On Friday 17 April 2026, NWR South East organised a special day conference at The Roffey Park institute, Horsham on the theme of Threads Through Time. What a treat it was to kick start the day by seeing the magnificent Red Dress actually ‘in the flesh’ and hearing from Kirstie MacLeod, the project instigator, about the 380 artisans (mostly women) from all over the world who had contributed to the stitching of an estimated 1-1.5 billion stitches that make up the dress. The joyful participation of women in many different circumstances as they bonded in stitching wonderful designs that expressed hope, understanding and respect, was a joy to see. The Red dress project is truly inspiring. From 2009 to 2026, pieces of The Red Dress and later the completed garment have been travelling the globe. It even has its own ticket and seat when travelling by plane! Thank you Kirstie for sharing its stories with NWR.
In the same spirit of engagement we enjoyed creating origami dresses and jackets,
stitching free style,
exploring the ‘threads’ of ancestry and in a joint effort, making a life size ‘dress’ from a patchwork of paper collages.
Everyone participated in guessing, from a display of 20th Century wedding dress photographs, the decade in which they were first worn.
There was a wonderful exhibition too, of all things stitched, either by needle, crochet hook or knitting needle. Such great skill and versatility by the makers over a period of more than 100 years was astonishing to see.
The afternoon speaker was Sally Gardiner from Woking U3A’s genealogy group.Sally presented the back story of an embroidered 19C sampler bought at auction. The needlework was created in 1853 by Ann Elizabeth Epitaux at the age of nine.
A quick look at the 1851 census before bidding, confirmed that Ann’s family was potentially interesting. Her father was Swiss and in the restaurant business in Pall Mall.
The ‘unravelling’ of the tale proved fascinating beyond expectations. Ann’s life, which started with much promise, was on a sad trajectory from the time that she married and had a first child. Widowed when young, and working in the Half Moon Inn in Borough Market as a barmaid, she went on to have three more children, fathers unknown, who all died aged under four months from conditions that are now easily treated.
Ann died aged 49 after a stay in Southwark Infirmary, (part of the workhouse) and was buried in Brookwood Cemetery, Woking.
As always, Roffey Park proved an excellent venue. We are always made so welcome there. The catering and IT facilities are second to none, and use of the swimming pool at the end of the day is the icing on the cake for some of our members!
