Embroidery aficionados wanted

Leora Raikin, a native of Cape Town, South Africa, who lives in Los Angeles, has a passion and she wants that passion to spread across the United States – maybe all the way to Maine. Her passion is teaching embroidery and the Ndebele culture of South Africa.

The Ndebele are a patriarchal society where women do not enjoy the same status as men. Ndebele women, however, are keepers of tribal art traditions and are noted for the unique designs they paint in plaster on their houses and for their intricate beadwork. The techniques of these art forms are passed from mother to daughter.

A former employee of a research company that gathered demographic information in post-apartheid South Africa, Raikin has lived in Los Angeles for seven years.

In a telephone interview, she said that she established her business, African Folklore Embroidery, about 14 months ago. South Africa, she said, has an unemployment rate of 40 percent, the AIDS epidemic is rampant and the crime rate is high, statistics that make it difficult, if not impossible for anyone, especially women, to find jobs.

“I also wanted a way to stay home with my son,” she said. Establishing African Folklore Embroidery allows her to meet the needs of her child and to meet her own desire to do something to ease the economic challenges of South African women, who design the embroidery kits Raikin sells.

The embroidery designs depict African animals and the life and culture of the Ndebele. The kits also contain threads hand-dyed by the women. Approximately 30 South African women, Raikin said, are employed doing the design work and dyeing the thread, including silk and rayon, for the kits. Some of the kits contain fact sheets about the subject of the embroidery design.

Raikin also teaches classes in African embroidery, especially to children, combining lessons in stitching with lessons about South African tribes, animals, nationalities and languages.

For schools that have grants for cross-cultural programs, she said, her classes are a good fit.

Children, both boys and girls, she said, take to the craft easily. She has seen sisters teach brothers and sons teach mothers. The children choose their own colors and may add their own elements to the design.

“It’s a wonderful way to introduce a new generation of stitchers to embroidery,” she said.

Raikin is seeking experienced embroiderers who are passionate about the craft to work as consultants and instructors, and to sell the kits.

Currently, 30 stores in the United States carry African Folklore Embroidery kits. Kits and threads also are sold online at aflembroidery.com. To learn more about African Folklore Embroidery, call (818) 999-6094, or e-mail info@aflembroidery.com.

Snippets

. Bev Mason will hold a country crochet rag-rug workshop June 1 and 3 at 2409 Broadway. The cost of the workshop is $8 and includes fabric, crochet hook and instruction. Call 945-6389 to register.

. Want to make a pants pattern from your own measurements? Then the Bangor Area Sewing Guild’s latest workshop may be the perfect fit. The class will be held 9:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. Saturday, June 19, at the Hampden Municipal Center. The cost is $10 for members, $15 for others. Preregistration is required. Call Kathy at 941-8815.

Ardeana Hamlin welcomes suggestions. Call 990-8153, or e-mail ahamlin@bangordailynews.net.