Bookmark

Description

New York-based artist Irene DeFoy Gregor created this cross-shaped bookmark around the 1970s. This object demonstrates two different needlework techniques: the interior of the bookmark is crocheted, while the border framing it is tatted. Tatting is a type of construction done by tying thread into an intricate pattern of knots, which give the object its structure. Tatting is performed using a shuttle which holds thread wound around a bobbin in its center. The tatter holds a large loop of the thread in one hand and moves the shuttle back and forth through the loop with their other hand, making and tightening knots as they go. This object is one of a large group transferred to Winterthur from the American Textile History Museum when it closed in 2017.