Staff pick: Two books on the history of craft

Attitudes towards traditionally feminine crafts have changed over the years. And if people are more comfortable expressing themselves with embroidery or even just taking out their knitting and crochet in public, I think it’s partly due to the work done by writers looking at the history of needlework and women’s complicated relationship to it. 

One of the key books ‘The Subversive Stitch, embroidery and the making of the feminine’ by Rozsika Parker was published in 1984 but has been reprinted several times. 

There have been many other books on the topic since. 

There have been many other books on the topic since. 

Lately, I’ve been reading a book by an Irish academic Joseph McBrinn, ‘Queering the Subversive - Stitch, Men and the Culture of Needlework’. He builds on Parker’s work but looks at the complicated relationship between men and needlework.  It’s a very readable and thought-provoking account. 

One of the issues about studying craft is the anonymity of the work. We often don’t know who made it, why they made it and how they felt about it. 

I’m always drawn to handmade items at flea markets and charity shops. They are usually cheap and I guess I want to rescue things that someone spend time and effort making.

Recently I found a hand embroidered merchant navy crest. The dealer described it as a ‘Sweetheart’ piece, a commonly used term that assumes an item was made by a woman at home awaiting the safe return of a soldier or sailor. But after reading McBrinn’s book, I found myself wondering if it was made by the sailor himself on his boat. 

And that in a nutshell is the fascination and the frustration involved in the history of craft. 

Both the books are available on our catalogue.

Sandra, librarian with an interest in history and crafts