Governed by HACKS

Due to the fact that I am a woman that speaks my mind AND the world is a little upside down right now, I get a lot of kickback because I post on social media about subject matters that people feel shouldn’t be discussed in creative &/or sewing circles. Well, I’m here to tell you that it is insane not to recognize how important sewing is to the radical movement. Not just this time in history but for all times in history.

In 1759 a woman named Martha Dandridge married George Washington. As the American Revolution started in 1775, Martha spent a lot of time on the front lines sewing clothes for soldiers and started a sewing circle to help war efforts. Women wore homespun garments as a badge of patriotism, using their work to declare, “We can sustain ourselves.” These simple acts of defiance challenged colonial dependency on British goods and united communities in rebellion.

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries women used textiles during the suffragette movement making banners, sashes, embroidered protest signs.

Have you ever heard stories of the “Underground Railroad” quilts? They were rumored to be used as coded messages to guide enslaved people to freedom.

So you see, sewing was, is, and will ALWAYS be a form of art and art will ALWAYS be a way to express yourself. Sewing is important expression that we should be able to use to help fight the patriarchal systems that look to silence us. ESPECIALLY during end-stage capitalism, we need to keep up the reputation of sewing as a radical act, making art that sends a message.

Right now, we are Governed by Hacks. I’d love to see your version of protest art in textile forms. Here is mine (and you can also take it home with you today, just add to cart).