International Women’s Day Banner Making at Elizabeth Gaskell's House

Celebrate International Women’s Day 2024 and champion the achievements of women by joining our drop-in banner-making workshop with renowned textile artist Dr. Sarah-Joy Ford.

In this International Women’s Day special workshop you will be invited to make your own feminist textile banner inspired by Elizabeth Gaskell’s feminist legacy in Manchester.

We will be using heat bond applique, hand stitching and embellishment techniques and tassel making. All the materials will be provided and you will be able to take your banner home with you. The banner will be made with a dowling rod, ready to be marched with or hung up in your home. There is absolutely no previous experience necessary, and everyone is welcome!

International Women’s Day (IWD) is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women. The day also marks a call to action for accelerating women’s equality. IWD has occurred for well over a century, with the first IWD gathering in 1911 supported by over a million people.

Elizabeth Gaskell was a modern woman for her time (she lived 1810-1865), squeezing in time to write between the demands of her household. Negotiating deadlines and payment, writing short stories when her four daughters were young, travelling abroad without her husband, hosting visits from her friend Charlotte Bronte and upsetting a few people along the way.  Her stories and letters are universal, her work read and adapted for TV and theatre across the world to this day. She was original, modern and above all authentic, a true radical of her time.

The Detail

• Access to the banner-making workshop is included in admission to the House and will be held in the Servants’ Hall in the basement.
• Pre-booking admission to the House is advised but you don’t need to pre-book the workshop.
• The workshop is best suited for adults and children aged 10+. No experience is needed.

About the Workshop Leader

Dr Sarah-Joy Ford is an artist, researcher and quiltmaker working with textiles to explore the complexities and pleasures of queer communities, histories and archives. Her practice sits at intersection of digital and traditional: using strategies of quilting, digital embroidery, digital print, applique and hand embellishment.

https://sarahjoyford.com/

This workshop has been made possible with funding from the University of Manchester.