News

Moroccan kaftan made from a Japanese obi (sash), 1950s (TRC 2001.0074).Gillian Vogelsang, Director TRC, 13 July 2025.

The TRC collection of textiles, clothing and accessories from around the world was started in 1997 with 43 pieces from Afghanistan, Egypt and Syria. Since then it has grown to nearly 51,909 items (16 September 2025), most of which are online (click here for the online catalogue).

The items come from very diverse backgrounds with respect to time and place. Some of the items in the collection have been purchased, but the vast majority has been collected during fieldwork or very kindly donated by various institutions and private donors. The TRC  is a good example of Citizen Culture and Heritage at work!

The collection has no boundaries with respect to geography or time. It ranges from Afghan embroidery, German Lederhosen, Indonesian batiks, historical textiles from Leiden, to delicate silks from Renaissance Italy and spinning and weaving equipment from the Andes.

by Martine Benot-Teunissen, costume historian, 14 June 2024

I am proud to announce the publication of a book about recent archaeological textile finds in the Netherlands: Textiel uit Hollandse bodem. Archeologische vondsten uit de 17de en 18de eeuw ('Textiles from Dutch soil. Archaeological finds from the 17th and 18th century'). The book can be ordered here. Last week I was very happy to present a copy of the book to Dr Gillian Vogelsang-Eastwood, Director of the TRC.

The initial plans for this book were developed following the rediscovery of a large number of textiles that were excavated in the 1980s at the Waterlooplein (Vlooienburg), in Amsterdam. Some of these textiles were not yet properly identified and registered, and as a result remained unknown to the general public. It soon became clear that there were more textile treasures housed elsewhere in other depots!

Together with archaeologist Marijn Stolk we embarked upon a project to unlock and investigate archaeological textiles from the seventeenth and eighteenth century which are housed in various depots. This project has now resulted in a beautifully illustrated publication.

by Shelley Anderson, long-time volunteer and supporter of the TRC, with a special interest in textile crafts, including  American quilts. She was born in the USA, and now lives in the Netherlands. 1 May 2024.

Hamilton, Missouri, is a typical small town in the American Midwest. This means a small population (in Hamilton’s case, around1,600 people), and a much smaller pool of local jobs.

At least that was the case until 15 years ago, when a passionate quilter named Jenny Doan opened the Missouri Star Quilt Company on the town’s small main street. Today, the company runs quilting shops in 35 of the town’s buildings. Some of the shops are pop-ups, selling , for example, only Halloween- or Christmas-themed fabrics during these holidays. The business now makes about US$ 20 million a year. An estimated 8,000 people visit Hamilton every month to shop for quilt-related materials, especially fabrics; to take quilting classes; and to tour the large murals of quilts painted on the town’s buildings.

Quilt with an appliqué design of large, stylised flowers and leaves in various materials. USA, 1850s-1860s (TRC 2019.2402).

As many of you will know the TRC Collection is growing, and so are the demands on our resources, and available space, as more and more people discover textiles and want to learn about them! We are actively talking with Leiden Council and others about extra space for the TRC, funding possibilities, etc, all of which takes time.

So we have been looking into external storage space here in the Leiden region where the occasionally needed items, such as display stands and mannequins, boxes filled with books for the next sale, looms and spinning wheels, can be stored, leaving more space at the TRC for working on the Collection, giving classes, working in the library, etc.

Hence our unglamorous request! We will need €2,000 per year for a large storage space close to the TRC and we are looking for help with raising this amount, initially for a one year period, but with the chance it will be for two years.

If you are willing to help, please let us know at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., or make a donation over to the TRC at bank account number (IBAN) NL39 INGB 000 298 2359, in the name of the Stichting Textile Research Centre. BIC code is: INGBNL2A. Please add: For storage.

You can also, very simply, if you have an iDEAL app, use the iDEAL button (press the button to the right) and fill in the amount of support you want to donate and the note it is for storage.

Since the TRC is officially recognised as a non-profit making cultural institution (ANBI), donations by Dutch tax paying citizens/companies are tax deductible for 125% for individuals, and 150% for commercial companies. For more information, click here.

We did it! Thanks to the help of many, very kind people and groups, we have raised in a short period of time the money needed to acquire the Japanese garments ollection that was recently offered to the TRC. This was done via crowdfunding (Voordekunst), as well as public and private donations!

Inside of a man's haori (jacket), turned inside out, showing the decorative lining. Japan, 20th century.

Not only did we raise the money, but the garments have already been sent to Leiden and will start appearing on the TRC Collection database next week! The owner, Marianne Kooimans, had faith in the TRC and its supporters and sent the garments earlier than planned.. The pieces date from the early to mid-20th century and include both men and women’s garments in a variety of very different forms and techniques.

So said Miss Hutchinson, my needlework teacher at Bingley Grammar School, West Yorkshire, in the early 1970’s. Perhaps she was right, but textiles and trying to understand them and their sheer diversity have been the red thread (sorry for the pun) throughout my life. They have also been a motivating force behind the TRC as a knowledge centre for passing down textile skills, experience and knowledge in all the many forms of this huge subject.

Sampler in ecru and blue with several techniques. Initials: "IS, HB, 1902 1903" in satin stitch. Worked by Henriëtte Slavekoorde-Braunstahl, 1903 (TRC 2017.0107).The words of Miss Hutchinson have been playing in my mind recently, thanks to several donations to the TRC of samples made by trainee needlework teachers from about 1900 to 1920. In particular there are the samples made by Henriëtte Braunstahl (1885-1983) from Den Haag, who was presented in 1904 with a diploma from the Industrieschool voor Meisjes (‘s-Gravenhage) as a handwork teacher.

A few days ago we were given samples of the work of Marie Koets, who took an exam for Nuttige Handwerken ('useful needlework') in 1913 and an exam for Fraaie Handwerken ('decorative needlework') in 1915, at the St. Pius-School in Amsterdam. These pieces will come online in the TRC Collection database over the next few weeks.

Piece of black card with a sample of square network with darned and needle woven patterns using a thick, white thread. Worked by G.H.P. Wening, c. 1922 (TRC 2023.2805.023).There are also textile and garment samples made by Geertruida Henriette Pauline Wening, who trained as a needlework teacher at the Technische Hoogeschool, Delft in c. 1920.

The important observation that struck me when studying these samples, is the wide range of skills these would-be teachers had to learn and be good at. From knitting and mending a sock, to elaborate embroideries, and especially the stitching of marking and initials.

As noted above, many of these courses were divided into nuttig (useful, i.e. useful in a household situation for running, making and mending textiles and garments), for which a wide range of skills were needed, as well as courses for more decorative forms of needlework (fraaie handwerken). That was roughly the situation before the 1960s.

In contrast, Miss Hutchinson, of the wise words given above, was one of the first generation of needlework teachers who were taught that creativity was far more important than knowledge and skill. ‘Let's see what happens when you play/work with textiles, etc.’ Creativity was all important. Perhaps I was not artistic enough.

Piece of black card with a sample of square network with darned and needle woven patterns. Worked by G.H.P. Wening, c. 1922 (TRC 2023.2805.022).On a wall in the needlework class room at Bingley Grammar School, she had three panels with decorative embroidery using a range of grounds and techniques, such as a panel with two machine embroidered and appliqué cats on a star ground.

She proudly showed them off as examples of her creative needlework and as a turning point from skill-based needlework to creative (artistic) needlework.

In those days, creativity was becoming more important than skill. And indeed, as could be expected, not long afterwards many schools stopped the teaching of needlework for girls as a useful life skill. You don’t need textiles, or even textile skills, to be creative, do you?

Example of an appliqué with machine embroidery. From McCall's 'Needlework Treasury. A Learn and Make Book' (1964).At the TRC, fortunately, we notice that this situation is slowly changing, and during the last week, for instance, we welcomed three very different groups that discussed with us the need of textile skills. The simple conclusion was that, if you know the basic techniques and skills, the (artistic) end product (whatever it may be) will be much better!

Oh yes, some years later I found the appliqué cat panel in Miss Hutchinson's class room back in McCall's Needlework Treasury. A Learn and Make Book (1964). Miss Hutchinson had simply copied it……

Gillian Vogelsang-Eastwood, Director TRC, 19 March 2024.

Painting the hands with henna. Photograph courtesy Shutterstock.On Sunday afternoon, January 28, the Güney Foundation and the Textile Research Centre will organize an introduction to the Turkish Henna Festival (Kina Gecesi).

In Turkey, the henna evening is a symbolic ritual in which the henna has a deep meaning. Henna represents joy, beauty and protection against evil spirits and negative energy. The deeper the colour of the henna, the stronger the bond between the couple is considered to be, because the red colour of the henna represents love. It also symbolizes fertility and a prosperous future.

Henna party in Turkey. Photograph courtesy Shutterstock.At the meeting on Sunday afternoon it will be explained and demonstrated how the Henna is applied. This is done by a professional artist. The traditional Henna festive wear and other textile pieces will also be on display.

Traditional Turkish music fills the air as women sing folk songs and perform lively dances such as the "oyun havası" or "halay." Guests join in the dancing, creating an energetic and festive atmosphere.

An important year:

In the first place our apologies for the somewhat ‘bare’ lay-out of this Newsletter. The company of Tinyletter, that to date looked after its distribution to some 3,000 subscribers, has announced that it will stop all its activities by February 2024, and it appears that it has already slimmed down its service by no longer including illustrations. We are urgently looking for a new (and affordable) system that will make sure we can update our friends regularly about our activities. In any case, we can assure you that the address file for the current Newsletter will be reused for the new form.

But more importantly, we want to wish all our friends and contacts a happy New Year. May 2024 be a peaceful year, also for those currently suffering violence. Here in Leiden we sometimes take our untroubled and harmonious surroundings for granted. But how dreadful the situation elsewhere!

Looking back, 2023 has been a busy, exciting and at times frustrating year! It is clear from the number of visitors to the TRC that local, national and international recognition of the role that the TRC is playing in the world of textile studies is growing. The TRC is actively expanding its role as an international hub for textiles and dress in all their many and varied forms. We are a centre where skills and knowledge can be acquired via lectures, workshops, courses, exhibitions, research, teaching of BA to PhD students, etc.