This morning, 13 January, the first container is being filled with part of the TRC collection and other materials. More containers will follow the next few days. We can only move into our new premises (Boerhaavelaan) by the end of February/early March, but the containers and their contents will be safely stored by the removal firm (wonderful people!).

However, we have already stored still-to-be catalogued textiles and teaching materials for the upcoming Five-Day Intensive Textile Course (23-27 February; and yes, this will be the first major teaching 'event' in our new home) at another place, and so has our computer system, so we can continue our work in the next few weeks, mostly from home, but also from suitable meeting places in Leiden.

The TRC is moving

De komende weken, tot half februari 2026, zijn we druk bezig met de (zo voelt het tenminste) gigantische verhuizing van het TRC (en de collectie!) van de Hogewoerd naar ons nieuwe pand aan de Boerhaavelaan (nr. 6), vlak achter het Centraal Station Leiden.

Maar na de verhuizing staat de laatste week van februari alweer in het teken van de volgende editie van de befaamde TRC Vijfdaagse Intensieve Textielcursus.

Voor de zes maanden daarna hebben we een vol programma samengesteld met workshops, lezingen en cursussen. Kom gerust langs en neem deel aan onze activiteiten, en neem tegelijkertijd een kijkje in ons nieuwe onderkomen. Het activiteitenprogramma kunt u hier bekijken en/of downloaden. Meld u aan voor een of meerdere evenementen en houd de agenda in de gaten. We plannen nog veel meer activiteiten!

Some time ago the TRC published  a blog about a visit to Estonia by Gillian and Willem Vogelsang. They wrote about the local production of camouflage netting for Ukraine. Last week the TRC IT-consultant, Jonathan Visser, who currently carries out volunteer work in Ukraine for several local organisations, sent us the following appeal for support:

Kitty Pechersk (Печерські котики, 'Kittens from Pechersk') is a volunteer community based in Kyiv, Ukraine, which plays a significant role in the provision of vital fabric-based items to the Ukrainian military. This collective has been producing, by hand, camouflage nets, ghillie suits, helmets, and paraffin trench-candles since the start of the Russian invasion in early 2022.

Group of volunteers of Kitty Pechersk.

(Leiden, 6 Nov. 2025) Kirkus Review is a book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus. The publisher, Kirkus Media, has its headquarters in New York. Its online version has just published a review of Gillian Vogelsang-Eastwood's latest book: The Atlas of World Embroidery. A Global exploration of Heritage and Styles and awarded it with the coveted 'star'. For more information about the book, see an earlier blog.

The review can be read and downloaded here. The Atlas will be published by Princeton University Press on 17 February 2026. A Dutch version will be published at the same time by WBooks. A book launch of both the English and Dutch versions will take place on Friday, 20 February 2026, in the new 'home' of the TRC at the Boerhaavelaan 6, Leiden.

(Leiden, 5 Nov. 2025) The Stichting (Foundation) Monumentenbezit, the owner of Boerhaavelaan 6 where the TRC soon hopes to find a new home, has published an article about the building, its history and its architectural jewels, but also about the new occupants of the building, namely the TRC. You can read or download the article, which contains a number of beautiful photographs, here.

Boerhaavelaan 6 Leiden

Princeton University Press has just announced the upcoming publication (Febr. 2026)  of The Atlas of World Embroidery: A Global Exploration of Heritage and Styles. The book was written by Gillian Vogelsang-Eastwood, director of the TRC, and uses a large number of textiles housed in the TRC Collection.

The book is described in the announcement as "A richly illustrated history of embroidery and needlework, showcasing the glorious range of styles, motifs, and materials used around the world."

"Embroidery is one of the world’s most widely shared forms of creative expression—and one of its most varied and diverse. It can be found in every region, yet its visual languages, themes, and techniques vary greatly: some are marked by unique styles and others show influences from neighboring cultures. The Atlas of World Embroidery examines many distinctive embroidery styles and traditions found across the Americas, Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australasia."

"From the quillwork and birch boxes of Indigenous North America to the decorative matyo style of Hungary, the zardozi embroiderers of India, and the satin stitches of Han Dynasty China, Gillian Vogelsang-Eastwood provides a comprehensive history of embroidery, describing its materials and tools, its designs and symbols, and its uses and makers. Emphasizing the visual aspects of embroidery across cultures, the atlas features an unprecedented array of color images celebrating the art form."

There are lots of things happening at the moment at the TRC, including preparing for some very, very big changes. As readers of the TRC Blog and Newsletter will know we have been working with various groups to move the TRC to larger premises so we can expand our range of activities, collection and teaching commitments as an international centre (hub!) for textile knowledge and skills in all their diverse forms.

Yes: We hope to move soon. Showcases are being emptied.Leiden: City of Textile Knowledge

Leiden Council is actively helping us on many levels – they really want us to expand as a knowledge centre, serving an international community of textile lovers who want to pass onto the next generation(s) skills and knowledge about this fundamental aspect of human life and culture. With the Council's help, we are talking with various school groups, Leiden University, etc., about increasing the teaching of textiles and dress studies and making the TRC Collection, Library and research facilities more widely known and available, also online (compare the recent blog about 360-photography of TRC items).

There will also be an expanded number of workshops, courses, study days, weekend events and lectures. We are talking, for example, with various potential teachers to offer an increased range of subjects, from ancient Egyptian textiles to a history of jewellery.

In addition, a range of exhibitions that vary in size, from a single showcase to two large rooms are planned. These will be used to show the range, size and diversity of both the world of textiles and dress as well as the TRC’s amazing collection.

A blog that I wrote in October 2024 (to be downloaded here) described my study of  a recent donation to the TRC of 65 metal buttons. The buttons were collected without any context in the Netherlands. In this blog, I would like to elaborate on my findings of last year.

In the previous blog I suggested that, based on the shank type, these buttons could not be older than the 19th century. However, I was wrong. I now know that the oldest buttons are medieval (see TRC 2024.2625) and the group presents, in fact, a fair representation of buttons from every century since then until the 19th.

Metal button with a five-petalled flower and a key shank with a tiny hole. Part of the button has broken off. Medieval. TRC 2024.2625.

Key shank with tiny hole. Metal button TRC 2024.2625.