Today I went to a local arts and adult learning centre in Shrewsbury to see Hanny Newton demonstrate her craft of straw spinning and embroidery. Not only did I learn about her process but the vast history attached to it.

Being interested in ‘women’s work’ craft itself and ritual practice within art the whole conversation was fascinating.

Work created from spun straw embroidery thread

I asked about the difference of shine on the straw itself that she’s used for different shades, thinking that it must be a ‘wrong’ and ‘right’ side of the straw itself. Hanny enthusiastically picked up a bundle of straw she had from this years batch and showed me that the shine changes as you move up the stem giving an incredible palette to play with.

The reason for this difference? Shadows from the leaves as it grows and then as Hanny so poetically put it ‘sun tan’ on the straw that is exposed to the sun at the top.

An interesting part of the conversation was how Hanny is coming up with question after question about the history of the crafters. So far most of the knowledge on straw craft is the business itself, how people made money, the dealers, the society surrounding it. But not much on the history of the craft, of course we then discussed craft defined as ‘women’s work’ and how a lot of the history of the actual makers is lost.

The process seems to be bringing up all these unanswered questions. Hanny describing this as all these crafters from years ago ‘sitting on her shoulders’ as she makes. This sentence both resonated and made me shudder.

Here is her beautiful book of different types of straw, different ways of spinning, and different straw types from different years. Holding this small book felt like I was holding something incredibly valuable knowing that she is the only person currently exploring this.