Bowerbird

In past issues of All Stitched Up! it has not been uncommon for us to wax lyrical about our stash of all things needle and thread. Whilst the discussions have most often centred around the organising and decluttering of said stash, we recently came across a book that made us think entirely differently about the items contained within our stitching ‘reserves’.

Sibella Court is an Australian creative director, interior and product designer as well the owner of The Society inc., who authored a book entitled ‘Bowerbird | Creating Beautiful Interiors with the Things you Collect’.

A bowerbird is an Australian native bird that goes above and beyond to decorate its nest with found objects such as shells, pegs and shiny objects. Sibella has often been referred to as a bowerbird and likes to think of herself ‘as a finder, keeper and curator of collections and beautiful things’.

For as long as she can recall, Sibella accumulated objects with her earliest collections including shells, sequins, beads and ribbons. Over time, Sibella came to realise that much of the joy in being a finder, keeper and curator is to create, for want of a better description, ‘a cabinet of curiosities’ that will allow the items collected to be displayed in a manner fitting of their value to her.

That’s when we realised that maybe our stashes don’t need organising or decluttering, perhaps they’re simply calling out to be displayed!

So, we read on.

‘Bowerbird’ went on to unpack the myriad ways in which Sibella displays her collections. Think old boxes, glass domes, hooks, drawers, pegs and various fasteners.

Relating to all things needle and thread, Sibella has spools of thread thoughtfully placed under glass cloches, beads and sequins housed in tiny antique specimen bottles, buttons sorted by colour in wooden boxes with compartments, antique reels of cotton laced together to form ‘wreaths’ that are hung for all to admire, ribbons housed by colourway in vintage labelled shoeboxes, and swatches of fabric held together with large metal clips in families of colour or weave.

The thought and care Sibella has used to create a beautiful interior with the things she’s collected made us appreciate our stash with newfound perspective – the items within are special and treasured and perhaps there’s more than just a few that should be on display?!