ABSTRACT
While in the process of recovering and reestablishing female authorship of early modern texts, scholars sometimes incline to sympathize with Anne Dudley Bradstreet who famously denounced the imposition of a needle in favor of a “poet’s pen,” the truth remains that many women in this period plied their needles at least at some point of their lives. In their diaries and letters, women such as Brillianna Conway Harley, Anne Clifford Sackville Herbert, Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots, Grace Sharington Mildmay, and Margaret Dakins Devereux Sidney Hoby register their working on various needlework projects by commenting on their progress, praising the colors of the thread, and asking for help with obtaining linen and patterns. While men produced most of the professional embroidery, women, especially those in the upper classes, were expected to master the needlework skills as part of their education. For middle-class women such as Ann Bowyer Ashmole, needlework skills afforded an opportunity to make a living. Many women in the aristocratic and well-to-do households continued the production of domestic embroidery as a way to decorate their homes and demonstrate their industriousness. Working with the needle was also a way to pass away the time while creating impressive decorative objects. As Susan Frye explains, this pastime also afforded an ample opportunity for forging alliances among women, whether through gift-giving or sharing the experience of stitching. Perhaps the most famous example of this shared activity is that of Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots working together with Bess of Hardwick while under house arrest at Bess’s home.
