What is next for Wisbech mum Mia Hansson once she completes her replica of the Bayeux Tapestry?
Sitting in the same spot on her sofa at her Wisbech home accompanied by her two dogs, Mia Hansson has spent thousands of hours making a replica of the ancient Bayeux Tapestry.
It has now been eight years since Mia set her mind to starting the project, which she has estimated will take her a total of 11 years to complete.
The tapestry is around 75cm wide including the borders on both edges and Mia is using heavy-duty linen.
But what ignited the spark in Mia’s brain to start this mammoth project?
Initially, it wasn’t a love for the Bayeux Tapestry, which was made in the 11th century and depicts the events leading up to the Norman Conquest of England in 1066.
The 70-metre-long tapestry is one of the world’s most famous pieces of medieval art.
Before taking on the enormous task of creating the replica, Mia had designed several medieval costumes for a re-enactment in 2001 but found she was completing smaller projects too quickly and wanted something she could get her teeth into.
“I’m a fourth-generation needle worker as far as I know. Apparently, I was quite a naughty child and my nan used to look after me when I used to live in Sweden,” Mia said.
“One day she sat me down with a needle and cotton and I started to cross stitch.
“I found that I was naturally good at it, when we had textiles in school, I got good grades, which makes you enjoy it even more.”
When she was given a book by a friend about the Bayeux Tapestry, Mia came to a realisation and thought “this is what I need to do”.
Mia is a mum and full-time carer to her son, Tom, who has eplilepsy, and says that embroidery has become her form of “therapy”.
Some days, she finds herself sat stitching for several hours a day.
“Sometimes I do nothing, sometimes it can be eight hours. It depends on Tom. If he’s asleep, I’ll put something on TV and watch with half an eye while stitching,” Mia said.
Mia estimates that once finished, the tapestry could be valued at more than £300,000.
She said she would only part with her beloved piece of work if given to the right person - and at the right price.
“This price is a minimum. That’s just working hours, then you have to add to that. This is obviously a piece of art,” Mia said.
“Art is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it. So if they don’t pay. I’m just going to keep it.”
Mia told the Fenland Citizen that for her, embroidery is “soothing for the soul”.
She said: “I can just sit for hours. I’m Tom’s full-time carer, which is far from easy.
“Someone said that it must be like therapy for me. I’ve never thought about it that way, but of course, they are right.
“This is so soothing for the soul. If you’re a knitter or a forager, you know, that is your space. This is my space.”
While Mia has been stitching away at the project, she has spotted several mistakes made in the original Bayeux Tapestry, including a man with two left hands, a person with the wrong coloured sleeve and even another wearing odd shoes.
“Have you ever left the house in an odd pair of shoes? Spare a thought for this man, for 960 years, he has been wearing odd shoes for 960 years,” Mia said.
“Your brain wants to fix it, but you can’t fix it, because it’s not right to.”
Like the original tapestry, Mia has made a few mistakes on her replica.
She said: “I’ve made my own mistakes because I’m human and I make mistakes. I left someone with a bare bum for ages until someone actually pointed it out. I had to wait until I got home to fix it and I was mortified.”
During the past eight years, Mia has built up a huge following on her Facebook page where she shares progress updates on her project - she currently has around 4,200 followers.
She is starting a “Bayeux Olympics” series, where she is drawing the historical characters, in the same style as the Bayeux Tapestry - competing in Olympic sports.
She believes that her drawing skills make her eligible to complete another gigantic task once she has finished the tapestry - to create the “missing end” to the tapestry.
Many believe that there are missing panels to the Bayeux Tapestry. However, Mia believes that these panels were never actually created.
Mia said: “I could make it funny, I can make it historical. I can make it jump through all the hoops.
“This is a huge achievement to complete this, but I can’t sit and do nothing afterwards.”
Mia has written a book all about her journey in making the replica of the tapestry as well as several colouring books with her designs.
Tell me about the Bayeux Tapestry?
The original Bayeux Tapestry is displayed in the Bayeux Museum in Normandy. It tells the story of the 11th-century conquest of England by William, Duke of Normandy, who became King of England in 1066 after the Battle of Hastings.
The tapestry tells this story and is embroidered on linen cloth. There are a total of 58 scenes, 626 characters and 202 horses.
The story portrayed on the tapestry begins in 1064, when Edward the Confessor, the King of England, instructs his brother-in-law Harold Godwinson to travel to Normandy to offer his cousin William the succession to the English Throne.
The end of the tapestry is missing, but the story ends with the Anglo-Saxons fleeing at the end of the Battle of Hastings in 1066.
How does Mia make her replica?
Before the Covid-19 pandemic, Mia took many trips to Wisbech Library to create templates to make her tapestry.
However, she had to adapt her way of working during the pandemic and she relies on a slideshow of the tapestry released on the Bayeux Museum website.
She draws the designs on the linen using a soft pencil before getting to work on the embroidery, using a range of different kinds of stitches - Mia spent a lot of time measuring, making sure the piece was to the correct scale.
Only seven colours are used throughout the whole piece. Mia said that natural dyes using plants were originally used on the wool to make the selections of blues and greens as well as red and yellow.
