Handwritten notes on making a Shetland shawl by Audrey McBurney

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Type: Notes
Date: 1981
Place: Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Materials: Graphite, Ink, Paper
Collection: Audrey McBurney collection
Accession number: AR00284.012

Description

Two handwritten notes by Audrey McBurney. The first note is a discoloured lined piece of paper with blue handwritten text in pen on one side of it. The text partially reads 'SHETLAND SHAWL / SPUN AND KNITTED BY A. M. BURNEY. / Started with 4025 of SOUTH DOWN / FLEECE / ... /'. The second note is a discoloured lined piece of paper with handwritten text in pencil on one side of it. The text partially reads 'SHETLAND SHAWL – A. Mc Burney / MATERIALS / 402 SOUTH DOWN FLEECE / ... /'.

These notes were made by Audrey McBurney while she made a hand-spun, knitted Shetland lace shawl. The shawl won several prozes at the Royal Easter Show in 1982.

About the collection

The Audrey McBurney collection comprises objects and supporting material which illustrate McBurney's career and achievements as a craftswoman in the mid- to late twentieth century. It includes needlework and crochet items such as d'oleys, aprons and a tea cosy; knitted clothing; examples of hand woven cloth, and one of the looms McBurney used; a hand-knitted Shetland lace shawl; knitted and crochet pieces made by two of McBurney's English and Scottish forebears; and sample and pattern books she compiled and collected. Born in 1924, McBurney learned craft techniques and absorbed traditions from several female relatives of earlier generations. She became exceptionally skilled at many forms of needle and fabric craft. As a young woman her work mostly consisted of knitted clothing, and embroidered and crocheted domestic linen. Later, McBurney took formal courses in spinning and weaving, and was able to produce her own hand-spun, hand-dyed and hand-woven cloth. She was an early member of several craft associations in Sydney, and taught handcraft techniques at tertiary level. In the 1980s she won prizes for pieces she entered in the Royal Easter Show in Sydney. The McBurney collection evidences the transmission of skill across continents, within families, and through networks operating within guilds-based and educational contexts.

Read live from the Museum's Collection API (12/11/2026, 5:32:12 am). Record last updated by the Museum 2026-09-08. Licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/.