Archives for September 2019

After the end of the First World War, life became more pleasant for awhile.  There are two ‘flapper girls’ of whom only one is included here. Their gowns and hairstyles are elegant. The depression and soup kitchens followed.  This photo was taken from one of the stitching frames.  You can tell this by the extra fabric at the top and bottom edges.  5″ were included so that there would be adequate for the framing and construction of the frieze.

The next group of figures represent those who served in the Second World War. Rosie, the Riveter, is not included here.

Meet Tony, Luigi and Mario, who were named by the stitchers who worked on them.  Note the rock fragments and the light in this scene.

The Italians came to Toronto to work on building the subway line in the 1950s.  This  Italian community increased hugely and have built large sections of our modern city. It is now, or was, the fourth-largest Italian city in the world.  Our city is now home to large populations from multiple countries.  We are a multinational and multicultural city and are proud of it. Immigrants have enriched Toronto in more ways than I am aware of or can imagine.  When you come here, you will be able to enjoy restaurants that feature the cuisine of almost every country in the world.

The final scene on the frieze is of Kensington Market as it was in the 1980s. The market is still there though it has become more organised than it was 40 years ago. The buyers and the seller, as portrayed here, are new Canadians selling canadian apples.  The scene includes children as well as a cat and a dog which you will see when you visit.

Some, but not all of the sections of the frieze have been joined together.  Note all the extra fabric all around the embroidery to allow for mounting. Still in the basement!

There are many historical embroideries in existence all of which are unique.  This series gives you a close view of what is involved in making a large embroidery.  The considerable amount of planning and preparation was successful in precluding problems during the creative process. In fact, I do not recall hearing of problems prior to the stage of assembly.

Next, the assembly of the Toronto Historical Embroidery.

This group of closely packed people represent the large wave of immigrants to Toronto in the 1800s. The artist added more women and children to the design of the frieze at the request of the members of the Toronto Guild of Stitchery.   Notice the different facial features of the people.  Stitching the faces was a challenge which became the speciality of only a few members.  They experimented with different thread colours and stitch directions.  This group appear to be European but you will notice different nationalities in later scenes.

Toronto experienced two major fires which did extensive damage to the city.  I stitched the flames using a technique from my days as a student at the Royal School of Needlework.  It is/was called – stitching to a vein without a vein.  Am not sure how well this worked but it was a technique change from split stitch . This is a snapshot taken while the piece was still on the frame.

The First World War.  Canada sent many men to assist with the war effort despite the fact that it was a young country with a small population.  The soldier in his tartan kilt is a masterpiece of correct detail and stitching.  He was stitched by Coleen Darling and the members noticed that he looked remarkably like her husband even down his red hair. Please pay special attention to him when you go to see the actual embroidery. No photograph does him justice.

There were multiple fabrics used in panels and the frieze.  As colour was so important the right ones were found in cotton, polyester, silk, satin and Ultrasuede.  Ultrasuede was used in large areas of the panels and for the windows of the buildings. As it does not fray, accuracy of size and shape was achievable despite some pieces being the size of a thumbnail.

The sky and lake water in the panels are hand-painted silk.  The threads in the frieze include Anchor, DMC, Cotton a Broder, Appleton’s and Medici wool.

Another peek at a panel being stitched.  This is Doris Spurr who worked on the embroidery extensively and who is the narrator of the video that was made. This frame is the final one set in 1984.

At both ends of the embroidery are vertical panels showing the coats of arms of the city of Toronto.  These are 6 feet high, are worked on tapestry canvas using a variety of canvas work stitches.  Roller frames were used to hold the canvas and as a section was completed, the canvas was rolled forward to expose the next section.  Even this part of the Embroidery was a huge amount of stitching.  I have no close-up photos to show you of the vertical end panels so please look at them closely if you have a chance to visit the embroidery which is located within City Hall in Toronto.

There is lots more to share with you.  The actual ‘stitcbing’ is only part of this huge undertaking.

More, in the next posting!

The history of the people of Toronto starts with the original inhabitants who were Mohawk Indians.  The bodies are stitched in long and short stitch and the hair is straight stitching. Elsewhere in the frieze, the stitches are predominantly split and stem stitch.  These were found to be the most appropriate choice.

The frieze was divided into fifteen sections each of which was mounted on a wooden frame made specifically to the needed measurements.  A member of the Guild would take a frame home together with all the threads needed for one of the figures and bring it back completed two weeks later.  It then went to another member to stitch the next figure. With 96 figures in total, it grew slowly.  Susan Clinesmith was in charge of all the work on the frieze.

In the above section of the frieze, the trees are being cleared for the construction of Yonge Street.  Built by Governor Simcoe and named for a friend, it was the longest street in the world.  It runs from Lake Ontario, 56 miles north to Lake Simcoe.  The longest street in the world is now acknowledged to be the Trans Canada Highway which is almost 5000 miles long from Vancouver Island to Newfoundland.

Photos do not age well unlike the Embroidery which is in excellent condition.  It has been a puzzle to transpose the 40-year-old photos to this blog.  The originals are all high quality which has helped.  But the quality and detail have been reduced by the process of screenshots.

The positive aspect of this is that you are having a ‘behind the scenes’ look at what was involved in creating the Embroidery.

Here are some ladies working on the frames of the frieze.  Basements and  dens were commandeered for working areas.  The members met and stitched on a regular basis.  For some, it was daily, for others, once a week.  Some preferred to stitch in their own homes. We all became very well acquainted!

The tree trunks were stitched with chain stitch and fly stitch was used for the leaves.  The divisions of the frieze were organised to occur within the body of a tree which concealed the seam.

The war of 1812.  The flags and uniforms are correct for the date.  The researchers made sure these details.  I stitched the Union Jack and I remember how careful I was that it was correct.

To be continued,  More about the stitching of the frieze.

There was so much preparation to be done that it was two years before any stitching began.  It was decided to start with the upper and lower panels which show the gradual transition from trees to the city as seen in the early 1980s.  Panels number four, the most intricate, were the ones they worked on first.

Here you can see that there are two sections of trees and two of buildings in both the upper and lower sections.  The events in the central frieze are congruent timewise with the buildings in the panels.  Each building in every panel represents an actual buildings in the city.  If you know just what to look for, you will find Fort York and Casa Loma.  Yes, Toronto has its own castle.

The sky and the water of Lake Ontario are hand-painted silk. The upper and lower panels are different but the right and left sides are mirror images.  Can you see the CN Tower?

These are the final panels.  The forest is gone – it is all city.  Toronto is now a handsome city with a lot of modern architecture.  It is also well planted with trees and has a good forest canopy especially in the residential areas.

The panels are all machine embroidery and they are intricate.  I regret that there are no close-ups to show you.

Until the panels were completed, the frieze was not started.  The frieze and the end panels of the Embroidery are all hand-stitched.

The Embroidery has nine pairs of panels with the frieze placed between them.  It is 24 feet long and 6 feet high.  That is –  around 8 meters in length and 2 meters high.  Pace it out in your home, if you have enough space. It took 140 members of the Toronto Guild 11.000 hours to create it.  It is big, and, that is a lot of work.

Before we go any further, I must say that the photos here do not do justice to the colours, the detail, or the quality of the stitching.  In real life, the Embroidery is vivid and alive.  It has survived time way better than any photo I can share with you.  It is in excellent condition. It is far easier to see the detail in person when viewing the actual Embroidery.  Thank you to Marie Fenwick and Susan  Clinesmith for all the photos included here.

There is also a video containing pictures of every stage of the creation of the Embroidery.  I own a copy and although it is excellent for correct information, screenshots taken from it are blank.  Frustrating to say the least.

The frieze is next!  With photos taken by Susan during the creative process, I am able to include a lot more detail about the stitching.  It is a good idea to take photos of your work in process.  You never know if and when you might be glad you did.

Enjoy, and share.

 

 

 

 

 

This multifaceted embroidered tapestry was gifted to the City of Toronto on March 4, 1984 by the Toronto Guild of Stitchery on the occasion of the 150th (Sesquicentennial) Anniversary of the founding of Toronto.  I cannot give you a photo of the whole piece as it is just too large.  Here is the first pair of environment panels and the beginning of the frieze. They show that the city was once forested.  The aboriginal tribes met here between the mouths of the rivers that empty into Lake Ontario.  In fact, Toronto is ‘meeting place’ in Mohawk.

You can see the Indians in the frieze and the first settlers cutting down the trees for a settlement.  The end panels are a stylized design of the coats of arms of the city of Toronto.  They are worked on canvas using a wide variety of stitches. (The white circle is a paper punch hole).

Let us start at the beginning.  Two of the members, Ivy Clark and May Horn had been on a trip to England where they saw the Hastings and the Bristol Embroideries.  They came home with a bright idea.  With a big anniversary coming up for their city, they suggested the guild members create a tapestry telling the history of Toronto.  In their honour, it is dedicated to Ivy and May.

Little did any of the members realize what they were undertaking.  A design competition was held which was won by Barbra Gordon, a student at the Ontario College of Art. She was the winner of the Gold Medal that year.

Barbra Gordon. 1984

Members did historical research and their findings were incorporated into the design.

This was 1977 which is now 42 years ago.  The guild members had 6 years to complete their gift.  Assistance with the funding came from The Trillium Foundation but the membership raised half the cost of the materials and other essentials.

You can see this embroidery for free. The Cafe on the Square is located on the ground floor of City Hall.  Behind the cafe, you will find a corridor.  A curved staircase goes down to the lower level.  The Toronto Historical Embroidery is hanging at the base of those stairs. It has its own lighting system and is protected by a clear plexiglass cover. There is also an audio presentation.

These first panels show the forest that was there in 1793 and has now become the city of Toronto. The elliptical shapes echo the clamshell architecture of City Hall which was completed in the early 1960s.

Once the maquette was complete and coloured by the designer, the members formed teams to focus on the many facets of the undertaking.  They had to make a master tracing.  The tracing was then copied and patterns were made for each piece of fabric in the upper and lower panels. There were many hundreds of pieces.  Each one was numbered, balance marked and a grainline arrow added so that the fabric was cut grain perfect. Look back at the panels and note the complexity of the design.  Each piece of fabric had to be the correct colour and positioned exactly in place. The upper and lower panels were assembled using machine embroidery and it was a big job.  Marie Fenwick, was the organizer for making the panels and also did a considerable amount of this embroidery.

To give a concept of the size. the section you have seen is under 3 feet wide and 6 feet high.  The whole Embroidery is 24 feet long and 6 feet high.

This is the first of a series about the actual creation and stitching of the Toronto Historical Embroidery.  As such, it is rare.  We see completed pieces of embroidery but have no idea of what was involved in creating them.  Happily, there are photos and, despite it being 40 years ago, there are a few survivors to share the experience with you.

Please share these blogs with friends, other stitchers and those who would be interested. Let me know if you would like to be directly on the mailing list.

Postings are planned for every two days.  Enjoy!

Comments are welcome.