VE Day 2020 - History and craft project

VE DAY 2020 - 75 years

Victory in Europe Day, generally known as VE Day (United Kingdom) or V-E Day (America), is a day celebrating the formal acceptance by the Allies of World War II of Nazi Germany's unconditional surrender of its armed forces on Tuesday, 8 May 1945

The 8th of May 2020 marks the 75th anniversary of VE day.  Although we can't welcome you to the Museum to mark this important event we still will want to share some stories of from our collections with you as well as some activities you can do at home.

Below is a slide show of photographs taken during WWII from the Museums Collections

Craft as Convalescence

There is a long history of craft, and especially sewing being used during times of war as a form on convalescence of therapy. Quilting has been used for centuries to help soldiers and sailors pass the time between skirmishes and to memorialize fallen comrades. There are examples of these quilts from Crimean War, the conflict which these quilts are most closely associated with, as well as examples form India, South Africa, and other troubled regions of the British Empire during the nineteenth century. An exhibition of these quilts was shown at the Folk Art Museum in American.

During WWI sweet heart pin cushions were created by convalescing soldiers, it is possible that the 'sweetheart' pin cushion was commercially produced as a kit for convalescing and disabled soldiers as well as civilians. An example of one of these pin cushions can be seen here.

During WWII 'Needlecraft for H.M. Forces by Penelope' provided, in wartime, a hobby for those in hospital, as a way of relaxing for those at sea or those in isolated stations and also as a form of occupational therapy. During the Second World War, the Board of Trade recognised the value of needlework to the Services and the manufacturers of the Penelope packets, W.M. Briggs & Co. Ltd., were able to supply them under licence, despite the trade restrictions which were in place at the time. The 'Penelope' packets were 'designed to foster a love of beautiful things, and the satisfaction which arises from the practice of personal skill'. (Text Credit IWM)

The Saw Dust Hearts project.

1568 SAWDUST HEARTS PROJECT was set up by  Helen Birmingham in Scarborough in 2018, it took as its starting point the inspirational work instigated by Queen Mary namely Sweetheart Pincushions, made by soldiers as part of their convalescence. 1568 SAWDUST HEARTS signifies the number of days which WW1 lasted, one heart for each day of the war. The pre-stuffed hearts were packaged and sent out across the country for people to decorate.  It is an example of artistic collaboration and shared emotion on a huge scale, it would not have been possible without the support and enthusiasm of artists and crafters from all over the UK.  Some of the hearts are currently on display in Saffron Walden Museum (closed due to Covid 19)

You can learn about the sawdust hearts project here.

Create you own heart to commemorate V.E Day

You Will Need:

Scissors

Needle and thread

A piece of fabric to create your heart from (we used a clean dish cloth)

Things to decorate with such as buttons, fabric scraps, beads, wool and sequins

a piece of paper of a template

Stuffing for your heart, we used toilet paper, you could also use sawdust, flour, other fabric scraps, old pillow stuffing etc

Step One:

Start by drawing your template, I made the heart quite large as it is easier to work on. I folder a picece of paper in half, and draw half a heart, then cut it out whilst the paper was still folded so i ended up with a heart that was even on both sides.

Step two

Cut your fabric using the heart template, you need two hearts to sew together so you have a heart shaped "pocket" to stuff

Step three

put your two hearts together with the right side of the fabric (if its patterned) facing together. Stitch your hearts together leaving a gap to stuff through.

Step Four

Turn your heart the right side out, so your stitching is on the inside.

Step Five

Stuff your heart using whatever stuffing you have, we are using toilet paper in our example

Step Six

Stitch up your stuffing hole so your heart is sealed.

Step Seven

Plan your decoration. You can use anything, it doesnt even need to be textile related. You could stitch on coloured paper if that's what you have.

Step Eight

Sew it all together to complete your V.E Day commemorative heart. These can be used as pin cushions, hung on thread as a wall hanging on mobile, or even a cushion!