Worthing knitting artist’s International Women’s Day display picked up by Mary’s Living & Giving Shops

The display is on show at Storm’s base in Worthing’s West End before being transported to London to feature in the window of the new Mary’s Living & Giving Shop in Kew.

It has been Evie’s goal for several years to make a series of dolls that pays tribute to ‘women of courage throughout our time’.

Her creations were spotted in an Instagram post and will now be going on show at the boutique Kew Living and Giving shop, set up by Save the Children UK with retail expert Mary Portas.

Evie, a member of Storm’s Make n Munch team, said: “It’s surprising how many of us are still unaware of these ladies, or have only passing knowledge of their names and tenuous understanding of their achievements.

“This project is intended to bring such women into the limelight, hopefully giving us greater awareness and prompting us to look further into their remarkable lives.”

The women included were based on personal choice and representing them as dolls had a special resonance for Evie.

She explained: “Dolls have long formed part of female culture, upbringing and lives, often imprinting cultural or social expectations on our gender at impressionable ages, and cultivating the instinct to nurture.

“As a modern artist working in the colourful, creative medium of wool, I am keen to push the boundaries and border of traditional crafts, making a meaning ful statement in a new way. This project has been one way to pursue my ideals and goals.”

Evie suffers from fibromyalgia, ME and depression, which has affected her progress, but she is proud to have produced nine dolls so far, which were put on display at 49 Rowlands Road to coincide with International Women’s Day.

Drawing her inspiration from women such as Mexican painter Frida Kahlo and inventor Hedy Lamarr, and drawing strength from undertaking the project, Evie has embraced the 2021 International Women’s Day tag ‘choose to challenge’.

Also featured are ice hockey player Hayley Wickenkeiser, nurse and journalist Nancy Wake, ace fighter pilot Lydia Litvyak, writer Mary Wollstonecraft, entertainer Josephine Baker, nurse Mary Jane Seacole and lawyer Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

Ginny Cassell, head of Worthing charity Storm, said Evie’s display was spotted in an Instagram post and the dolls will soon be travelling up to London to appear in the shop window when Kew Living and Giving opens on April 12.