stiel bemoeien: wevers, borduurders, kleermakers.
Hunter heeft echt een prachtig boek geschreven over het sociale, emotionele en politieke belang van naaien, van textiel, van naald en draad (bijv. ib.: 253).
Haar mannelijke collega’s zien niet alleen hier geen brood in maar laten zich soms ook laatdunkend over haar onderwerp en onderzoek uit. Maar wanneer zij vertelt over haar onderzoek naar patchwork quilt en de verbinding die dat bewerkstelligt, zijn ook mannen onder de indruk.
Het begon allemaal met de uitvinding van touw, schrijft Hunter. De kunst om plantenvezels tot een draad te draaien maakte het makkelijker om bijvoorbeeld vis te vangen, grotere dieren gevangen te zetten en te domesticeren, baby’s op hun moeders rug te binden, zodat de vrouwen verder konden met hun werk.
Uit touw ontstond garen en uit garen kon dan weer stof geweven worden. Touw is al gevonden op een beeldje dat stamt uit 20.000 v.Chr.!
Ook borduren is een oud ambacht, zoals blijkt uit de vondst van versteende overblijfselen van kleren uit een periode van 30.000 v.Chr.
Denk aan eens de draad van Ariadne, waarzonder Theseus nooit uit het Minotaurische doolhof had kunnen ontsnappen, of aan de levensdraad die de Moirai, de oude Griekse Schikgodinnen, aan het spinnen waren. Als de draad op was, was het gedaan met je leven op aarde, dan kon je je obool gaan betalen aan veerman Charon en het dodenrijk betreden.
‘Je knipt je draad af, legt een knoop in het ene eind en haalt het andere eind door het oog van de naald. Je neemt een stuk stof en denkt na over wat je wilt gaan maken, wat je wilt zeggen, voor wie het zal zijn en wat anderen eruit kunnen opmaken.’ (ib.: 362)
Beslist niet alleen een uiterst interessant boek voor vrouwen, ook voor mannen. Deels omdat de geschiedenis ons allen toebehoort, deels omdat hiermee de rol, de positie, de machtsmiddelen, de uitdrukkingsvaardigheden van vrouwen nu eens benadrukt worden.
June 9, 2025
I audiobook'd it and maybe I just wasn't paying super close attention, which is why it was just kinda meh for me. But I think a bigger reason is that it's quite Britain focused, which is absolutely fair, but then shouldn't have the title history of the world 😅 It does have some interesting bits about traditional sewing in other cultures though!
January 28, 2021
The amount of post-its I put into this, I might as well just buy my own copy...
August 11, 2020
I am trying to remember the first time I took a needle and thread through fabric. Decades ago. I must have been around 8 years old. Nobody taught me, I just figured it out. My mother is not a person that enjoys domestic arts such as sewing. She is more of a career woman. So I taught myself. Over the years I have embroidered, cross stitched, made all sorts of articles of clothing, smocked, quilted, knitted and crocheted. I own 5 sewing machines.
When I ran across this book as a suggestion I thought it sounded intriguing. Luckily my local library had a copy. I am now grateful I did not purchase it.
I really enjoyed many of the history stories. What caught my attention initially is the story of Mary, Queen of Scots using embroidery to pass messages and pronounce her right to the monarchy. I am a lover of history. I thought learning stories associated with another love of mine would be a fast and fun read. Unfortunately I was wrong. While I truly enjoyed many of the stories, other aspects of the book left me a bit agitated.
I gave this book 2 stars. I don’t often rate books so low. If I find myself constantly counting how many pages until I am finished, then 2 stars it is.
I also felt like she was using this book for more reasons other than giving some history lesson pertaining to needlework. For instance, there were many passages that were about her. I was not looking to read an autobiography from someone who stitches a lot. I’m sure she is great, whatever, but if she could work a way in to talk about herself, she did.
I also did not like how often she worked politics into her book. There are plenty of political books I can and do pick up. But I was not expecting or wanting her political opinions. Jabs at Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher for example. Then a passage from Karl Marx. Ok lady, if you want to write about your Marxist beliefs, then please include that in the summary. This book read like a Women’s Studies class. Maybe that’s your thing. But it is not mine.
Her feminist stance was evident throughout the book. It kind of made me sad for her. She portrays women as victims throughout the book. And men as the oppressors. May I include an example. This is from page 285: (by the way, there are grammatical errors all over, I am copying these paragraphs as written)
“In 1970 Judy Chicago set up a Feminist Arts program at the California Institute of the Arts and with Miriam Schapiro and her students took over a dilapidated mansion in 1972 to renovate it and transform it into an exhibition space for women artists where they could curate their own work uncompromised by being juxtaposed with male-made art. In the house’s seventeen rooms they created art installations which claimed the themes of domesticity, childbirth, and female sexuality as viable subjects for art. They called it Womanhouse.”
“Textiles featured in many of the rooms: a row of aprons in the kitchen, a stitched chandelier in the dining room, opulent minuscule furnishings in the bedroom of a doll’s house, quilts on the stairwell, the train of a wedding dress trailing down the stairs - all created as metaphors for the reality of women’s domesticity. The aprons had false breasts attached to them to suggest that, in their removal, a woman was divested of all a man required of her - housekeeping and sex. The wedding dress train changed from white to grey as it neared the hallway of home to symbolize the drabness of life as a wife, the tiny sewn luxury in the bedroom of the doll’s house made it harem-like, a site for male desire not female pleasure. Ten thousand people came to see Womanhouse. For women, it was one of the first times they had seen exclusively female art set within a domestic context, art which used explicit female imagery and reflected their own experiences. Men had the novel experience of being spectators of a world in which for once they were the outsiders. The project, Judy Chicago declared, ‘allowed women to feel that their lives had meaning’. It was a revelation.”
I could write pages just on these 2 paragraphs. But I won’t. I will say, yes there has been oppression in the world. Where there are people, there is oppression, sadly. Bad things happen and have happened to women, and men, black people, brown people, white people, all sorts of people. But looking at the past, of wrongs done to ancestors, does not bring happiness. I, personally am not a victim. Bad things have happened to all of us. Some worse, much worse than others. But I don’t chose to live there.
And I think that is what bothered me most about her book. She seemed to be pointing out victims. Unfairness. Injustices. I was hoping to read a book about the history of needlework. I got some of that, but it seemed like most of it was negative and political. Just my two bits.
When I ran across this book as a suggestion I thought it sounded intriguing. Luckily my local library had a copy. I am now grateful I did not purchase it.
I really enjoyed many of the history stories. What caught my attention initially is the story of Mary, Queen of Scots using embroidery to pass messages and pronounce her right to the monarchy. I am a lover of history. I thought learning stories associated with another love of mine would be a fast and fun read. Unfortunately I was wrong. While I truly enjoyed many of the stories, other aspects of the book left me a bit agitated.
I gave this book 2 stars. I don’t often rate books so low. If I find myself constantly counting how many pages until I am finished, then 2 stars it is.
I also felt like she was using this book for more reasons other than giving some history lesson pertaining to needlework. For instance, there were many passages that were about her. I was not looking to read an autobiography from someone who stitches a lot. I’m sure she is great, whatever, but if she could work a way in to talk about herself, she did.
I also did not like how often she worked politics into her book. There are plenty of political books I can and do pick up. But I was not expecting or wanting her political opinions. Jabs at Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher for example. Then a passage from Karl Marx. Ok lady, if you want to write about your Marxist beliefs, then please include that in the summary. This book read like a Women’s Studies class. Maybe that’s your thing. But it is not mine.
Her feminist stance was evident throughout the book. It kind of made me sad for her. She portrays women as victims throughout the book. And men as the oppressors. May I include an example. This is from page 285: (by the way, there are grammatical errors all over, I am copying these paragraphs as written)
“In 1970 Judy Chicago set up a Feminist Arts program at the California Institute of the Arts and with Miriam Schapiro and her students took over a dilapidated mansion in 1972 to renovate it and transform it into an exhibition space for women artists where they could curate their own work uncompromised by being juxtaposed with male-made art. In the house’s seventeen rooms they created art installations which claimed the themes of domesticity, childbirth, and female sexuality as viable subjects for art. They called it Womanhouse.”
“Textiles featured in many of the rooms: a row of aprons in the kitchen, a stitched chandelier in the dining room, opulent minuscule furnishings in the bedroom of a doll’s house, quilts on the stairwell, the train of a wedding dress trailing down the stairs - all created as metaphors for the reality of women’s domesticity. The aprons had false breasts attached to them to suggest that, in their removal, a woman was divested of all a man required of her - housekeeping and sex. The wedding dress train changed from white to grey as it neared the hallway of home to symbolize the drabness of life as a wife, the tiny sewn luxury in the bedroom of the doll’s house made it harem-like, a site for male desire not female pleasure. Ten thousand people came to see Womanhouse. For women, it was one of the first times they had seen exclusively female art set within a domestic context, art which used explicit female imagery and reflected their own experiences. Men had the novel experience of being spectators of a world in which for once they were the outsiders. The project, Judy Chicago declared, ‘allowed women to feel that their lives had meaning’. It was a revelation.”
I could write pages just on these 2 paragraphs. But I won’t. I will say, yes there has been oppression in the world. Where there are people, there is oppression, sadly. Bad things happen and have happened to women, and men, black people, brown people, white people, all sorts of people. But looking at the past, of wrongs done to ancestors, does not bring happiness. I, personally am not a victim. Bad things have happened to all of us. Some worse, much worse than others. But I don’t chose to live there.
And I think that is what bothered me most about her book. She seemed to be pointing out victims. Unfairness. Injustices. I was hoping to read a book about the history of needlework. I got some of that, but it seemed like most of it was negative and political. Just my two bits.
February 21, 2021
The Good: Extremely engaging social and political history of sewing
The Bad: No footnotes, western-focus, no pictures
The Literary: A single thread, stitching together a tapestry of history
A history through the lens of needlework, Threads of Life is a survey of sewing throughout primarily Europe and the Americas, exploring social and political history through chapters like Power, Captivity, and Protest. Needlework is an ancient craft practiced all over the world that, in addition to its utilitarian uses, communicates power, identity, secret messages, and political propaganda.
There are so many great stories in this book. Here are a few of my favorites:
The Bayeux Tapestry is one the oldest and most famous pieces of embroidery in the word, telling the story of the Battle of Hastings in 1066, from the perspective of the conquering Normans. It's 230 feet long and nearly 1,000 years old, having survived capture by Napoleon and the Nazis. The women who created it are unknown. On a linen background, they used just 4 colors of wool thread and four types of stitches to depict the visual movement of sailing ships, galloping horses, and advancing soldiers.
500 years later, Mary Queen of Scots returned to Scotland after the death of her French husband, her brilliant embroidered banners proclaiming her power and right as queen through her family's' coat of arms. But her short reign ended in numerous imprisonments totaling 19 years, and she turned to small embroideries to communicate messages for escape attempts and unsuccessful assassinations.
Cloth is easy to destroy if it proclaims an undesirable religious or political association, or to suppress a conquered people, whether a kilt in Scotland or the traditional cheongsam dress in China. But cloth is easily folded and hidden, as when the Catholic Church shipped out embroidered pictures of terrible living conditions of Chilean women during the Pinochet dictatorship, or when the suffragettes reclaimed large crafted banners as tools for their campaign, or in the huge 48,000-panel NAMES quilt memorializes those lost of the HIV AIDS pandemic, chosen to evoke a wholesome association with family.
Slow, methodical needlework has been shown to quiet the mind, treating PSTD for disabled soldiers in London and anxiety in Lunatic Asylum patients in he early 1800s in Germany. Quilts can be used as a way to help people with dementia rekindle memories through tactile textures.
The downside of this broad survey of the history of sewing is the lack of detail about any particular tidbit, but a bibliography at the end allows for further study. But as a self-proclaimed history book, more sources, specifically footnotes, are notably lacking. And although there are some eastern and indigenous examples scattered throughout, I would love to have seen more non-European chapters. Also, be prepared to stop and look up pictures on the internet of the embroidery described, as there are none included (at least in the Kindle version).
There are so many more stories I'd love to share from this book, including the (positive and negative) impacts of the Singer sewing machine or the contemporary textile art scene. Highly recommended for history buffs or anyone interested in the often overlooked sewing crafts!
readwellreviews.com
The Bad: No footnotes, western-focus, no pictures
The Literary: A single thread, stitching together a tapestry of history
A history through the lens of needlework, Threads of Life is a survey of sewing throughout primarily Europe and the Americas, exploring social and political history through chapters like Power, Captivity, and Protest. Needlework is an ancient craft practiced all over the world that, in addition to its utilitarian uses, communicates power, identity, secret messages, and political propaganda.
There are so many great stories in this book. Here are a few of my favorites:
The Bayeux Tapestry is one the oldest and most famous pieces of embroidery in the word, telling the story of the Battle of Hastings in 1066, from the perspective of the conquering Normans. It's 230 feet long and nearly 1,000 years old, having survived capture by Napoleon and the Nazis. The women who created it are unknown. On a linen background, they used just 4 colors of wool thread and four types of stitches to depict the visual movement of sailing ships, galloping horses, and advancing soldiers.
500 years later, Mary Queen of Scots returned to Scotland after the death of her French husband, her brilliant embroidered banners proclaiming her power and right as queen through her family's' coat of arms. But her short reign ended in numerous imprisonments totaling 19 years, and she turned to small embroideries to communicate messages for escape attempts and unsuccessful assassinations.
Cloth is easy to destroy if it proclaims an undesirable religious or political association, or to suppress a conquered people, whether a kilt in Scotland or the traditional cheongsam dress in China. But cloth is easily folded and hidden, as when the Catholic Church shipped out embroidered pictures of terrible living conditions of Chilean women during the Pinochet dictatorship, or when the suffragettes reclaimed large crafted banners as tools for their campaign, or in the huge 48,000-panel NAMES quilt memorializes those lost of the HIV AIDS pandemic, chosen to evoke a wholesome association with family.
Slow, methodical needlework has been shown to quiet the mind, treating PSTD for disabled soldiers in London and anxiety in Lunatic Asylum patients in he early 1800s in Germany. Quilts can be used as a way to help people with dementia rekindle memories through tactile textures.
The downside of this broad survey of the history of sewing is the lack of detail about any particular tidbit, but a bibliography at the end allows for further study. But as a self-proclaimed history book, more sources, specifically footnotes, are notably lacking. And although there are some eastern and indigenous examples scattered throughout, I would love to have seen more non-European chapters. Also, be prepared to stop and look up pictures on the internet of the embroidery described, as there are none included (at least in the Kindle version).
There are so many more stories I'd love to share from this book, including the (positive and negative) impacts of the Singer sewing machine or the contemporary textile art scene. Highly recommended for history buffs or anyone interested in the often overlooked sewing crafts!
readwellreviews.com
October 26, 2019
Originally published on my blog: Nonstop Reader.
Threads of Life: A History of the World Through the Eye of a Needle is an erudite survey of the social history of needlework written by Clare Hunter. Released 15th Oct 2019 by Abrams, it's 320 pages and available in hardcover format.
These disparate essays cover shared emotional human themes from loss and frailty, captivity, value, artistic merit, and having a voice. There are 16 different thematic chapters along with a foreword and conclusion. The author has a very precise but soulful writing voice and connects emotionally with the reader. I was drawn in and touched and emotionally invested in the stories she conveys. Many of them had an immediacy and relevance despite the intervening years (sometimes centuries).
The writing feels academic, though there are no annotations directly in the text. The book does include a fairly extensive bibliography and links list with online resources for further reading. I am emphatically not a historian (big bionerd here), but when spot checking some of the facts listed, I found no glaring errors.
The writing and spelling are British standard, but it shouldn't be distracting or intrusive for most readers. The biggest drawback in my opinion was the lack of illustrations. The author has included an extensive links list for online searches of many of the pieces which are covered in the text. I think that might also be one of the reasons that it felt like a more academic treatise to me.
The history of needlework is tied in many places to gender history, and as such, this would make a good support text for art history, gender studies, textile studies and the like. It also made for an interesting (sometimes touchingly sad) and captivating read for non-academics as well. Just don't expect illustrations.
Four stars.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
Threads of Life: A History of the World Through the Eye of a Needle is an erudite survey of the social history of needlework written by Clare Hunter. Released 15th Oct 2019 by Abrams, it's 320 pages and available in hardcover format.
These disparate essays cover shared emotional human themes from loss and frailty, captivity, value, artistic merit, and having a voice. There are 16 different thematic chapters along with a foreword and conclusion. The author has a very precise but soulful writing voice and connects emotionally with the reader. I was drawn in and touched and emotionally invested in the stories she conveys. Many of them had an immediacy and relevance despite the intervening years (sometimes centuries).
The writing feels academic, though there are no annotations directly in the text. The book does include a fairly extensive bibliography and links list with online resources for further reading. I am emphatically not a historian (big bionerd here), but when spot checking some of the facts listed, I found no glaring errors.
The writing and spelling are British standard, but it shouldn't be distracting or intrusive for most readers. The biggest drawback in my opinion was the lack of illustrations. The author has included an extensive links list for online searches of many of the pieces which are covered in the text. I think that might also be one of the reasons that it felt like a more academic treatise to me.
The history of needlework is tied in many places to gender history, and as such, this would make a good support text for art history, gender studies, textile studies and the like. It also made for an interesting (sometimes touchingly sad) and captivating read for non-academics as well. Just don't expect illustrations.
Four stars.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
December 30, 2020
Overall I really enjoyed this book it is very insightful if you are interested in the history of sewing and embroidery in the west. I particularly liked how each chapter focused on an aspect or function of sewing such as to assert power, place, to protest, as means of identity, etc.I also loved the femminist approach the book has.
I just have two comments that are the reason why it is not a five stars for me. One is a suggestion and one a criticism:
1. Suggestion - I would have liked for the author to add images of the different embroidery artworks she was referencing to in each chapter, I had to constatly be stopping to google the images. Some were easy to find but others required further double checking. Being embroidery such a visual medium I find this important.
2. Criticism - although most chapters looked into a variety of examples it still felt too western based. Most examples were from western cultures (specially from the U.S. and U.K., specifically Scotland) only mentioning or completely leaving out non-westen embroidery. Although I understand this is the context of the author, you cannot claim in the title you will do a revision of the history of the world and then just focus on the west (yet again!).
I felt this was the case specially on the second half of the book and on the chapters of Value and Art.
As an art historian the chapter on art felt specially narrow in terms of perspective, focusing only in one very specific example in Glasgow instead of a more global discussion of the place of embroidery, textiles and sewing in art then and now. I felt like even the chapter of Value gave more diverse examples towards this discussion.
So I would just want this book to decolonize sewing and embroidery. Still it was a very good an insightful introduction to western embroidery.
I just have two comments that are the reason why it is not a five stars for me. One is a suggestion and one a criticism:
1. Suggestion - I would have liked for the author to add images of the different embroidery artworks she was referencing to in each chapter, I had to constatly be stopping to google the images. Some were easy to find but others required further double checking. Being embroidery such a visual medium I find this important.
2. Criticism - although most chapters looked into a variety of examples it still felt too western based. Most examples were from western cultures (specially from the U.S. and U.K., specifically Scotland) only mentioning or completely leaving out non-westen embroidery. Although I understand this is the context of the author, you cannot claim in the title you will do a revision of the history of the world and then just focus on the west (yet again!).
I felt this was the case specially on the second half of the book and on the chapters of Value and Art.
As an art historian the chapter on art felt specially narrow in terms of perspective, focusing only in one very specific example in Glasgow instead of a more global discussion of the place of embroidery, textiles and sewing in art then and now. I felt like even the chapter of Value gave more diverse examples towards this discussion.
So I would just want this book to decolonize sewing and embroidery. Still it was a very good an insightful introduction to western embroidery.
November 22, 2022
Hmm, I was expecting to enjoy this read much more than I actually did.
I think I was spoiled by Knitlandia: A Knitter Sees the World and This Golden Fleece: A Journey Through Britain's Knitted History recently, and was expecting a book of the same calibre.
Whilst Hunter's writing is interesting to a point, the overall book feels too long. There are chapters that are very similar in subject and could have been edited better to avoid repetition. There is a severe lack of photographs. For such a visual art as embroidery and needlework, where are the reference photos????? This was so disappointing not to be able to look at the magnificent works she was referencing. I mean a Game of Thrones tapestry?!! Come on!! And then seeping through the book, I just got a real sense of ennui, as if Hunter had started this historical journey but got bored partway through! The other two books mentioned above had a real sense of enthusiasm and excitement running through them which I felt this book lacked.
So, it was ok, but not one I'd return to or recommend.
I think I was spoiled by Knitlandia: A Knitter Sees the World and This Golden Fleece: A Journey Through Britain's Knitted History recently, and was expecting a book of the same calibre.
Whilst Hunter's writing is interesting to a point, the overall book feels too long. There are chapters that are very similar in subject and could have been edited better to avoid repetition. There is a severe lack of photographs. For such a visual art as embroidery and needlework, where are the reference photos????? This was so disappointing not to be able to look at the magnificent works she was referencing. I mean a Game of Thrones tapestry?!! Come on!! And then seeping through the book, I just got a real sense of ennui, as if Hunter had started this historical journey but got bored partway through! The other two books mentioned above had a real sense of enthusiasm and excitement running through them which I felt this book lacked.
So, it was ok, but not one I'd return to or recommend.
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