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The skill and craft of needlework
Monday 10th August 2026
Ten Poems about Sewing
Sewing isn’t just one thing – it can be patchwork, quilting, cross-stitch, darning, upcycling, sewing by hand or by machine. It can also be embroidery, as in the Bayeux Tapestry with its vivid scenes depicting the medieval world. A poem here celebrates a group of nineteenth century women who made a copy of that remarkable artefact.
The selection captures the quiet pleasures of all kinds of sewing. There are moments of thoughtful recollection: a mother who takes in evening piecework and a father sewing buttons onto his army uniform. What emerges is the powerful idea that sewing is a profoundly human activity – one that connects us to each other, to our families and friends and also to the past.