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International Women’s Day

8th March 2017

As a business started, and run by a woman, on International Women’s Day, it’s always important to look at the strong women- both today and of days gone by, that have shaped the world as we know it. Whilst today theres no limit to the inspirational women we can reference and quote, it’s interesting to look back through history and how they were empowered in a society which wasn’t as accepting of them as ours is today. Looking at a few Pre-Raphaelite women in particular, we look to discuss how they managed to be successful in their own right!

Christina Rossetti

Many will recognise Dante Gabriel Rossetti’s sister for her modelling in several of his most famous paintings, however outside of her brothers accomplishments, and not to be overshadowed by them, Christina is a hugely famous writer. Writing from 1842, she mostly imitated her famous poets and it wasn’t until 1847 she began her own style of work with experimentation of verse forms. At the age of 18, she published two poems, ‘Death’s Chill Between’ and ‘Heart’s Chill Between’ both of which appeared in Athenaeum in 1848. Under her pen-name ‘Ellen Alleyne’ she also began her public career in The Germ- a literary magazine which was published by the Pre-Raphaelites (edited by her other brother, William.)

Goblin Market and Other Poems is her famous collection and is the work she is best remembered for, which was published in 1862. The reviews placed her as the foremost female poet of the time. In the time from then, many critics have debated the title poem’s meaning, many see it as a commentary on Victorian gender roles and female agency- give it a read and see what you deem from the poem! Indeed it could be from personal experiences she encountered; from 1859- 1870, Rossetti was a volunteer worker at the St. Mary Magdalene ‘House of Charity’ based in Highgate. This charity worked as a refuge for former prostitutes which she felt passionate about- opposed to many issues in society before the time they were addressed, she very much opposed the exploration of girls in under-age prostitution. There was also feminist themes running through her poetry. Whilst many may think of Pre-Raphaelite women as simply those that posed for their brothers/friends and husbands paintings, Rossetti very much bucks the perceived image and shows that not only can a woman be an image of beauty, but work to become hugely successful- and remembered- in her own right, but also have time to work for the rights of others.

“Can anything be sadder than work left unfinished? Yes, work never begun.”- Christina Rossetti

May Morris 

We’ve spoken recently about May Morris- but how could we leave her out of a post dedicated to women who were forward thinking and before their time! Aged just 23, May took over and ran the entire embroidery section of Morris & Co. after completing her studies at Kensington School of Design. It was from this point on that all designs were done by both her and John Henry Dearle- what a huge accomplishment at any time, but especially during this era when the vast majority of women did not work or weren’t taken seriously in the work place.

May also founded the Women’s Guild of Arts in 1907; remaining the president until 1935. May saw that there was an ‘Art Workers’ Guild’ for men, established in 1884, May pushed the boundaries and formed the women’s equivalent. Only from 1960 have women been allowed into the original Guild, however this fact alone shows that May was years ahead of the changing attitudes to gender equality- seeing she couldn’t be admitted into a society which were inspired by her fathers ideas and the Arts and Crafts Movement, she showed her determination by doing it herself!

When you think of Pre-Raphaelite women, you may immediately think of their pale skin and flowing tresses, both of which are focused on in literature. However- we’d challenge you to look further at these women and look into their successes- we know we’re sometimes guilty of it on this blog at giving a heavy focus on the men and their achievements, and we’re working on changing this; the women showed just as much talent, and in the Victorian era when the women were much more suppressed than today’s society, it’s hard to not be in awe of all they achieved!

 

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Always one of our favourites, our Willow Bough blue tablecloth brings the beauty of William Morris into the home, remember our whole website is 15% off this week! Use code: springblooms 🌿
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Making everything in life its own little event, even a coffee and a cake 🫶🏻 Featuring our Strawberry Thief red William Morris design napkin and placemat 🍓
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The easiest napkin fold is so effective 🫶🏻 Next to a dinner plate or placed on the plate with a cake fork, it’s perfect for easy yet chic presentation 🍴
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Our William Morris Lily design is back in stock! 🤍 A gorgeous design especially this spring/ summer it’s a timeless design we adore year after year 🌿
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Is it just us or does anyone else come across an old photo and get upset that the cake is now gone? 🍰
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Lay the table with us for Easter dinner 🐰 These rabbit napkin folds are so simple yet effective, will you give them a go this weekend? 🐣
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Us 🤝 simple napkin folding 🎀
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A really simple napkin fold for your Easter table! 🐣 We used a napkin ring but you could use ribbon or twine, whatever you’ve got! 🐰
Just fold the napkin into a triangle and roll up from the point until you can fold it in half to make the ears 🐇 You could put a little creme egg in there as an extra treat 🤎
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Hopping into Easter week with a fab 10% off our website, just use code: EASTER on our website 🐣
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Have you seen our new remnants and bundle section on our website? 🪡 Perfect for quilting, sewing and crafting, they’re all in varying sizes and we’ll keep it constantly updated 🧵
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Layering florals on florals this Spring 🪻🌷
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One of the crafters among us couldn’t help but steal some of our new designs from work to create a gorgeous quilted bag from all our original designs to take to Chicago with them on holiday 🤍 For all of us back home in Yorkshire we’re a little jealous seeing all the holiday snaps of the bag round the city! ✨ All these designs are now available on our website 🥰
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Pack an order with us of our new quilting fabrics 🌿 These are all our exclusive designs that are now available on our website, and each beautiful design has been faithfully resorted from our French archive, we wonder what they’ll be made into 🤍
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Use code: birthday for 20% off our entire website 🌿 Includes our fabulous fabric by the half metre, tablewear & kitchenware 🤍 
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