ST201906

HANDMADE HISTORIES

Appliqué

Words:SALLYCOULTHARD/CRAFTED

W

henTutankhamundiedatthe

tenderageof18,in 1323 BCE,

hewasburiedwithenough

clothestolasthimhis

entireafterlife,includingpiles

ofloincloths,tunics,kilts,shawls,

socksandgloves.Justlikea modernwardrobe,while

someoftheseclotheswerefairlyquotidien,a selection

weregorgeouslyfancy.Amongtheclothesandother

textileswerea numberofitemsthathadbeen

painstakinglyappliquéd,includinga fauxleopard

skinwithappliquéspots,a pairofwingsappliquéd

witha falconandvultures,andchild’stunicwithan

appliquécolla r.

Appliquéisa techniquethatinvolvesstitching

smallercut-outsontoa largerfoundationcloth.

Theterm‘appliqué’comesfromtheFrenchappliquer,

‘toapply’or‘toputon’,andit’stemptingtothink

thatappliquémusthavedevelopedasa technique

forpatchingupoldclothes.Fromthefindsat

Tutankhamun’stomb,however,andsubsequent

discoveries,includingappliquéwallhangingsin

Siberiantombsandappliquédmummifiedanimal

wrappingsfromSaqqara,Egypt,it wouldseemthatit

hasmoreoftenbeena craftnotofnecessitybut

ceremony.IntheMiddleAges,it wasoftenusedto

decorateheraldicbannersandecclesiasticaltextiles.

It’sinterestingtonotethatappliquéisstillusedin

manyculturestoembellishceremonialandritually

significantpieces.Fromthe‘mola’appliquéclothing

oftheKunawomeninPanamatothetraditional

textilesoftheKuba

intheDemocratic

RepublicofCongo,

theyref lecttheshared

religiousbeliefsofthe

group,whiletheFonof

Beninuseappliqué

clothasa wayto

recorda deceased

person’smerits

andfriendship.

In oneday,you’llpickup

enoughbasic techniques

• machineorhandappliqué–
  tocompletea smallpanelor
  cushioncover.Advanced
  coursesoftenbuildonhand
  appliquétechniquessuchas
  biasstems,curvesandangles.

Gettingstarted

ADAPTED FROM

CRAFTED

BY SALLY COUTHARD (QUADRILLE). ILLUSTRATION: LOUISE LOCKHART

CRAFT