The Embroiderers' Story Blog Weaves Community At Pilmoth Plantation
January 02, 2010
The living museum created a 17th century embroidered woman’s waistcoat over a three year period with the help of many volunteers and collaborators. At the center of the project was a blog run by Tricia Wilson Nguyen and colleagues, the project's founder.
What fascinated me about this project was the play by play description of the work involved to create the waistcoat, including problems and issues surmounted.
The Embroiderers' Story blog reminded me of one of my other favorite blogs, Dr. Greiver's EMR blog, written by a family physician practicing in Toronto, Ontario, who tracks the implementation of an electronic medical record. The EMR blog is great reading because you get to read of the trials and tribulations of the implementation of an EMR in a small medical practice. You'd think the EMR would be dry, but it’s alive with humor, and great stories.
The story of recreating a 17th-century embroidered jacket, on the The Embroiderers' Story blog succeeds both in content and community engagement because nothing about the intricacies of the process of creating the jacket is forgotten. Enjoy some of the great pictures and consider how the project used social media to create a strong base of advocates.
Photo's of the embroidery bees
Close up pictures of silk and silver thread