Winter 2017 ARTS & CRAFTS HOMES&DETAILSa ANN WALLACE / PRAIRIE TEXTILES
annwallace.com Embroidered & sten-
ciled table linens, pillows, bed cover-
ings, roller shades; curtain hardware
a APPLIQUÉ ARTISTRY applique
artistry.com Original Arts &
Crafts appliqué pillow designs
a ARTS & CRAFTS STITCHES acstitches.com
Hand-embroidered textiles & kits
a ARTS & CRAFTS PERIOD TEXTILES
textilestudio.com Embroidered &
stenciled table linens, pillows, bed
coverings, kits, fabric from Dianne
Ayres; also curtain hardware
a COOPER LACE cooperlace.com
Artisan-designed collection of lace panels
in historical & contemporary patterns
a FORD CRAFTSMAN STUDIOS
fordcraftsman.com Embroidered
pillows, table linens, stencils
a GRAFFITI MATS JUDƯWLPDWVFRP
Table mats with Arts & Crafts motifs
aTHE HANDWERK SHADE SHOP
thehandwerkshop.com Roller
shades with or without stencils
a INGLENOOK TEXTILES inglenook
textiles.com Arts & Crafts
textiles; embroidery workshops
aPAINT BY THREADS paint-by-threads.com
Period-inspired embroidered & stenciled
textiles, kits; fabrics & notions
a TRIMBELLE RIVER STUDIO AND DESIGN
trimbelleriver.com Large collection of
Arts & Crafts textiles, kits, sundriesneedlework for
Arts & Crafts textilesGROSS & DALEY PHOTO (TO P), GARY PAYNE (RIGHT)
LEFT A custom
bedspread from
Arts & Crafts Period
Textiles features an
appliquéd design of
stylized Mackintosh
roses and leaves with
stem-stitch embroidery.ABOVE Flowers, done in faded sunset colors
for an early 20th-century table scarf, are
SXQFWXDWHGE\)UHQFKNQRWVLQFRUQƮRZHUEOXHA second influence was the design-
er and father of the British Arts & Crafts
movement William Morris, who exper-
imented with natural dyes to produce
saturated colors in embroidered designs,
and who collaborated with his wife, Jane,
and daughter May Morris to execute his
vision. A third was Scottish architect
Charles Rennie Mackintosh, who mem-
orably recast the notion of what a rose
should look like in the new century.
Women interested in furnishing
their homes absorbed these new ideas
through magazines, which provided il-
lustrations and instructions on how to
create household textiles in the Arts &
Crafts genre. Manufacturers of color-
ful silk embroidery floss partnered with
publications like The Modern Priscilla and
Ladies’ Home Journal to promote what
textile designer Ann Wallace, in her book
Arts & Crafts Textiles, calls the Art Needle-
work movement.
Among the most evocative patterns
were those promoted by Gustav Stickley,
both through his artistic guild, United
Crafts, and his influential magazine The
Craftsman. Favorite motifs for embroidery
and stencils included stylized versions of
trees, leaves, pinecones, and innumera-
ble flowers, from rose to periwinkle, pop-py to wild carrot. Designs were usually
simple yet stylized and sophisticated in
terms of visual impact.
Unlike the needlework of previ-
ous eras in America, which was often
largely white, Arts & Crafts designs
were colorful and notably graphic. The
softness of the materials and a prefer-
ence for slightly subdued colors used to
create the patterns kept them from an
unseemly boldness. The most memora-
ble make use of the negative space on
the face of the textile to accentuate a sin-
gle motif, connected by slender runs of
stitches or punctuated by small round or
rectangular accents.
Embroidery kits and designs sold
as patterns were easy to find and buy—
in fact, Wallace writes, they were much
more prevalent than were Arts & Crafts
furnishings in general. Favorite colors
included dark red, forest green, terra
cotta, Loden green, teal blue, burgundy,
sage, and gold.
The stitches, too, were simple, and
the most prevalent included satin stitch,
stem stitch, and outline stitch (often
done in black). Finishing was as simple
as possible. Flat pieces such as table run-
ners or scarves have a blind hem, embroi-
dered edge, or pull-thread hemstitch. a