Sarah Pedlow, Threadwritten

Sarah Pedlow was enjoying an artist’s residency in Budapest when a museum visit changed the course of her artwork and her career. In the Ethnographic Museum, displays of traditional clothing and dowry goods from Hungarian villages showed an extraordinary variety of skills. Many of the intricately embroidered pieces spoke to an earlier time—although some had been created not that long ago. One type of embroidery, írásos, particularly captured Sarah’s imagination. Using a straightforward open chain stitch in bold, graphic lines, the style was distinctively Hungarian, with Turkish-influenced motifs reflecting the region’s history. Although she didn’t speak Hungarian (a notoriously difficult language) and had no previous background in fiber art, Sarah was drawn to learn more about the embroidery. She eventually made several trips to an ethnically Hungarian region of Romania, where she met some of the few embroiderers still working in the technique and learned the stitch for herself. Wi...