The master thesis is focused on design of semi-professional sewing machine regarding tailor’s needs. The goal of this master thesis is to bring a new ergonomic solution with attractive styling. The sewing machine would be connected with table as one unit.

Die klinisch relevantesten Knieverletzungen betreffen Läsionen oder Rupturen der Bänder im Kniegelenk mit einer Häufigkeit von etwa 40%, wobei allein 46% der Verletzungen das vordere Kreuzband (ACL) betreffen. Bei einer Verletzung des ACL kommt es, aufgrund mangelnder Vaskularisierung und verletzter Synovialmembran, nicht zu einer selbst induzierten Regeneration. Deshalb besteht bei einer ausbleibenden Therapie langfristig ein erhöhtes Risiko für Arthrose verbunden mit chronischen Schmerzen und Einschränkungen der Gelenkbeweglichkeit. Der Goldstandard liegt in der Transplantation von patienteneigenem Gewebe der Patellar- oder Semitendinosussehne, wobei die Gründe für das 3-10%-ige Implantatversagen z. B. in der falschen Platzierung und Fixierung des Implantates oder in einer falsch bemessenen Implantatgröße verbunden mit einer verminderten Festigkeit liegen. Ebenso sind die Nachbildung der typischen Gewebestrukturzonen vom Ligament zur knöchernen Integration sowie die damit verbundenen spezifischen mechanischen Eigenschaften nicht umsetzbar. Die genannten Nachteile legen nahe, dass ein anhaltend großer Forschungs- und Entwicklungsbedarf hinsichtlich neuartiger Therapiemethoden besteht. Im Tissue Engineering wird hierbei eine Behandlungsstrategie mit hohem Erfolgspotential gesehen. Dazu ist die Entwicklung eines temporären Zellträgers (Scaffold), der als artifizielle Matrix für die Zellen dient und die spezifischen strukturellen und mechanischen Anforderungen des nativen Gewebes erfüllt, essentiell für das Behandlungsgelingen. Das Ziel muss dabei stets die mechanische und strukturelle Wiederherstellung des ACL bei möglichst komplett vermiedener Entnahmemorbidität sein. Eine angepasste Porosität und zellspezifische Porengrößenverteilung der Scaffolds sind für eine gleichmäßige Zellproliferation in vivo erforderlich. Weiterhin müssen auch die mechanischen Eigenschaften über einen bekannten und im Idealfall definiert einstellbaren Degradationszeitraum stabil sein. Für die Scaffoldherstellung wurden die biokompatiblen und biologisch abbaubaren Materialien Polylactid (PLA) oder Poly(lactic-co-ε-caprolacton) (P(LA-CL)) gewählt. Beide Materialien gelten als medizinisch gut verträglich bzw. sind bereits als Medizinprodukt zugelassen. PLA weist eine langsames Degradationsverhalten auf und wird deshalb als potentiell geeignetes Material für das Tissue Engineering von Bändern und Sehnen gesehen. Aus zellbiologischer Sicht konnte P(LA-CL) als Optimum herausgestellt werden. Es konnte im Rahmen der Arbeit gezeigt werden, dass die Sticktechnik im Vergleich zu anderen textilen Herstellungsverfahren, wie dem Stricken oder Flechten, einen großen Gestaltungsspielraum zur Entwicklung einer mechanisch und strukturell angepassten Scaffoldstruktur für das Tissue Engineering von Ligamentgewebe bietet. Die Sticktechnik ermöglichte somit die Kombination beider Fadenmaterialien in einem Gestick. Ober- und Unterfaden können zudem aus unterschiedlichen Materialklassen sowie –typen bestehen. Neben den mechanischen Eigenschaften wurden damit auch die Porosität der Scaffoldstruktur, das Abbauverhalten und die zellbiologischen Erfordernisse wesentlich beeinflusst. Die Strukturzonen Ligament, Knorpel und Knochen konnten nach dem Vorbild des nativen Gewebeübergangs durch unterschiedliche Stickmuster gestaltet werden. Die Umsetzung war ohne zusätzliche Prozessschritte oder Maschinenmodifikationen möglich. Bei der Gestaltung der Ligamentzone zeigte sich, dass der Stickparameter Duplizierverschiebung die mechanischen Kennwerte Steifigkeit und Toe-Region wesentlich beeinflusst. Weiterhin konnte ein gradueller Musterübergang von Ligament- zu Knochenzone gestaltet sowie eine temporäre Barriere aus kollagenen Materialien in das Scaffold integriert werden. Die Steifigkeit des bereits etablierten Stickmusters für die knöcherne Integration konnte durch eine additive Modifizierung auf das Sechsfache des Ausgangswertes gesteigert werden. Die beiden Methoden „Übereinandersticken“ und „Stapeln/Verriegeln“ zur Herstellung von 3D-Gesticken ermöglichten es sowohl homogene als auch graduelle Porengrößenverteilungen zu generieren. Die damit hergestellten Gesticke in lapinem und humanem Maßstab wurden zudem den mechanischen Ansprüchen nativer ACL durch das Nachempfinden des spezifischen Kraft-Dehnungsverhaltens gerecht. Die umfangreiche Charakterisierung der mechanischen Eigenschaften konnte bei statischen und dynamischen Belastungszuständen realisiert werden, sodass durch die ermittelten Daten nicht nur Aussagen zum Versagensverhalten, sondern auch zu typischen alltäglichen Bewegungsvorgängen, wie Gehen oder Treppen steigen, getroffen werden können. Unter zyklischer Belastung wurden signifikante Unterschiede der Verlustarbeit zwischen den Gesticken und den lapinen ACL deutlich, die durch die Strukturbesonderheiten der Gesticke erklärt sowie durch eine passend gewählte Vorkonditionierung verringert werden können. Das Relaxationsverhalten der Gesticke war hingegen mit dem nativer ACL-Gewebe vergleichbar. Aufgrund der eingeschränkten mitotischen Aktivität des ACL-Gewebes wird mehrheitlich eine Gerüststruktur aus langsam degradierenden Materialien gefordert. Über einen Zeitraum von 168 Tagen wurde das hydrolytische Abbauverhalten untersucht. Die erzielten Ergebnisse lassen den Schluss zu, dass eine ausreichende Stabilität der Scaffolds vorliegt. Auf dieser Grundlage wurde ein die Arbeit abschließender in vitro Versuch mit funktionalisierten und zellbesiedelten Gesticken über 28 Tage durchgeführt. Die Ausrichtung des Zellwachstums geschah dabei entlang der Fadenmaterialien und somit in die für das Gestick vorgesehene Belastungsrichtung. Es ist deshalb davon auszugehen, dass die entwickelte Stickmusterstruktur einen essentiellen Einfluss auf das Zellverhalten hat. Aus wissenschaftlicher Sicht wurde mit der Arbeit ein wesentlicher Beitrag zur Charakterisierung gestickter 3D-Strukturen, die als Scaffolds für Tissue Engineering Anwendungen im Bereich mechanisch stark belasteter Weichgewebe dienen könnten, geleistet. Die Ergebnisse bieten den Anreiz für fortführende Arbeiten in ersten in vivo Studien.

The present essay explores artworks of Karin Larsson through the feminist theoretical field of studies. The following three textile works were in the centre of the study, Kärlekens ros, Duk med tecken and Sashiko-gardin. The connection between japonisme, Japanese inspired art, and Karin Larssons art works were studied. Through feminist theories by art historians such as Linda Nochlin and Griselda Pollock the experience of being a woman in the 1800s affected the works of Karin Larsson were discussed. It was found that Karin Larssons upbringing and education as a woman differs from the usual male art student, which affected her art works. The subjects of her art works were also often the result of personal experiences. Furthermore, a correlation between the art works and Japanese woodblocks and Japanese embroidery techniques were identified.

Needlework has been practiced throughout history, across the nation of Sweden and the world, primarily by women within the home. In recent years a revival of the craft has been seen worldwide, the covid lockdown and an aging population being two factors contributing to this. Historically there’s been a duality to the practice of needlework. On one hand, it’s been a means of oppression, and on the other hand, it's been a weapon of resistance and a source of joy, creativity, and collectivity. It has, throughout history, proven to be a political, social and creative tool and, as argued in this thesis, a spatial tool. The practice of needlework allows for the artisan to travel between different spheres. This thesis sets out to explore the potential of moving between private and public, performing a public domesticity through, for example, knitting.  Needlework is, in its nature, slow. This slowness, the repetitive movements of the hands and the touching of tactile materials emphasizes the process of making and prompts reflections and emotions. This thesis argues that methods of needlework as, for example, layering, mending, joining, ripping, and patching, clearly connect to the architectural design process. These methods emphasize notions of care and maintenance. The thesis uses an interdisciplinary approach to investigate needlework as both the topic of research and the means of spatial exploration and representation, aiming to underpin the relevance of engaging with needlework in the architectural design process, as a way of maintaining the craft and learning new things. Rooms devoted to the practice of needlework haven't appeared in a building plan for many years. The design proposal, presented in the report, aims to explore the possibility of these spaces reappearing within the public sphere. The proposal is placed within the context of Sweden with no specific site intended. Proposing a space of appearance (term coined by Hannah Arendt in her theory of Plurality) actualized through the collective making of the syjunta (sewing circle). Creating a public syrum (sewing room)  where the practice of needlework and its practitioners can appear, connected to ideas of feminist architectural practice to make the everyday visible. The thesis project engages with needlework by seeing it as a collective act of taking and making space.

In this MA thesis I want to examine if it is possible to be writing a historical narrative with other tools than words. Rufina Bazlova is a Belarusian textile artist, currently based in Prague, who is telling us her narrative about the falsified elections in Belarus held in August 2020. She does it using embroidery, strongly connected with traditional Belarusian symbols used in the crafts that has been an important source of belief in everyday life for women in Belarus since the early 11th century. What kind of narrative is the artist telling us? In what way can her embroidery be seen as cultural memories? I am using the methods formal analysis by Heinrich Wölfflin and iconography and iconology by Erwin Panofsky to explore the hidden meanings in five of Bazlovas embroidery pieces, Female solidarity, Parliament House, Streets of Belarus, Solidarity with Soligorsk and Run from a gun. They are all a part of the work of art named Belarusian Vyzyvanka. I am placing Bazlovas embroidery in the context of cultural memories by looking at them with the eyes of different researchers in the field of cultural memory studies. The thesis has a range from descripting the meaning of traditional textile symbols to implementing the methods of art history. I am continuing with placing the embroidery into the field of cultural memory studies and asking questions about freedom of speach and the political situation in Belarus today. I am looking back in the Belarusian history to find some of my answers and I am adding a transnational perspective to my examination.

Mary Seton Watts (1849–1938) était une artiste et une activiste importante de la fin du 19e siècle et du début du 20e en Angleterre. Bien qu’elle ait connu un grand succès de son vivant, l’histoire n’a su assurer l’héritage de cette femme. Le Royal Victoria College de l’Université McGill à Montréal abrite Our Lady of the Snows, une bannière en soie brodée par l’artiste, accrochée dans l’anonymat dans un couloir. La bannière fut commandée par le gouverneur général du Canada Lord Grey, en 1907, dans un effort d’assurer dans le système universitaire canadien une présence impériale. Il a ainsi fait la commande d’une série de bannière à des dames de la société anglaise, leur demandant spécifiquement l’inclusion d’une image de Saint George et le dragon. Seulement, des deux bannières envoyées par Mary Seton Watts, aucune ne présentait cette imagerie. Alors que Our Lady of the Snows a été envoyée à l’institution féminine Royal Victoria à Montréal, l’autre, Spirit of the Flowers of the Nation, n’a pas été incluse dans les envois du gouverneur général. Ce mémoire vise à positionner Our Lady of the Snows à l’intersection de l’activisme féministe et de l’activité artistique de Mary Seton Watts. Tout au long de sa carrière, l’artiste a démontré que sa vision personnelle et son occupation professionnelle existaient en symbiose dans son esprit. Elle a, à la fois, utilisé son art dans ses efforts d’améliorer le monde autour d’elle et a puisé inspiration dans ses valeurs personnelles afin de construire un langage symbolique qui lui est propre. Peintre, potière, brodeuse, designer, entrepreneure, activiste et suffragiste, Mary Seton Watts a laissé un vaste héritage qui se caractérise par son habileté d’adaptation et son refus de se plier aux normes artistiques et sociales. L’artiste a produit cette bannière à un moment crucial du suffrage des femmes, où des bannières de nature similaire étaient utilisées comme outils de revendication. Par une analyse technique et symbolique détaillée de Our Lady of the Snows, ce mémoire démontre que l’œuvre est inscrite dans la foulée de ces bannières suffragistes, et comme un objet caractéristique du mariage entre art et activisme chez Mary Seton Watts. / Mary Seton Watts (1849-1938) was an important artist and activist of late nineteenth-century and early twentieth-century England. Although she was successful in her lifetime, her legacy has been forgotten through time. McGill University’s Royal Victoria College in Montreal houses Our Lady of the Snows, a banner designed and embroidered by Seton Watts. The banner is hung unidentified in the hallways of the building which now serves as university housing. Our Lady of the Snows was part of a commission from the then governor general of Canada, Lord Grey in 1906. This project was in accordance to Lord Grey’s wish to instill an imperial presence within Canadian universities. He ordered a series of embroidered banners from English gentlewomen and specifically requested they depict Saint George and the Dragon. However, of the two banners he received from Seton Watts, neither included the theme he had asked for. While Our Lady of the Snows was sent to Montreal, Spirit of the Flowers of the Nation was never displayed as part of his project. This thesis sets out to position Our Lady of the Snows at the intersection of Seton Watts’s feminist activism and artistic activity. Throughout her career, she exhibited how her art and values formed a symbiotic relationship. She used art in service of her social engagement and let her political beliefs transpire in her extensive symbolic language. Painter, potter, needleworker, designer, entrepreneur, activist and suffragist, Mary Seton Watts left a legacy that is extraordinary in its refusal to submit to artistic and societal expectations. She created this banner at a crucial moment in the history of the movement for women’s suffrage. Banners were becoming an iconic symbol of suffragist processions and were used to reclaim needlework while fighting for women’s rights. A close technical and symbolic reading of the banner positions the object as in direct dialogue with suffragist banners, as well as an emblematic demonstration of the union of art and activism in the work of Mary Seton Watts.

This study investigates copies of silk-embroidered linen cloths from the 16th and 17th century, created by the Danish Handcraft Guild during the period 1928–1980. The originals are most often embroidered with stem stitches in red silk with motives generally based on contemporary graphic prints. The Danish Handcraft Guild was founded in 1928 with ambitions to bring to life national textile traditions. The aim of the study is to find out which aspects of the historical textiles that were adopted in the copies, and possible reasons for these choices. Based on this case-study, the usage of historical originals for copies in relation to general understanding and development of cultural heritage is discussed. From a theoretical viewpoint, material culture is understood as having both physical and practical properties, related to memories and identities of individuals and societies. The study consists of two parts, one explorative study and one text analysis. In the explorative study five original textiles and nine copies are documented and compared. The text analysis deals with 77 texts from the Danish Handcraft Guild journal 1934–1980. The results show that the Danish Handcraft Guild practiced two approaches to historical originals. The mayor one was to find originals suitable for adoption on present-day products, often in simplified versions. A second approach is represented by big copies of silk-embroidered linen cloths. These were made as splendor display objects, related to a fine and noble national history. The tendency in this case-study is that copies of silk-embroidered linen cloths used for exhibitions seem to be closer to the original’s motives than those made for personal use. A conclusion of the study is that copies from historical originals do have potential to gain understanding and to develop cultural heritage. Which collective memory, history and value they convey depends on the context in which they were created, and to the story they mediate.

This thesis addresses needlework between 1920 and 1970 as a window into women's broader experiences, and also asserts it as a valid topic of historical analysis in its own right. Needlecraft was a ubiquitous part of women's lives which has until recently been largely neglected by historians. The growing historiography of needlework has relied heavily on fashion and design history perspectives, focusing on the products of needlework and examples of creative needlewomen. Moving beyond this model, this thesis establishes the importance of process as well as product in studying needlework, revealing the meanings women found in, attached to, and created through the ephemeral moment of making. Searching for the ordinary and typical, it eschews previous preoccupations with creation, affirming re-creation and recreation as more central to amateur needlework. Drawing upon diverse sources including oral history research, objects, Mass Observation archives, and specialist needlework magazines, this thesis examines five key aspects of women's engagement with needlework: definitions of ‘leisure' and ‘work'; motivations of thrift in peacetime and war; emotions; the modern and the traditional and finally, the gendering of needlework. It explores needlework through three central themes of identity, obligation and pleasure. Whilst asserting the validity and importance of needlework as a subject of research in its own right, it also contributes to larger debates within women's history. It sheds light on the chronology and significance of domestic thrift, the meanings of feminised activities, the emotional context of home front life, women's engagement with modern design and concepts of ‘leisure' and ‘work' within women's history.

This paper describes my work with a historical craft and my attempt to find new ways to look at it, work with it and present it. I use the embroidery technique Hardangersaum which is all white, and where selected threads of the woven fabric grid are removed while others are wrapped and embellished. The artistic research leans heavily on the traditional craft but tries to isolate it from its historical baggage. I turn my focus to the grid of the fabric and I present some viewpoints from Rosalind Krauss and Hannah B. Higgins. I describe questions of scale and presentation that have emerged and show how digital animation has played a major role in the development and the communication of the embroidery work.

[pt] Os processos eletrônicos alteram os conceitos básicos do fazer artesanal e, portanto, o conceito de bordado também se altera. Diante dessa ruptura, surge a justificativa desse trabalho: a análise dos bordados, sejam manuais ou eletrônicos. Este trabalho busca investigar o bordado para debater as transformações ocorridas ao longo do tempo, incluindo a utilização de novas tecnologias, examinando se é coerente dizer que as máquinas eletrônicas bordam. A metodologia aplicada inclui diferentes etapas, iniciando pela checagem dos temas e dos contextos relacionados para examinar o bordado, aferindo os seus diferentes processos de produção: o trabalho manual e o sistema eletrônico. A pesquisa também tem por base uma revisão teórica dos conceitos apresentados. A discussão a respeito da evolução do artesanato no Brasil conduz o olhar para a nossa prática, ilustrando o debate com o trabalho realizado na Cooperativa de Trabalho Artesanal e de Costura da Rocinha Ltda - até recentemente reconhecida como COOPA-ROCA. A experiência aprofunda a reflexão a respeito de uma cultura metodológica relacionada ao bordado manual, elucidando o papel do consumidor. / [en] Electronic processes change the basic concepts of making crafts, and therefore the concept of embroidery also changes. Faced with this disruption, the justification of this work emerge: the analysis of the embroideries, either manual or electronic. This work seeks to investigate the embroidery to discuss the transformations that occurred over time, including the use of new technologies, examining whether it is coherent to say that the electronic machines does embroideries. The methodology was organized in different stages, starting with the checking of the topics and related contexts to examine the embroidery, assessing their different production processes: the manual work and the electronic system. The research is also based on a theoretical revision of the presented concepts. The discussion about the evolution of handicrafts in Brazil leads to a look at our practice, illustrating the debate with the work carried out at the Cooperativa de Trabalho Artesanal e de Costura da Rocinha Ltda - until lately recognized as COOPA-ROCA. The experience deepens the reflection about a methodological culture for the manual embroidery, elucidating the role of the consumer.