List
1. Are you going to Celebration of Needlework in Nashua, NH May 2 - 5? Would you like to stop in Plymouth coming or going to stitch on the jacket? We’re having “shoulder sessions” the couple of days before and after. Call me [508-746-1622 X 8119] or email jhall@plimoth.org to sign up.
2. Thank you to everyone who weighed in on the Mystery of Melanie Anne’s grandmother’s embroideries. I love starting conversations here that continue in the comments. I’m looking forward to unveiling the forum so we can have even more conversations.
3. Speaking of conversations in the comments, I should have clarified what I meant by our experimenting with using reeds as stiffeners in stays (corsets). We have used marsh reeds, the sort native to this area, that maybe perhaps the early colonists might have used if they made or repaired stays. (That, and getting reeds native to England that might have come over in already-sewn stays was Too Much.) I have heard of using basketry reeds to stiffen stays as a substitute for the unavailable whalebone. I tried that a few years ago, but the reed we got came in a coil. I cut it to size and filled the channels, but it kept shifting and curling. I was told to soak it to take the curl out, and I tried, BUT it still curled. How to describe…it didn’t curl against or away from the body of the wearer, but sideways. It did not look good. I gave up on the basketry reed.
4. Picture! Catherine from Kansas came to a session in January with her friend Deb. The weather they left at home was so cold we joked that they’d had a beach vacation in Plymouth. This is one of the exquisite pieces Catherine brought for show & tell.
Tags: Catherine, Melanie Anne, reeds, Schedules, sessions, stays, whalebone
