My Sweethearts

 

This project was inspired by archival research into sweet heart pincushions.

 

Sweetheart Pin Cushions have often fascinated me. The level of decoration, pattern and colour that would have embraced these soft luxurious keepsakes can still be discovered today in their faded grandeur. In 2025 I answered Hand & Lock's brief on Artistry and Archive and knew exactly what I wanted to do. First quest was to find a museum that had one in stores. Luckily I live very close to Merl (Museum of English Rural Life) and luck should have it they had one such pincushion in store, hooray I found my object. A heart shaped pin cushion made from a kit by a recuperating soldier. What stuck me was how bright this treasure was. The braiding around the edge was missing perhaps used to decorate something else or simply perished over time. The maker unknown, the only information was that it was donated by Mrs Old. Was Mrs Old supposed to ‘Think of Me‘? The verse, often cited, is an inscription to urge the owner to think of the maker during lighter moments. What stuck me about this sentiment is that after the loss and suffering of war all the creator wants is not to be forgotten to be in someones hearts and minds at the end of the day before rest. My research isn’t one of loss and sadness but love and hope.

The other pin cushions Merl had in their collection are commemorative, celebrating two births. These are layette pincushions and served both a decorative gift and a practical one as before the 1870s regular pins were essential for fastening baby clothes and cloth nappies. 

 

So, now it was on to the designing. I wanted my pin cushion to represent me just like the WW1 cushions represented the injured soldier. I wanted to do three, like a trinity of such. The main cushion representing us collectively as a family and the other two smaller ones for my two daughters. On the front of my main pin cushion, I have experimented with embroidery, digital print, embellishment and design.  The digitally designed print represents my own heraldic picture; a coat of arms to celebrate my family. Laddie the puppy, (Grandads new dog) a paint palette to represent my art, a book representing my Librarian husband, a game controller  to demonstrate my husband's and girls love of computer games and a red kite who often fly over our house making their distinctive cry. Plus, these birds of prey have stolen chicken sandwiches' from us not one but twice! I liked to to think of them as a home counties version of a seagull. Also, Arte Labore paying homage to being Blackburn Rovers fans. The blue flowers are forget-me-nots associated with remembrance.

 

 

 

Each aspect has been crafted to show my strengths as a designer and maker to create a vision of decorative opulence. I have enjoyed using beads and sequins all to add depth, interest, and to create contrast just like my inspiration. I find the process of embroidery and needlework relaxing. A sentiment shared by the Disabled Soldiers Embroidery Industry which was set up to provide financial and therapeutic need to soldiers after WW1. 

The style of floral was influenced by the winter trend found at Premiere Vision another element mentioned in the Hand & Lock brief.  Within this project I experimented with fringe beading which i haven't done before. Within my research I found that some of the pincushions had beaded trims that  pictured florals. Another important element is the use of finger chaining, a technique my Father taught me. He in turn was taught this in convalescence recovering from an operation.

The two smaller hearts are of my daughters, a beaded digital portrait on velvet with florals on the back matching their middle names Rose and Iris.  The words hope and love are featured in the trim , two aspects of life I wish my daughters to have an abundance of.  While researching I learned that social media posts are now being archived so the two smaller pin cushions will be attached with QR codes that link up to videos to represent modern archiving.