Bell Pulls, Borders And Bandings

MacLeod, Margaret I. · March 28, 1972

As its title suggests, this episode is indeed all about embroidered bell pulls, borders, and bandings. Erica begins the episode by showing two 17th century crewelwork bell pulls, one English and one American. She suggests making one’s own bell pulls, as they make excellent wall hangings for tall, narrow surfaces. Erica suggests many other things that one can make using embroidered borders, including borders for furniture, curtains, and even embroidered luggage rack straps. The stitch demonstrated in this episode is the Burden stitch, a geometric stitch for filling in needlepoint canvas. William Burden, who worked in the studio of William Morris (the founder of the English Arts and Crafts Movement in the 1860s), developed the stitch. Summary and select metadata for this record was submitted by Amanda Sikarskie.