The Many Faces of the C&TA

A Chinese tourist in traditional dress

Jenny Fletcher had enjoyed C&TA in-person events as a guest for several years, and been a full member since retiring from teaching in 2023, but as the newest member of the committee she is finding out just how much the association has to offer...

"This week I really feel as though I am starting to understand what an incredible organisation the C&TA is.  I am sure that most people who have come across the association locally have done so first through one of their beautiful exhibitions, such as the lovely display put on for their 35th Anniversary at the Norwich Makers' Festival earlier this year, or via one of their live events like the 'Norwich Pines' craft workshop held in the Library for Heritage Open Day in September, or the buzzing Craft and Vintage Fair they held in Costessey in October.  Almost all of the local people who decide to become members of the association then attend some, if not all, of the regular live talks offered, which never fail to be informative, entertaining and inspiring: recent favourites of mine have been given by the ever-fascinating History Wardrobe and Sewing Bee's own historical costume expert Amber Butchart from the London College of Fashion.

But the C&TA is about so much more than that.  Its key and founding purpose is to support the work of the Norfolk Museums Service, to which it is affiliated, and to this end the association assists in the acquisition of key textile pieces to preserve the rich heritage of textile production in Norwich and the surrounding area, and curates its own textiles archive to support academic research; it also runs design award challenges for local Fashion and Textiles students and offers research bursaries to help broaden understanding of important textile history in our region.  In connection with this work the association is now also publishing original material on local textiles.  Information about all of these ventures can be found on this website, along with enormous amounts of detailed and high quality information about so many aspects of clothing and textiles connected with Norwich.  I would really urge everyone to set aside an hour to do some further website exploration - you are bound to find something to interest you!

And as I mentioned at the start, this week I took part in two other online aspects of the work of the association, and discovered yet more faces of the C&TA - both literally and metaphorically! 

On Tuesday afternoon I joined my first ever 'Crafty Chat' - and what a revelation!  This is a lovely friendly, relaxed forum for anyone interested in producing or learning about textiles to share their knowledge, enthusiasms and advice.  We were lucky enough to hear from Eunice Warren, our Treasurer, about her recent trip to China and see her wonderful photographs of all things textile: these included the stunning silk embroidery work done at the Baisha Naxi Embroidery Institute, where Naxi Masters take more than 20 years to learn their trade and produce gossamer-fine embroideries that look like paintings, as well as work that will show a completely different and perfect picture on each side of a single piece of silk fabric!  She also showed us the exquisite detail in historical costumes in a new Shanghai museum, and explained the Chinese fascination with hiring facsimiles of traditional costume for the day, having a full professional hair and make-up session to go with it, and then parading their finery in tourist destinations, accompanied by their own photographer!  The results were absolutely stunning, although Eunice pointed out that the very modern trainers worn by most of the people she saw underneath their outfits did create an unusual, if practical, contrast with their costumes!

---

A student at the Baisha Naxi Insititute with her exquisite work

Stunning silk embroidery at the Baisha Naxi Institute

Traditional garments in the new Shanghai museum

This was followed by a completely non-competitive and very entertaining Christmas Quiz organised by Caroline Whiting, our Chair, which revealed a lot about our festive viewing habits - or, in some cases, lack of them!  Then we shared our ideas for Christmas makes, including a fabulous stitched bag, some handy knitted dishcloths and facecloths, handspun rainbow yarn, information about useful pattern buys... I suspect we could have gone on all night!  But Caroline closed with a couple of charming Christmas poems, and after waving goodbye to everyone I reflected on the surprisingly cosy and intimate atmosphere that had been achieved in an online forum between people who had never met, in the far-flung corners of Britain, and indeed, across the world.  'Community' is a word with a very wide range of meanings, and this is a regular C&TA event which really embodies it - I heartily recommend you try it.  Details of how to join are sent out to all members each month via email, and it is VERY easy to do! 

On Tuesday evening I was transported to C18th Norwich when I tuned in to Dr Michael Nix's fascinating online talk 'Colourful Norwich Textiles'.  Michael is a very experienced academic who was awarded the C&TA's Geoffrey Squire Bursary in 2017 to research the export of Norwich textiles in the 1700s - work which led to the creation of his award-winning book of 2023, Norwich Textiles: Norwich Textiles: Global Story, 1750-1830, which is available from our online shop.
​
In this talk, Michael was sharing further exciting research that he has done concerning the use of colour in Norwich weaving, and what a revelation this was!  He had lots of pictures and documentary evidence to share and really made the individual characters of the merchants and dyers come alive, as well as placing his findings clearly in the geography of Norwich.  As a local girl I was fascinated by this and am determined to set out across the city in the New Year armed with his book and my notes to start to uncover traces of this hidden treasure for myself!  But the stars of the show were, of course, the textiles - and what a jazzy lot they were!  Of course nowadays many of the historical textiles that we see are badly faded, but it was amazing to see the pattern sample books and realise just how bright and flamboyant they must originally have been.  And how expensive!  Scarlet in particular - a colour that Norwich was particularly well-known for - was so expensive to create; one hundredweight of cochineal would have cost the equivalent of about £33000 in today's money!  Michael's detailed, knowledgeable explanations of the origins and costs of the dyeing materials really brought home to me the key role that Norwich played in the C18th textile industry, at the centre of a worldwide and extremely valuable trade - and made me think about the connections that the city had right across the globe at that time.

These online events are more formal, extremely high quality lectures given by experts, and it is a privilege to have access to them.  They are followed by the opportunity to ask questions and explore ideas further.  I really would recommend to all members that they have a look at the programme (which can be found here: Costume and Textile Association events) and book themselves up for a dive down a wonderful textile-related rabbit hole!  There is bound to be something to your taste.  And on these cold winter evenings, what could be nicer than snuggling up with a warm drink and being transported away across the world to hear about beautiful costumes and gorgeous fabrics?

And so, please do believe me when I say that there is more to discover at the C&TA, and more friendly faces out there.  The website is a great starting point for your journey of discovery, and I hope to be able to wave to you, be it across a crowded hall or through a tiny screen, somewhere along the way!

Jenny Fletcher
​

A Quick Christmas Make

​Just to encourage you, and as promised to the Crafty Chatters, here are my instructions for knitting a textured cotton facecloth, which if made in a pretty yarn and accompanied by a lovely bar of soap, makes a really good Christmas present!  It takes one 50g ball (or 100m) of yarn and I use 3mm needles.  You can use any good-quality cotton.  At the moment I'm using Drops Muskat mercerized cotton which is available in lots of colours.

Cast on 65 stitches.
The repeat pattern is 4 rows, and creates what is known as Blackberry/Bramble or Trinity Stitch.

Rows 1 and 3 (right side): purl to end.
Row 2: (k1, p1, k1) all into first st, *p3tog, (k1, p1, k1) all into next st, repeat from * to end.
Row 4: p3tog, *(k1, p1, k1) all into next st, p3tog, repeat from * to end.

Repeat these 4 rows until your work is square - usually about 15 times.  

Final row: cast off purl-wise and sew in ends.