CANTON — In conjunction with her current exhibit of redwork embroidery portraits of New York suffragists at The TAUNY Center and in celebration of Women’s History Month, Patricia (Tisha) Dolton, Historian/ Librarian at The Folklife Center at Crandall Public Library in Glens Falls, is coming to Canton to offer a unique opportunity for people of all skill levels to learn how to create their own redwork portraits from her patterns.
Equali-Tea: Suffragist Redwork Embroidery Portraits will be held from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., with a 30-minute lunch break, on Saturday. The cost is $50, which includes all necessary materials.
Participants will gain hands-on experience with a historical embroidery technique while also learning about lesser-known women in the suffrage movement.
Redwork is a type of surface embroidery in which simple line drawings or patterns are stitched using only red floss. Also known as Turkey work, it became popular in the Victorian era with the development of colorfast red dye from Turkey. The patterns were readily available in Ladies’ Magazines or as penny squares (for a penny).
In this class, you will learn the history of redwork and the three stitches traditionally used in this type of embroidery. Using those stitches, you will begin an embroidered portrait of a featured New York suffragist from the current exhibition at The TAUNY Center. The instructor will also discuss the process used to create embroidery patterns featured in the book New York Suffragists in Redwork (Warren County Historical Society, 2022).
Tisha Dolton has been embroidering for twenty-five years focusing almost exclusively on redwork embroidered portraits and creating her own patterns since 2002. She is the author of the book New York Suffragists in Redwork (Warren County Historical Society, 2022).
Accessibility information: the TAUNY Center is wheelchair accessible, and all work can be done seated.
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