Cloth Baby Cradle

This is one of the most poignant embroidery pieces for me. When we purchased it in India it had only been a short time before that we were told it wasn't safe for me to get pregnant. At the time I was wavering between being okay with that situation and being depressed about it. Then four years later I had a beauitful baby girl with the help of new advances in medicines. The cradle has graced a wall in her bedroom ever since.

I do often wonder at the circumstances that led to the selling of this beautiful cradle. There was obviously a lot of loving work put into it. During my pregnancy I worked diligently on a knitted baby sweater that will never leave my possession if I have that choice. It is almost as though all my hopes and fears for my baby were tangled in it along with the yarn. Perhaps there is a kind of magic that goes into the making of these so-important objects. So I look at this piece and wonder why this mother had to give up this cradle and I think about the fact that it is now my responsiblity to keep it safe and allow it's beauty to be appreciated.

The border is created with lines of Square chain stitch which enclose sections of cretan stitched diamonds and a couched lattice of bright pink and light green. The hem is a blue cotton band machine-stitched over the edges, a popular finishing treatment for the decorative textiles that we have from this region. On the inside border is a zigzag of open chain stitch in blue with what appear to be neem leaves in cretan stitch pointing inward. One of the neat features of the border is that the diamonds and leaves are done in pairs of colors which really creates a striking design.

Elaborate flowers decorate the inner portion with tiny mirrors forming their bases. The flowers and all their parts are done completely with cretan stitch in bright, cheerful colors. It is charming that in some areas the flowers are extremely close together while in others they are carefully spaced (reminds me of some of my less successfull knitting stitches on the baby sweater mentioned earlier!). On the close up above several areas can be seen which are damaged, with missing stitches and some discoloration of the ground cloth.

The cradle is fully lined with what appears to be a muslin back which the embroidery is also stitched through.

To use this type of cradle, a wooden frame forms the main support. This frame would have a long center pole from which the cradle is suspended. At each end a pair of legs would form an 'A' shape from the center pole to the ground. Here is a picture of one of the cradles when it is not in use. (Please forgive the horrible picture quality for I was a terrifyingly bad photographer back then.)