HOME Residency: 'Threads'

photos by kind permission of the school

Drummond Community High School, Edinburgh School web-site
  September 2004 - March 2005 funded by the Scottish Arts Council

This a two-term residency based at Drummond Community High School involves wide participation from the Drummond community. Here, adults share memories, experiences & techniques with the youngsters.

Four primary schools are involved: Leith Walk, Broughton, Abbeyhill, and Prospect Bank.
 
Above is some of the childrens finished work. Please click on any of the above images to view more of the childrens work.
'Threads' is the story of textiles in our everyday lives. How they absorb memories. How they comfort.

'Threads' is an interactive and collaborative craft project exploring the historical, cultural and personal stories of pupils & craft makers of the local community.

 

Through exploration of local heritage, culture and environment participants unravel their local history & weave within it their own lives & stories

 

  

Pupils from Drummond Community High Secondary School working on the subject of personal memories. Here they embroider the initials of a special person.
 

Textiles have always been part of our local culture. In the days when people could not read or write, colours & patterns, symbols & emblems were used as a way of communication.

 

 

 

 

 

Many of us keep some sort of fabric fragments of our lives. Some of the textiles might be of value for their decorative qualities, others more for sentimental reasons.

 
These fragments connect us with particular times in our lives....a cloth we embroidered as a child, a wedding day, a handkerchief with initials or a favourite fashion item.

 

 

 

 

Jeanette is collecting small pieces of fabrics which connect local people with a personal story or memory.
 

 

 
 

 

.....a piece of fading cotton with a label or monogram, a handkerchief or a piece of garment one simply 'loved to bits'..

A nappy pin, kept by the owner...

The longer one keeps these fragments of the past the more poignant they become.

In the 'old days' people did come together to sew for special occasions. Today, still in many countries, pieces of fabrics are gathered and reassembled into quilts, hangings or banners.
Here adults from the Embroidery and Tapestry group share their experiences in needlework with the children from Broughton Primary School at Drummond Community High School.
  The children are making felt pictures based on the murals of Phoebe Traquair in Mansfield Church. The adults volunteered to enhance the felt pieces with some professional stitching on top which provides the final touch.
All pieces will be made into wallhangings, which will be on show at the Festival of Learning in March 2005 at Drummond Community High School and on the school website.

 

 

A sign of Easter Road
The children of Abbeyhill Primary School with felt pictures they've created based on designs of shopfront windows at there local shopping patch, Easter Road.
Secondary pupils are working on a project called 'Fun & Flamboyant'.
Jeanette helps pupils to develop their ideas and put them in practice through skill based workshops.
Newburgh Textile Centre of Excellence

Textile Centre of Excellence
3 Clinton Street
Newburgh, Fife
Scotland KY14 6DP
email: Jeanette
landline: 01337 841004
Hat Shop: 01738 624213
mobile: 07813 023607
webpage: davejford