A Perfect Day

Some days just don't go according to plan and you end up in the evening feeling as though nothing has been accomplished (and I have many of those, believe me). And then other days are packed full of interesting things and lovely people from dawn to dusk... and yesterday was one of those days...

It started with a train ride into London and a whole hour of uninterrupted knitting... bliss! My first stop was The Barbican so I could see Future Beauty again before it closes on Sunday. I was just as excited as the first time I saw it and came away with a notebook full of ideas and sketches. I particularly wanted to draw this rather spendid knitted underwear ensemble... which is connected to my knitting on the train. I'll reveal more about that another time!

After a delicious bowl of soup (I can recommend the foodhall at the Barbican) it was off to the V & A to meet Alice. We had a quick whizz around the Chinese Imperial Robes exhibition - a chance to see some glorious textiles - before heading off to the Foundling Museum. The current exhibition at the museum, Threads of Feeling, shows swatches of fabric that were left with foundling babies during the 18th century.

Between 1741 and 1760 over 4000 babies were left at the Foundling hospital with a small token, usually fabric, kept as a means of identification. These were either fabrics given by the mother or they were cut from the clothing of the babies and they were pinned to the billets that held the details of each child left.

They represent one of the largest collections of everyday textiles from the 18th century. Threads of Feeling shows a selection of these fabric tokens. It is a beautiful exhibition, tastefully presented and as might be expected it also presents a poignant and moving story.

But despite the sad background to these fabric tokens it is fascinating to see such a diverse collection of textiles and to consider what they reveal about fashion, women and ordinary lives. It is an amazing piece of social history.

We then went to meet Alice's daughter, the lovely Miss M, who joined us back at the Foundling museum for a talk by John Styles (the curator of the exhibition) about the relevence of these textile tokens and what they can tell us about 18th century dress. It was a thoroughly enjoyable and absorbing talk.

It was such an inspiring day that my head was buzzing full of ideas... just as well I had my knitting for the journey home.

A wonderful day, thank you Alice! Today however... not much accomplished at all so far!