Lois Wolffe
TAKING SMOCK OF THE SITUATION
Early in 2021, I started minding Mum as she was increasingly frail and vulnerable. Within a week I realised she had the early stages of dementia.
One day she offered me one of her old fisherman’s smocks, a garment she used to wear daily when I was younger, and we thought it would be fun to use as a canvas, to embellish it with embroidery designs. This would be my 100 Days Project for 2021.
As Mum was no longer able to create new designs, she offered ideas and her grandson, Max, created most of the designs for us; I also used images from her sketchbook.
Each embroidered element connects to Mum in some way. Mum’s life and her memories were slipping away from her as I was literally stitching elements of her life down onto her much-loved garment. I had no idea if I had the skill to do this, but knew that daily practice would give me some space, some calm during a time of emotional upheaval. And also that each stitch would be filled with so much love, that really it mattered not what the final smock looked like.
Inevitably life interfered with plans, and I took a slow approach to the 100 Days, deciding early on that they need not be consecutive days. And, in some kind of strange circularity, echoing Mum’s 100days in 2020 ending at Day 82, I realise that I have only reached Day 85. It is still a work in progress. As is Mum’s dementia.
You can view Lois’ mums beautiful 2020 project here.
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