A County Durham branch of the Women’s Institute is stitching a fitting tribute to their history, thanks to funding from believe housing.
Blackhall’s Women’s Institute are hand embroidering a tapestry depicting the history of the WI, both in the town and across the country.
The group meets every Thursday morning to embroider their own panel of the tapestry that showcases a different story from the WI’s history, eventually each will be stitched together to create a larger piece. There will be 16 panels in total.
Each member of the group has different embroidery skills and experience, from serial cross-stitchers to those who haven’t picked up a needle since childhood.
Over the summer, the 16 panels for the tapestry were planned out by Project Lead Elyse Watson and assistant Lynn Barlow. The designs were then drawn out by them both with ideas and contributions from the group.
Elyse has been working with the WI in Blackhall for the last two years on various embroidery groups before starting this project.
Inspiration for this project came a large-scale tapestry in Scotland:
“It’s called the Great Tapestry of Scotland in Galashiels” said Elyse, “it has it’s own building. It really opened doors for me as to how we can use embroidery to bring different stories to life.”
“Barbara Chrisp of Calm CIC introduced me to the tapestry and asked if she’d like to lead a project at CALM, inspired by it focusing on the local area of East Durham.”
“I took my experience from that project and inspiration from Galashiels to plan and direct the WI tapestry in Blackhall.”
The aim of the project was not only to celebrate the history of the Women’s Institute, but to bring people together.
“The WI in Blackhall would already meet every Thursday for their craft mornings” said Elise, “But a big part of this project was to offer a space for women to come and learn about embroidery. And they’ve all come on so much both in skill and confidence
Funding from believe housing’s community investment fund supported the Blackhall Women’s Institute’s tapestry project. A grant of £1000 helped to provide a tutor and assistant artist for some sessions, as well as the materials needed to create the tapestry.
Anne-Marie Parkin, Community Investment Coordinator at believe housing said: “Celebrating local history is important to all of us at believe housing.”
“So we were delighted to provide funding to this tapestry project in Blackhall that celebrates the history of the Women’s Institute in the town and beyond and gives women in the area a place to learn or rediscover embroidery.”
