Brenda Rosseau, manager of the Colonial Williamsburg Costume Design Center, breezed into the room with the jacket thrown over her arm and we all gasped! After so many years of being taught not to touch the needlework it was shocking to be able to hold it and turn it over and look at it with our hands as well as our eyes. I was even able to get Brenda to try on the coif although I promised her that picture would NOT show up in my blog!
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| Sorry I caught her with her eyes closed, |
The story of the jacket, in its entirety, can be found in the June 2015 issue of the Needle Arts magazine published by the EGA. For those of you without access to this magazine, in brief, it was designed for the reenactment of the wedding of Pocahontas at Historic Jamestowne on the 400th anniversary of her marriage to settler John Rolfe.
In total, 88 volunteers came from all over the country to work on the jacket and spent over 1400 hours completing an ensemble that included a forehead scarf and coif. All of the motifs are plants and animals specific to Virginia during that period. Note the eagle, tobacco plant and sturgeon in the center of this panel.
All of the pieces are currently on display at Historic Jamestowne.
Laura
your guild was SO lucky to have this presentation. I read with great interest the article in the EGA magazine. I love these collaborative projects bringing together so many with like minded goals to honor and preserve the past thru stitching. Your August post slipped by me but you showed some beautiful things. I admire you for keeping up with serenity bay SAL - mine is just piling up one by one and not a stitch taken. OH well - my time seems to fly away and I do what I can. Hope you show a stitchy post when you can. Cheers ! Mel
ReplyDeleteWow! What a wonderful presentation you attended! I had heard about this endeavor and happy you shared some photos. Enjoy your weekend, Laura!
ReplyDeleteRobin in Virginia