One day in 2016, we arrived to work at our Chorlton studio to find an industrial treadle sewing machine on our doorstep. There was no note, and the machine was soaked through and very rusty. We took it in and started cleaning it up, and this was when we found, in the drawer, a photo and a name badge that said “Mrs Kathleen ____”.
With a lot of oil and elbow grease, we got the machine going again, and it played a starring role in an event we hosted as part of Manchester Histories Festival in 2016, which celebrated heritage sewing machines and the lost art of make do and mend. Some of the visitors to this event had worked in the textile industry, and shared stories about it as they treadled.
We’ve always wondered who Kathleen was, and what stories she could tell about her time working at this machine. As well as the role she played in our city’s thriving clothing and textile industry.
Fast forward to 2022, and Kathleen has provided the inspiration behind a brand new project to uncover stories about Manchester’s industrial past, as told by the people who lived it.
We’ll be reaching out to people who worked in the clothing and textile industry in the Greater Manchester area from around the 1950’s onwards to tell us their stories from this time. These accounts will be recorded primarily using audio, so that they can be heard in the interviewees’ own words.
The audio stories will be accessible online, and the project will culminate in an exhibition in late summer/early autumn 2023.
We’re so grateful to Historic England for helping us to realise this project, which has been in the back of our minds since the day Kathleen’s machine appeared in 2016. The project has been funded through Historic England’s Everyday Heritage Grants: Celebrating Working Class Histories. You can find details of the other 56 projects by following @HistoricEngland and #EverydayHeritage on social media.
We’ll be reaching out to people who worked in the clothing and textile industry in the Greater Manchester area from the 1950’s onwards to tell us their stories from this time. These accounts will be recorded primarily using audio, so that they can be heard in the interviewees’ own words.
The audio stories will be accessible online, and the project will culminate in an exhibition in late summer/early autumn 2023.
We’re really excited to capture some of this region’s history in the voices of those who lived it. We hope that through this project we can build up a picture of what it was like to work in the Greater Manchester textile industry through the decades, and understand the impact it has had on families to this day. Perhaps this shared history will provide an interesting lens through which to see clothing manufacture today.
If you worked in the industry, or know someone who did, please get in touch with Bryony and Jo on hello@stitchedup.coop or 0161 881 7141. We’re interested to hear from people who worked in any textile/clothing industry role, including factory work, managerial roles, design, piecework, knitwear, clothing and any other textile manufacturing.
We’d also love to hear from anyone who has an interest in local history and/or audio and would like to volunteer on the project.
