Twins pass on passion for craft

Their mother taught them how to sew dolls’ clothes, now these twin sisters are showcasing their textile works in art galleries.

An intergenerational craft passed down through Jeanette Gillies and Jennifer Patterson’s mother and grandmother is on show at From Out of the Blue in pūnake.

Their passion for knitting and sewing started at a young age, as their mother taught them how to sew dolls’ clothes when they were just six years old.

Picking up the family Singer sewing machine at a very early stage of their life was a necessity because in the family they used to sew their own clothes.

‘‘There were four girls in the family and mum made all our clothes,’’ Gillies said.

The twins were encouraged to sew their own clothes when they were 12 years old, but they have transformed this craft into art.

After passing the stage of life where they had fun pretending to be each other, the two sisters developed their own designs and patterns in the 1980s, critiquing each other works.

‘‘And we were never offended,’’ Patterson said.

‘‘We take it all on board,’’ Gillies added.

What captivated their attention was ‘‘the beauty of rust’’ applied on fine fabric, learnt during an art class in Nevada, in the United States.

Getting the rusty metal into the fabric was part of a special technique that the twins were not ready to share in ‘‘the public arena’’– it was their secret.

‘‘We are opportunistic, if I see some rusty old thing, I want it. I ask men for their rusty bits,’’ Patterson said.

The blade of an electric edge trimmer, a roofing iron and a grater were among the tools used by Patterson to apply rust to silk in her artworks.

But there were many ways to pass colours onto textile fabrics. Dying, using organic materials, was another favourite.

‘‘A lot of my work is eco dye and botanical dye with plant materials, such as rose leaves, onion skins and gum leaves,’’ Patterson said.

‘‘It’s all layered. We layer how we dress. We layer how we prepare food, we layer how we garden, we layer how we think. And we layer how we plan.

‘‘So, that’s my process. It’s just thinking through the layers and the embellishments,’’ she said.

The twins made sure to pass on the intergenerational craft inherited from their family, as Gillies’ daughter taught textiles in high school.

Side By Side will be at From Out of the Blues¯inogallery pūnake until December 19.

Making dolls’ clothes with the family sewing machine was the first textile memory of the twin sisters. ‘‘The beauty of rust’’ plays a central role in Jennifer Patterson’s work with silk and textiles.

ANDY MACDONALD/ STUFF Jeanette Gillies and Jennifer Patterson have a passionate interest in quilting and working with silk that they got from their mother and grandmother. They are showing their artwork in an art gallery in pūnake.