Olivia Gardner

Needlework & Notions is a publication that explores feminist movements through craftivism

Through investigation chapters about the waves of feminism, activism, the history of craft, and craftivism, Needlework & Notions marries the ideas of activism and craft together throughout history.

Needlework & Notions explores how craft has long served as a vessel of feminist communication, tracing its evolution across waves of feminism. Traditionally overlooked practices such as embroidery, knitting, and weaving become acts of resistance. Both quiet yet powerful languages that carry hidden messages and create spaces of solidarity. Within this narrative, the tablecloth holds particular significance.

In feminism, a tablecloth symbolizes the reclaiming of domestic craft, the elevation of women’s hidden histories, and the subversion of traditional roles. Once tied to domestic duty, it is now reimagined as a surface for feminist expression. To embody this, the book’s cover features a monoprinted impression of a tablecloth, introducing a tactile quality that invites touch and reflection. This gesture transforms the familiar domestic object into a site of reclamation, while bridging material, memory, and message through the language of craft.