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Erica Wilson and vintage Seventies

I stumbled across half a dozen videos the other day, and they're what's sparking this blog post.  Erica Wilson was someone whose work I first came across in a small way in Cathy Callahan's 'Vintage Craft Workshop' book.  In it she gets different crafters to recreate seventies designs but with a modern slant.  There're projects involving raffia, hessian, papier-mache, macrame and lots more, including embroidery.  
The chapter on 'Stitching: Crewelwork, Craft Kits, and Applique' included a brief note about a lady called Erica Wilson.  
The chair's shown in this photograph, and I can see why the stitching captivated Cathy Callahan so much.  It's fabulous.  
Erica Wilson's name stayed in my mind, so when I was snapping up a few secondhand embroidery books, wanting to learn more about the craft, I happily bought one of hers.  (It's a great book, by the way.  Dated, obviously, but very comprehensive.)  All of which led me in the meandering direction of YouTube where I discovered a handful of episodes of Erica Wilson's TV programme for the American channel PBS.  

Erica was born in England in 1928.  She studied at the prestigious Royal School of Needlework in London, and moved to America in 1954 to teach.  So successful, Erica taught classes, lectured and led seminars all over the U.S., and she went on to write sixteen books.  Her TV series was shown on both sides of the pond, and I bet there are still plenty of stitchers who remember them fondly.  She died in 2011, and her obituary in The New York Times was titled 'Erica Wilson Dies at 83; Led a Rebirth in Needleworking'.  

I think this is my favourite of the videos featuring Erica' work on YouTube.  It might be a seventies design, but it'd fit into plenty of modern interiors.  If you've got a tea (or coffee) break planned, why not settle down on the sofa with a cuppa and give it a watch?  I think you'll be glad you did!  


 

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