Crewel Embroidery - A Class From the Past

I love old pictures and photos of quilting bees and sewing circles. It is a rare thing in most areas these days and I miss it.

When I was in the seventh grade our public middle school had electives for crewel embroidery and sewing. Yes, public school! If nothing tells my age, that does! It was the best, most memorable class I ever took. For the first six weeks we learned crewel embroidery. Crewel has many different stitches that are make to look like flowers, petals, and give decorative touches. You see it in crazy quilting.

These types of quilts are so much fun to do. But what we did in my class was to actually stitch a design of our own choosing that was completely crewel embroidery. I did a forest glen. But the fun of the class was the actual class time itself. It was an all girls class and as we arrived we pulled out the tubs with our projects in it and settled down at big tables to work. We chatted away the entire time, except when the teacher showed us a new stitch. She also came around to check our individual work and make a suggestion or two.

The only requirement was to be done with our projects by a certain day. Then, if modern minds can wrap their heads around this, the finishes were proudly and artfully displayed in the school hallway built-ins. They were kept in there for months. Yes, the school was proud of girls learning embroidery!

I do cross stitch now instead of crewel. But I really think it is important that girls should be taught embroidery along with the other fiber arts. This is a beautiful, very old art form that shouldn't disappear or be left to just a scattered few. Embroidery on special clothes or items can be a beautiful family heirloom. Time taken to do such work is a way for us to show the importance of family and our homes.

Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls..." (Jer. 6:16).