Tea-stained muslin and thread

After a difficult few years, of Brexit, of becoming a mother and then having my second child, of working less and being mum more, of covid, of lockdown. Throughout, my  identity took a bit of a battering. It felt, at times, like my sense of self was something that needed to be reconfigured and repaired - stitched back together. 

Muslin is a fabric that is often associated with motherhood. We use muslin cloths to clean up after babies, use them as bibs, swaddles and blankets. 

The fabric has been dyed with tea. It is through sharing cups of tea that we fix things, how we repair and restore ourselves. 

The layers of fabric are reminiscent of layers of the whole, different parts of me. They have been sewn back together to make a flag. I had some resistance to using the pattern of the Union Jack, a symbol that feels so loaded and one that I am not particularly comfortable around, especially in the post-brexit fall out. But as a British Citizen it is still a part of me, and there is a tension that now feels particularly relevant.