Elke Dag een Draadje

Today I went to see the exhibition 'Elke dag een draadje' in Verzetsmuseum in Amsterdam. The title is part of a saying hardly used these days: elke dag een draadje...is een hemdsmouw in een jaar. A thread a day is a sleeve in a year. A moving exhibition of embroidery done by emprisoned women during the Second World War. They smuggled the yarn and the needles into the prison by hiding it in the laundry which had to be done by family, and finished pieces were smuggled out in the same way. The embroidery was made on any piece of fabric. With the embroidery they first of all kept themselves busy, and it was also a way of documentation, communication and resistance. The exhibition shows some  amazing pieces. made with dedication and perseverance. Tiny handkerchiefs, edges of sheets, large pieces of cloth, pin-cushions, comb-covers etcetera. Daily routine, wishes and reassurances were written and drawn with thin yarn. Also shown were skirts made after the war. Skirts made from small pieces of fabric used during the war quilted together and embroidered with messages of joy and hope.