FIBER ARTS AS FAMILIAL LEGACY: IT CAN START WITH YOU!

Through this blog, we’ve explored fiber arts as a part of the historical record, as a tool for community building, as pieces of practical art, and as a medium that, today, anyone and everyone can enjoy in one form or another. Still, you might have your own reservations. The image of fiber arts as it has been portrayed in popular culture over the past decades still looms large (no pun intended). You may think that because your mother or your grandmother didn’t pass down fiber arts to you as part of a long and unbroken matrilineal legacy, that somehow makes your practice less valid. Or you may think you’re too late in life to pick up a new skill. Nothing could be further from the truth. While the passage of fiber arts techniques and skills down through the generations is one of the many beautiful things about these artforms, it is by no means an exclusionary boundary.

In my own family, the only fiber artist I know of, my great grandmother, Jeannie, passed away long before I developed my own interest in fiber arts or she had the chance to teach me any of her skills. I was effectively self-taught, fumbling through clumsy crochet stitches using slightly mildewed yarn and hand-me-down hooks, a small piece of her collection I never had the chance to ask any questions about. The first embroidery project I ever attempted was an old Christmas stocking pattern from the 70s, an unopened packet I pilfered from her bedroom after she passed. It was by no means my finest work, far from it, but it was special to me. My love of fiber arts grew as years passed, but it flourished in isolation. I realized I was given a special chance – fiber arts as part of my living familial legacy could start with me. Over the past several years, I have taught both my mom and sister how to cross stitch – they’re incredibly talented! – and my sister has now decided to pick up needlepoint, territory I still haven’t been brave enough to venture into.

Though I call this a special chance, it is not truly unique to me. Anyone with a curiosity about or passion for fiber arts has the chance to be the first in their life to start, taking advantage of the many educational resources we have access to in our modern era to learn something new, and maybe even start new family traditions. Fiber arts has always been, and remains to this day, something that anyone can enjoy and I hope if this blog has piqued your curiosity (even a little bit) you will decide to be brave enough to try.

These three images showcase several of my more recent cross stitch projects. They haven't yet been steamed and framed, but I'm still happy to share them as examples as just a few of the many types of projects you can create with fiber arts.

PHOTO CREDIT: Talia Pugliese