Making A Statement
Something I noticed about my first real-life stall set up in December 2023 was that I needed to make it clearer at a quick glance within a crowded craft market what The Cranford Cabinet is all about. I knew pretty much straight away how I wanted to do this and can thank my Women’s Institute, the Borough Belles for sparking this idea.
In July 2023 the Borough Belles Women’s Institute monthly meeting was hosted by inspiring woman, Alice Gabb, who gave us a talk on the history of protest banners. Alice has a business custom-making banners and teaching calligraphy from her workshop in East London that she set up after attending the Women’s March in 2017. We heard how banner making is rich in history and symbolism and is used as a means of communication and community building.
Banners were deployed in great numbers to represent the solidarity of workers in trade unions during the Industrial Revolution, and huge ones made of fine silk to be held on poles were even made one per day at the peak of production by George Tutill’s London factory.
Alice also talked about how banners have been used to feminise male spaces and political messages. They were used extensively in support of women’s suffrage and in peace activism. The bright and simple banners of Thalia Campbell, displayed at Greenham Common protest camp in the early 1980s against nuclear armament, were brilliant examples of this.
Whilst I don’t have a political goal with The Cranford Cabinet, the idea of communicating something through a banner feels like it lends some weight of intention, maybe passion, and certainly emotion and personality. I can also sew one with my own brand statement from surplus materials and I found doing so pretty fun.
See the pictures and captions below to find out where my materials came from and how the banner turned out.
Photo captions for mobile viewers:
Potential banner materials
Cotton fringe from Series 1 cushion samples (that didn’t make it to the final makes)
Wool interior cloth surplus to a commercial curtain sewing job
Cutting Templates
Laying out
Fiddling with the font size and placement to get a nice banner look
Sewing letters
Using zig-zag to sew down my glued on letters for robustness. I liked the proud un-sewn look but it felt a bit delicate.
Teal letters made from surplus bamboo fleece from a dressing gown I made Iain for Christmas one year
Lining
This flowery cotton was a quilting fabric I was given by relatives of an elderly neighbour of Iain’s parents after the original crafty owner passed away
Ta da!
Having given the fringe a comb and the whole thing a press, I’m really pleased with the result :)
Auditioning Tassels
To be a ceremonial banner it feels like there should be some tassels
Green rope surplus to a cotton-reel-esque stool I made from an electric cable reel pulled from a skip years ago
Stripy string I made from very tiny pieces of cotton fabric waste in a quest to further reduce leftovers. It’s safe to say I will NEVER be trying this again. It gave me blisters