This is the first in the threads of friendship series. You can read the text from the shirt below.
Whispering in French.
It was the only class we shared.
You told me amazing tales of glamorous (to me) life
Adventures in cool foreign countries.
Boys.
Half heard, I missed the nuance but caught all of the excitement.
You still open new doors for me every time we speak.
These days we don’t speak so often, every 6 weeks or so
But picking up the phone and finding you there is like a sunrise or a pussy willow
Both inevitable and utterly surprising
Perhaps we would wear each other out with more contact.
The everyday spoil the surprise
Here are some words from Ms Adventures about how it has been to be involved in the project:
“The piece of clothing and its words seem to inhabit different spaces. The shirt given to me by you with words written about our friendship is now mine but the words are your words about our relationship and are not mine. . .So the sewn on garment is both yours, ours and mine and literally interwoven, a demonstration of our connection and friendship through the years.
I had a mad fluffy sleeved top that I gave you together with words about my friendship with another woman. You chose which words to use and sewed them in the shape of something that is important to her. I did not sew them and yet they are my words and they entwine the threads with the garment that reminded me of her.
There are so many gently overlapping waves in this project. I love it. I didn’t realise beforehand how powerful the stages would be, the choosing of who to write about, what words to write and what piece of clothing would they be written on. Then the seeing of the finished item and the increased power of the words that have been sewn on it. I like that I have one to keep and then I pass on the one with my words and the thread continues.”
