Homespun Army – The Radical Power of a Needle and Thread
Jo Andrews
Britain has been a quiet place these past weeks: no planes, no pubs, few trains, and no traffic, except for the sad howl of ambulances. But if you listened carefully you might just have been able to catch the whirr of sewing machines in households across the country. It’s the sound of a small homespun cavalry coming to the aid of the NHS and other frontline workers.
Independent of governments, voluntary organisations or management structures, thousands of women and men in lockdown have hauled out their machines from under dust covers, found their cutting scissors and set to work to produce scrubs, laundry bags, masks and gowns for care and health workers to protect them and their patients. This has been the real Great British Sewing Bee of 2020.