Get Crafty with Ada Lovelace Day

Today is Ada Lovelace Day, if you still do not know who she was or what the day is about check out this post from a few years ago.

ALD is centred around remembering Ada Lovelace as well as celebrating the advances women have made in STEM subjects historically as well as encouraging more young women to get involved in them now.

As a feminist icon celebrating Ada Lovelace Day can be more than putting together a display on careers, great women of technology or even fantastic science fiction written by women.

Why not branch out and do something crafty in the Library, Quirk Books has a fantastic book called Crafting with Feminism, stuffed with 25 Girl-Powered Projects to Smash the Patriarchy.
crafting-feminism

One example from the book is:

EM-BROAD-ERY HOOP ART

Needlework has long been considered a dainty art for well-behaved women, but we think it could use a 21st-century update. Bring some fresh ’tude to homespun wisdom with these fun and fierce wall hangings.

Supplies

Colorful patterned fabric (1/2 yard per 8-inch hoop)
Self-adhesive felt letters
Ruler and fabric chalk (optional)
8-inch embroidery hoop
Scissors
Embroidery floss and needle

Instructions
cwf-embroidery-b

1. Attach self-adhesive letters to fabric to spell out the saying of your choice. (For maximum precision, use a ruler and fabric chalk to draw straight lines, attach letters on the lines, and then gently brush away the chalk.)

2. Place fabric in the embroidery hoop, positioning the slogan in the center. Pull fabric taut and firmly secure hoop.

3. Separate 3 strands of embroidery floss. Use them to thread the embroidery needle, then knot one end. Starting from the underside of the fabric, poke the needle through so that it comes up on the side of the first letter in your saying. Take a big stitch over the letter and bring the needle down on the other side of the letter, so that the thread wraps over the letter’s surface. Bring the needle up again just underneath your first stitch, and repeat this stitch process to cover the whole surface of the letter in long stitches (A).

4. When you’ve finished with one color of floss, secure the thread on the back of the fabric: bring the needle to the back of the hoop (B), then slide the needle through previous stitches and pull thread so it is caught underneath your stitchwork. Trim excess thread, then rethread needle with a different color and repeat steps 3 and 4 to cover remaining letters.

5. Trim excess fabric around the hoop. Display proudly.

Fierce Hoop Art Slogans:

-Females Are Strong as Hell
-Bitches Get Things Done
-Watevz
-Go Away
-Women Belong in the House…and the Senate
cwf-hoop-art-a

Excerpted from Crafting with Feminism: 25 Girl-Powered Projects to Smash the Patriarchy by Bonnie Burton. Reprinted with permission from Quirk Books.

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