Fabric for a Feast: The story of Textiles Sydney

Jane Théau

1 September 2024

Jane Théau writes about a tablecloth embroidery project that grew into a new organisation, Textiles Sydney.

When I sat down at the table to write this article my first thought was of the classic structure of the table: a surface that extends between two pairs of legs. It could be considered a metaphor for two people connecting across space, and that is often what a table is for. It facilitates meetings, learning, the production of things and meals. And speaking of meals, a table needs a tablecloth.

Nearly ten years ago I had an exhibition, Sunbaking in Oslo, at The Incinerator in Willoughby. To create a connection between visitors to the gallery I invited them to sit a while and embroider something on a linen tablecloth. Some of the participants loved the activity so much that they asked if we could do it again, so I continued the fun, hosting stitching sessions in my studio. This Fabric for a Feast, begun in 2015, has become a never-ending project to embellish a crazy, colourful, messy, perfect piece of cloth. Many people since then have been embroidering the tablecloth at exhibitions, refugee events at the Auburn Community Centre, Rohingya Women’s meetings in Lakemba, at a country lacemakers’ meeting, at the Australian Design Centre, in nursing homes, at libraries and in schools.

This Fabric for a Feast has a past life. It began in France as an antique, queen-sized, monogrammed sheet found in a Pyrenean village market. It is made from two lengths of linen fabric that have been hand-sewn down the middle in tiny, meticulous stitches. What was once a bedsheet imbued with the intimate stories of people from another century and another country now has embedded within it the stories of all the people who have sat together in Australia to stitch their tales. It has the joyful, unpolished stitches of children, a lotus flower begun by Jenny who passed away before she could finish it, an eye created by a Syrian refugee, a piece of bobbin lace made by a farmer from Uralla, some expert herringbone stitch by the past president of the Embroiderers’ Guild, birds cut from children’s pillowcases, people’s favourite words, dyed horsehair, and an example of reverse applique offered to show how Panamanian molas are made.

When I had to leave my studio, I was encouraged by North Sydney Council to continue the project next door at the Primrose Park Art and Craft Centre. To use that space, I had to form an organisation, so I founded Textiles Sydney. This organisation has grown year on year to become a vibrant hub for lovers of textiles from all over Sydney, and each November we throw the Fabric for a Feast over a table and lay out a feast to celebrate the end of another craft-ful year. There are hundreds of people now within the Textiles Sydney community sharing their love of textiles, their skill and their creativity. A recycled sheet made that happen!

I read the following wise words on the Garland website: “A single thing may carry hundreds of stories, about the people who made it or who have lived with it.” This quote by curator and craft historian Glenn Adamson so perfectly encapsulates the concept and actuality of Fabric for a Feast: the tablecloth is a vast page that accepts in colourful threads the stories of those who come into contact with it.

Fabric for a Feast will never be finished. It will always be a process, as the focus is on the making, the sharing of tales and the friendships that are forged in the act of contributing to this shared endeavour.

About Jane Théau

I am an artist, community art facilitator, curator and President/founder of Textiles Sydney. My practice is multi-disciplinary, encompassing sculpture, installation and performance. I previously worked in scientific research and economic development, disciplines that continually influence my work as an artist. Follow @janetheau.

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