Thursday, October 5, 2017

Acute, Not Cute

I was complaining about all the curlicue cuteness associated with sewing, but  when I look one centimeter further (than "sewing notions" on Pinterest), of course there's a world of sewing where cuteness is neither here not there. 

Looking up the word's etymology, I see "cute" was a shortening of acute, meaning “shrewd,” “keen,” or “clever.”
Like the fabric art of  Louise Bourgeois, better known for her sculpture. 
I love Bourgeois's hooks-and-eyes (I'd just photographed some myself): they make a pretty flower pattern against the pink cloth but also look like military machinery marching in formation.


Pages, below, from her fabric book, Ode á la Bièvre

 Some of them are quite pretty:

And as I've said, I do like cute things too. Here, for instance, are some bunnies & friends messing about in the margins of some medieval text:

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