Mr X Stitch » Penny Nickels

Stitchgasm! – Shadow Puppet

Beefranck — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 21:00:05 +0000

Penny Nickels is always making things that amaze me.

See more from her here.

Needle Exchange: Quillwork

Penny Nickels — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 15:00:35 +0000

Welcome back everybody! The last few months we’ve been looking at contemporary fiber artists, this time I thought we’d look at a tradition that is wholly North American.

Míkmaq Quillwork

Porcupine quillwork may just be the oldest form of Native American embroidery. According to Needlework Through History, it dates back to prehistoric times. This type of work was prolific among Woodland region tribes, which is also lines up with the porcupine’s natural range.

North American Porcupine

According to the Métis Museum, porcupines are nocturnal, which means they were easy to hunt during the day. The quills would be stripped before the skin had time to dry, thus insuring the quills would not become brittle. The quills would then be sorted by size, and submerged in boiling dye pots for up to four hours. Natural dyes were typically made of vegetable matter, and used wood ash or urine as a mordant. This ensured the the quills would be colorfast. Large quills would be used for background work, while smaller ones would be used for fine work.

Quillwork Bag, circa 1840′s, Great Lakes area.

Quills cannot be used until they are softened and flattened. To prepare them, it was common for the artist to hold the quills in their mouth, softening them with saliva and then flattening them by pulling them out through their teeth. However, tools made of antler, bone or wood were also used to accomplish this. Holes were punched through the quills using an awl, and then they were stitched on to the foundation material using sinew thread. The foundation could be anything from cloth, to hide, to birch, depending on the piece.

Nez Perce shirt, 1820′s

Traditional quillwork stitches include lines, zig-zag, sawtooth, as well as wrapped edging, multiquill plaited, and loom weaving. Nativetech.org has a really thorough site that has clear pictures and instructions for quillwork.

Because we are looking at an art form that spans so many different tribes, I loathe to try to assign meaning to this technique. What might be true for the Blackfoot tribe could likely have a completely different significance to the Dene, so I won’t do my usual, “This placement means this, this color means this, this design means this.”

Cheyenne horse mask with quillwork, 1850′s.

I will say however, that after 1840, glass beads became readily available and began to overtake the use of quills in most tribes. Fortunately, it has not died out. Quillwork is still found in Míkmaq, Sioux, Cree, and Ojibway cultures among others.

Míkmaq placemats, early 1900′s

Here’s a tutorial for quillwork I found on youtube, the sound’s a bit cicada-y, but overall it’s pretty good.

Anyway, this article barely scratches the surface of this tradition. I hope you click the links and read up on individual tribes to learn more!

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Penny Nickels is a printmaker that started playing with needles with tremendous effect. She and her husband, Johnny Murder, have been described as the “Bonnie and Clyde of Contemporary Embroidery” and you can discover the power of her creativity at her blog.

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Resources for this article include Needlework Through History by Catherine Amoroso Leslie and Embroidered Textiles by Sheila Paine.

Needle Exchange: Hannah Ryggen

Penny Nickels — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 10:00:31 +0000

Hi everybody! Last time we looked at the work of Claes Oldenburg, this time I thought we’d look at the tapestries of Norwegian artist, Hannah Ryggen.

”I am a painter, not a weaver; a painter whose tool is not the brush, but the loom.”-HR

Hannah Ryggen was born on March 21, 1894 in Malmo, Sweden and died Feburary 2nd, 1970 in Trondheim, Norway. Although Swedish born, she spent most of her life in Norway. She studied painting extensively, however it was ultimately tapestry weaving that became her medium of choice.

Jul Kvale, 1956

Her tapestries often depicted the harrowing world of WWII, and also served to give voice to her political opinions. She was an anti-fascist, an activist in the Norwegian communist moment, and an early feminist. In the conversation of craftivism and political art in general, Hannah Ryggen’s work must be included.

Den 6 oktober 1942

Click to enlarge. Notice Hitler on the left-hand side

Drömdöd, 1936 (Dreamland)

This depicts the imprisonment of 1935 Nobel Peace Prize winer, Carl von Ossietzky. He was outspoken critic of militarism and Nazism. He was arrested and sent to Spandau Prison, and then sent to the concentration camp, KZ Esterwergen.

Grey Figure, 1961

This piece is based on a story Hannah heard about the victims of atomic bombs. She was told that the imprint of the dead could be seen in dust for days after the explosion.

Liselotte Hermann, Halshuggen, 1928 (Liselotte Herman, Executed)

Liselotte Herman was a German Communist resistance fighter during the Third Riech. She was captured and spent 19 months in custody before being beheaded by guillotine in 1938.

Not only is her work uncompromising thematically, but also in its creation. Each piece came completely out of her hands and onto the loom, as she worked consistently without the use of sketches or any other kind of guide. She also carded, spun and dyed the wool used in her weaving. She took great care in the dying process, collecting lichen, bark, roots, and using iron or copper pots to further control colors. Apparently, she even collected urine from male visitors to be fermented and used as a mordant. She refrained from collecting specimens from females because of proteins present that would effect the fermentation. This may sound odd, but urine has been used practically forever in tanning and the preparation of textiles.

Gru, 1936 (Horror)

En Fri, 1947 (A Free One)

Hannah included a poem she wrote to accompany this piece- ‘The human pattern – we all are trapped in / some grey figures bend their backs and work while we sleep / some wear medals and stand above us all / hand in hand with their ancestors…’ But there is one figure, on the lower right of the weaving, who is not caught up in the golden band. ‘One of the grey figures stands up and looks at it all. He is as free as one can be.’”

Anyway, sorry to be kind of a downer this time around. It’s grey out, all the things are occupied, and I can’t help but think of Hannah Ryggen.

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Beefranck’s Emporium – Penny Nickel’s PUSH Contest!

Beefranck — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 09:00:31 +0000

Hi everybody! You may have heard of Jamie’s book, PUSH – well, did you know that our own Penny Nickels was featured in PUSH? And that she held a contest at her site recently to celebrate? It’s true!

Penny asked for stitchers to send in a picture of their most original work and include an essay explaining it and what makes it awesome. Today I want to show you the winners and runners up.

The winner is Dave Hill, who submitted this piece called Priest. David says that this is only his second finished piece – I’m amazed by this.

The second winner is Lord Libidan with his fully articulated robot figurine based upon the transformers series. WOAH.

This piece by runner up Stefanie M, Hair, is actually stitched with human hair.

The second runner up is Di Ellis with this stitched tattoo sleeve. Very cool!

You can read the essays that the winners included with their pieces here, and be sure to follow Penny’s blog – there’s all kinds of awesome stuff happening over there all the time!

Hoopla book signing in Portland!

Beefranck — Sun, 09 Oct 2011 21:00:14 +0000

Our own Penny Nickels will be stitching, bitching, and signing copies of Hoopla this Monday along with Johnny Murder, Cate Aneveski, and author Leanne Prain tomorrow night. If you’re in the Portland area be sure to check it out!

Needle Exchange: Claes Oldenburg

Penny Nickels — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 09:00:01 +0000

Hi everybody! Welcome back! Last time we looked at Joseph Beuy’s fiber work, this week I thought we take a look at Claes Oldenburg.

These days, when we hear the phrase “Soft Sculptures”, most of us tend to think of amigurumi, or felted critters, or plushies that have graced the pages of contemporary crafting magazines and websites. However, Claes Oldenburg practically invented them, or at the very least gained his early fame working in that medium. Since 1962, Oldenburg has created large soft sculptures of common objects using materials ranging from canvas to naugahyde. He often revisits the same object over and over, rendering it in different materials or presenting it in different states, sometimes deflated, sometimes suspended, sometimes solid. He says his soft sculptures are “…not as indifferent to the body as non-objective art, yet they are not as fleshy as figurative art.” He goes on to say that his forms “…are constantly engaged in promiscuous intercourse and may turn up as almost anything.” A great example of this statement is his piece Soft Light Switches (1964).

Soft Light Switches, 1964. Vinyl filled with Dacron and canvas.

Soft Light Switches – “Ghost Version” II 1964-71 Canvas filled with kapok; gesso and pencil.

I’m not the first person that’s noticed the obvious erotism in these pieces. It’s also difficult for me to view the following pieces without anthropomorphizing them.

Soft Bathtub- Ghost Version 1966, acrylic and pencil on foam-filled canvas with wood, cord, and plaster.

Soft Toilet, 1966. Wood, vinyl, kapok fibers, wire, plexiglass on metal stand and painted wood base.

On his manipulation of scale, Oldenburg said, “One day I combined landscapes and objects, only I didn’t change the scale. I had a drawing of a vacuum cleaner and another of Manhattan- and I just superimposed them. The result was automatically a ‘giant vacuum cleaner’ because the city held its scale- it didn’t become a miniature city. Somehow it just worked and I said to myself, ‘Well, look what I’ve got here!’ Then I tried another one. It was a way to get into landscape drawing which is one of my favorite vices.”

Proposal for a Colossal Monument in the Form of a Typewriter Eraser of Alcatraz, 1972.

The Typewriter Eraser is another piece that despite the “ordinariness” of the subject, shifts and takes on different characteristics. It goes from being dynamic to almost melancholy depending on the material and the presentation. On one of the sketches for the piece, Oldenburg wrote, “This form of typewriter eraser- now becoming antique- suggest other parts of the body as well- for example, the belly, with it’s ‘button’ and the brush of pubic hair below.”

Proposal for a Giant Ballon in the Form of a Typewriter Eraser- Model 1970. Painted canvas filled with foam rubber.

From and interview with Martin Friedman (1975)-

MF: How did the Eraser become a tornado?

CO: An early tornado sketch in 1970 resulted from my having the subject strongly on my mind while hearing the story of a tornado cut a swath through Lubbock, Texas.

MF: Are there any other associations between the tornado and the eraser?

CO: Well, of course the tornado erases… In Lubbock it drew a clear path across the city.

MF: Obviously the Eraser has many roles- both lyrical and menacing

CO: Yes, the falling eraser is a victim role, perhaps with the plight of secretaries. The eraser as Medusa or octopus is more threatening. As a sphinx it’s mysterious and in it’s reclining position it’s voluptuous. I think the typewriter eraser is female. I see that in thinking about the eraser I have brought out stereotypes of “the woman”.

Model of the Typewriter Eraser, 1970, seated position.

He says his monuments are, “…not about Gods and heroes, I’d like to replace all those statues of Horace Greenley and Garibaldi with objects. What does Horace Greenley mean to the average city dweller? What does Greenley mean to me? Monuments are idealized images without true emotions.” He goes on to say he’d like “…to get away from public monuments, which are false, and into lyrical monuments, which are true because they’re personal.”

Colossal Floating Three-Way Plug 1965

“I believe that the first drawing was in 1965- the plug floating in water. You could see part of the plug above and part below the water. It looked like a buoy or a tank floating in the water. In my fantasy it became a cathedral, a floating cathedral.” Claes Oldenburg, 1975

Three-Way Plug, Scale B, Soft. 1970, leather and wood.

“As it gets bigger, it becomes an architectural form. It looks like the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul… The English Plug is a different form. It doesn’t have this pattern of crossed vaulting. It relates some sort of structure, but not a church. I found it adaptable to a crematorium.” Claes Oldenburg, 1975.

Three-Way Plug, Scale D, Soft. 1970, denim.

“I am trying to create a combination of art and reality. On the one hand, the hard Three-Way Plug is really about an anti-aesthetic formulation of a sculpture because it’s almost a slavish recreation of an object. It’s like saying this is as good as a sculpture because I claim it to be. On the other hand, it’s qualified by an aesthetic intention that I also have. But, in my work, art is limited by the boundaries of appearances, and if I make this Three-Way Plug, I don’t put it on something or against something. It’s contained in itself. I’m formulating a concept in which sculpture and object are one thing- together- and I think that’s a radical notion of art.” -Claes Oldenburg, 1975.

Soft Typewriter, 1963. vinyl filled with kapok, Plexiglas and nylon cord.

Finally, I’d like to close with this bit of an interview with artist Faith Ringgold from 1990 and her thoughts on Oldenburg’s work.

Eleanor Flomenhaft: How do you define your art?

Faith Ringgold: I’m a painter that works in the quilt medium; and that I sew on my painting does not make it less of a painting; and that it’s made into a quilt does not make it not a painting. It’s still a painting.

EF: Do you determine whether the other quilts are craft or art before you agree to enter a quilt exhibit?

FR: I’m not that uptight about that. I realize that people want to make that distinction, and I feel that maybe by the year 2000 people will be asking what all that was about. At one time I thought that what we meant by craft was the use of certain kinds of materials. But that’s not it either because Claes Oldenburg’s soft typewriters are sewn pieces, and I never heard anyone call them craft. It’s who’s doing it that makes it craft; but I can’t afford to conduct my business by what other people are thinking although I know it affects me…

On that note, next time we’ll take a look at some of the ladies of fiber art.

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References for this article include Oldenburg by The Walker Art Center and String Felt Thread by Elissa Aurther

Stitchgasm! – Penny Nickels

Beefranck — Mon, 05 Sep 2011 21:00:27 +0000

This beautiful embroidery and lace piece is from the always inspiring Penny Nickels.

Needle Exchange: Joseph Beuys

Penny Nickels — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 13:13:15 +0000

Hi Everybody! This week, my sweet husband and Manbroidery founder, Johnny Murder is celebrating his 40th birthday! YAY! I love you Papa! In honor of him and Manbroiderers the world over, I’ve decided to write about Joseph Beuys.

German artist Joseph Beuys (May 12th, 1921 – January 23, 1986)

From Joseph Beuys The Reader, “During his lifetime, he was simultaneously celebrated and lampooned by by fellow artists and by the international art community; since his death he has been lauded as heroic by some and condemned by others as a dark figure of German fascism and totalitarian impulses.” From Wikipedia, “Joseph Beuys was a German performance artist, sculptor, installation artist, graphic artist, art theorist and pedagogue of art. His extensive work is grounded in concepts of humanism, social philosophy and anthroposophy; it culminates in his ‘extended definition of art’ and the idea of social sculpture as a gesamtkunstwerk, for which he claimed a creative, participatory role in shaping society and politics. His career was characterized by passionate, even acrimonious public debate, but he is now regarded as one of the most influential artists of the 20th century.”

Now I have a headache. Let’s try this again.

Once, Beuys traveled to the U.S, and when he arrived, he was picked up by an ambulance and taken to the René Block Gallery where he was wrapped in felt and carried in by a stretcher. Then he spent the next 3 days, 8 hours a day, locked in the room with a feral coyote.

Also, he planted 7000 oak trees around the city of Kassel, each tree was set next to a basalt stone. He took a piano and covered it in felt. He was shot down on the Crimean front, and rescued by Tartars who kept him alive by covering his body with fat and wrapping him with felt. One time, he covered his face with honey and gold leaf, and carried around a dead rabbit and tried to explain art to it.

Only one of these stories isn’t true.

Beuys was a pioneer, not only in his work but in his personal mythology. In a time when Germany was turning away from nationalism and pivoting towards focusing on the individual, Beuys made a shift from citizen and soldier, to what may best be described as the artist as a shaman. It is not only his use of felt and stitching that I think qualifies him as a Manbroiderer, but also what was essentially his mission statement. Taken from the Walker Art Center website- ”One of Joseph Beuys’ fundamental messages, delivered again and again in lectures, interviews, and artworks, was that human beings can and must learn to be creative in many different ways. His famous slogan “Everyone is an artist” was not meant to suggest that all people should or could be creators of traditional artworks. Rather, he meant that we should not see creativity as the special realm of artists, but that everyone should apply creative thinking in their own area of specialization–whether it be law, agriculture, physics, education, homemaking, or the fine arts.”

Beuys’ use of felt prominently reflects his origin story as well his fixation on warmth.

Felt Suit, 1970

Excerpts from an interview with the artist by Jörg Schellmann and Bernd Klüser, 1970S,

K: “Why doesn’t the Felt Suit have buttons?

B: Well, that was dictated by the character of felt. That occurred quite naturally. It was tailored after my own suit and I think the whole thing has to retain the character of felt, in the sense that felt doesn’t strive to be smart, so to speak. One has to conserve the character, omit mere trifles, such as complicated buttons, buttonholes and so on, and if somebody wants to wear the suit, he can fasten it with safetypins.

S, K: Does the association with convicts’ uniforms on which the buttons and braces have been cut off as a sign of disgrace apply?

B: Of course I thought of that, but there’s no direct relation. It isn’t meant to be a suit which people wear. The suit is meant to be an object which one is precisely not supposed to wear. One can wear it, but in a relatively short time it’ll lose its shape because felt is not a material which holds a form. Felt isn’t woven. It’s pressed together usually from hare or rabbit hair. It’s precisely that, and it isn’t suited for buttonholes and the like.

S, K: How should one take care of the Felt Suit?

B: I don’t care. You can nail the suit to the wall. You can also hang it on a hanger, ad libitum! But can also wear it or throw it into a chest.

S, K: Does the suit’s felt material play the role of insulating the physical warmth of a person?

B: The character of warming–yes, that’s obvious. The felt suit is not just a gag. It’s an extension of the felt sculptures I made during my performances. There, felt also appeared as an element of warmth or as an insulator. Felt was used in all the categories of warmth sculpture, usually in connection with fat: And it’s a derivative of that. So it does have a bearing on the character of warmth. Ultimately the concept of warmth goes even further. No even physical warmth, I could just as well have used an infrared light in my performances. Actually I mean a completely different kind of warmth, namely spiritual warmth or the beginning of an evolution.”

Homogeneous Infiltration for Piano 1966, and The Skin 1984

“The sound of the piano is trapped inside the felt skin. In a normal sense, a piano is an instrument used to produce sound. When not in use, it is silent, but still has sound potential. Here, no sound is possible, and the piano is condemned to silence. The relationship to the human condition is marked by the two red crosses, signifying emergency. The danger that threatens, if we stay silent and fail to make the next evolutionary step. Such an object is intended for a stimulus in discussion, and in no way is it intended to be taken as an aesthetic product. It is vital that humankind should slowly learn to speak, should come out of its dampness, and this applies above all, to the man in the street.” -Joseph Beuys

The Pack, 1969

Description from The Tate Modern- “Beuys commented: ‘This is an emergency object: an invasion by the pack. In a state of emergency the Volkswagen bus is of limited usefulness, and more direct and primitive means must be taken to ensure survival.’ This strongly autobiographical work refers directly to Beuys’s plane crash over the Crimea during the Second World War. He often described being rescued by a band of Tartars who coated his body with fat and wrapped him in felt. Whether real or mythical, the story shows the symbolic importance of these materials in Beuys’s mind. It also suggests a fable of death and rebirth in which Beuys is purged, perhaps of his wartime guilt, and brought back to life by a nomadic people.”

As fiber artists, or crafters, or stitchers, or all three, I think it’s important to look back and really explore the artists who came before us. I think we often times forget that there is a tradition of fiber work in fine art, and studying that can open us up to wonder and revelations. It can help push us forward to break boundaries, and gives us a bigger space to grow.

I think Beuys puts it pretty well when he says, “Art alone makes life possible – this is how radically I should like to formulate it. I would say that without art man is inconceivable in physiological terms… …I would say man does not consist only of chemical processes, but also of metaphysical occurrences. The provocateur of the chemical processes is located outside the world. Man is only truly alive when he realizes he is a creative, artistic being… …Even the act of peeling a potato can be a work of art if it is a conscious act.”

Homogeneous Infiltration for Cello, 1967

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All reference material is cited in the above text. Click highlighted portions for more information.

Needle Exchange: DMC History, Part III

Penny Nickels — Sun, 17 Jul 2011 13:44:43 +0000

Welcome back to out third instament of DMC history! Last time we made it to the early 1900′s, and ended with the cessation of their printed fabric. With the company in the capable hands of Jean Dolphus’ family, especially Alfred Engel, F. Engel-Gross and E. Duvillard, DMC moved to exclusively to manufacturing threads. This period is where we find DMC’s thorough market research really pay off. According to the DMC website, different markets and styles of needlework were rigorously researched in order to better improve the materials and serve a new clienteles’ needs. ”For example, to replace the threads, often produced by primitive methods, which the peasant women of the Balkans used for embroidering their traditional gala costumes, superior articles were created and put on the market; they completely gained the confidence of those clever embroideresses and lace-makers. Thus, threads bearing the DMC mark won the appreciation of consumers in ever-widening circle.”

But their research didn’t end there. They also strived to collect examples of traditional European embroidery. Specialists hired by DMC were charged with seeking these pieces out in order to help create a collection based on these traditional designs, yet updated for the contemporary needleworker.

During this time, DMC erected several four story buildings measuring 750 feet long, further expanding their production capabilities. However, they were barely completed when WWI broke out in 1914. Fortunately, through the duration of the war DMC was left relatively unmolested and continued to produce materials, although at a slower pace. Interestingly enough, I did find a few references to DMC during the war in American magazines, take a look.

From The Dry Goods Reporter, 1914

By 1928, DMC had rebounded under the direction of Mr. E. Thierry-Mieg, then of Mr. E. Krafft. At this time the company employed 9,000 people. Associates expanded the company’s global market by developing new bases and reestablishing old ones in Latin America, the far East, Africa, and Australia. The DMC sample case became a familiar sight, when over a hundred new sales depots and offices were established all over the world.

I even found this reference in a sorority newsletter to DMC. I thought it was interesting to see the pleasure and surprise the writer experienced when finding DMC products away from home.

The Anchora of Delta Gamma, 1913

DMC had always been quite good at marketing and advertising, but around this period we can really see a flood of print from and about the company. It’s been difficult for me to keep the photos to a minimum for this article because I found hundreds of ads, recommendations for DMC products in school books and magazines, and of course, The DMC Library which produced many books of patterns and basic instruction. This vast material can be found in 30 different languages and really serves to give us an idea of how widely recognized the company became.

Almanacco Italiano 1905

Buyer’s Merchandise Guide, 1912

U.S. Patent Office, 1921

Histoire documentaire de l’industrie de Mulhouse et de ses environs au XIXme siècle, 1902

The other thing that I found fascinating about the company, is their sense of responsibility to their employees and the communities that host them. From the website, “As early as 1830 it had founded the first sickness benefit fund. Twenty years later it built a day-nursery and infant school, followed by a hall for instructive recreation. We have spoken earlier of the workers settlements with their adjuncts- bakehouse, washhouse etc.. created by Jean Dollfus. In 1883 a provident and superannuation fund was started for the employees. Not long after large canteens with kitchens were built for the workers as a well as a model day-nursery at the Belfort works. For many years now DMC has paid an annual pension to its retired workpeople and employees, without levying any contribution, and during the years 1914-1918 it paid out in war and unemployment relief, more than five and a half million francs. Since 1919, it has provided hundreds of allotments as well as a vast sports ground, and created a new modern workers settlement, which was unfortunately destroyed by aerial bombing in 1944 but is now in course of re-building.”

So it comes of no surprise that during the course of my research, DMC was consistently lauded in the history books, and several biographies were written about the members of this fine family.

So at the end Part II in this series, I promised you guys a truly vintage pattern. And then I realized that I tend to favor embroidery over cross stitch, because I’m a jerk and an embroiderer. So I figured I do you eXers a solid. The following is an article on cross stitch patterns for high fashion in 1904. I hope you guys enjoy! If you click each image, it will take you to a new page. Click the photo again to see it large.

Click to enlarge

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Photos featured are property of DMC, book and magazine excerpts are copyright free.

Nearly all of the information in this article was taken from the DMC website, with their permission.

Visit http://dmc-threads.com/ and

http://www.dmc-usa.com/ for more information.

Needle Exchange: DMC History Part II

Penny Nickels — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 12:27:56 +0000

Hi everybody! Last time we started with the history of DMC, today we continue!

We left off in the 1850′s when imitations of DMC products were becoming more prevalent, and the first prosecutions of trademark infringement commenced. As it happens, I ran across one of these cases.

The trademarks themselves are quite interesting. Here’s a collection I found from The Austrian Trademark Gazette, published in 1892 (Click to enlarge)

After the Franco-Prussian war, DMC continued to expand and acquired twelve block printing machines. They produced calicos and block printed wool fabrics, and also launched new sewing, crochet and embroidery threads. DMC was again awarded the Hor Concours at the Exhibition of 1879 at Paris. The following year, the Belfort works were created. These exclusively produced cotton thread and braids. They also began to produce gold and silver thread which was extremely sought after for ecclesiastical work.

They also set up an onsite printing press to handle all printing, from paper to packaging. As the company thrived, Jean Doullfus also sought to improve his employees living conditions. Due to the lack of housing near the factory to meet the needs of an increasing workforce, In 1850 he initiated the settlements called “Cities Ouvrieres” at Mulhouse. Napoleon III was so impressed with the endeavor, he ordered a subsidy of 300,000 francs to be paid to the community. Each house had a small garden and was sold to the worker at cost, giving them 14 to 16 years to pay off the property. By June 1885, 775 of the 1060 houses had been fully paid by their residents.

Jean Doulfus died in 1887, leaving DMC a worldwide recognized and respected company. His family, especially his grandsons Alfred Engel and F. engel-Gros and the later’s son-in-law E. Duvillar, continued Jean’s work and further expanded the company. By the early 1900′s DMC’s thread production had grown so successfully, in 1904 they shut down the mills that produced the printed fabric that had garnered DMC’s early recognition.

Now this is where my super sleuthing comes in. Until this point, I’ve been essentially paraphrasing the history that’s available on the DMC website. But the late 1800′s and early 1900′s is where I’ve found some real treasures. This is the period that you start seeing DMC absolutely everywhere. (Click images to enlarge) From magazines-

Article from 1917

Article from 1905

Advertisements from 1904-1910

To young ladies’ instructional books-

Complete course of Needlework and Cutting Out 1901

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Young Women’s Mutual Improvement Association, 1900

Even in physical therapy books for the care of the elderly and infirm.

A Manual for Nurses and Attendants 1910

I would be remiss to not speak about Therese de Dillmont here. Her book, Encyclopedia of Needlework, 1884 is not only classic for needleworkers, but was also born out of a partnership with DMC. Her love of their thread is evident on every page.

The choice of colours and material—a difficult matter to many—my readers will find rendered comparatively easy to them by the notes affixed to the illustrations; and I may point out, that most of the patterns were worked with D.M.C cottons, which enjoy the well-earned reputation of being, the very best of their kind, in the market of the world. Experience has convinced me that, in many instances, these cottons may with advantage take the place of wool, linen thread, and even silk.

If this work meet with indulgent judges, and prove really useful, I shall find ample reward in that fact for the trouble and difficulties that have unavoidably attended its completion. -Therese de Dillmont