When Heather Joynes took up a needle in her early schooldays in London, to make the first of many annual samplers, she could hardly have realised what it would lead to. She went on to assist in the conservation of many unique museum artefacts, not least of which was a Hawaiian feather cape presented to Captain Cook in 1788 held at the Australian Museum. She would teach in Australia and internationally while developing her own unique style.
Heather Marion Wesley was born in London on June 14, 1923, the first of two daughters to Bob and Marion Wesley. In 1936 she watched the red glow in the sky as the great Crystal Palace burned to the ground. As she grew up she continued to work on her sewing, enthusiastically supported by her aunts, and by 13 was making her own clothes and extending her decorative stitching (in those days often known as women's "fancy work" rather than embroidery). She wanted to be a dress designer but World War II saw such a shortage of cloth that she realised that she had to find some other work.
After finishing her schooling and working for a few years, in 1951 she sailed to Australia, where her parents had already settled in Bowral. She worked in haberdashery or clothing departments in various shops and department stores in Sydney.
Then a workmate introduced her to his brother, Jack Joynes, and Jack and Heather were married in 1952, the beginning of more than 60 years of happiness and mutual support. The first three they spent in Perth, where Heather worked in women's wear departments.
Returning to Sydney, the Joyneses settled in the southern suburbs and Heather started devoting herself to needlework. She was making, and soon started to display, clothes, wall hangings and even jewellery.
The 1960s saw a rapid increase in the number of art dealers and commercial galleries in Sydney. Most dealt with painting but some included other media, such as textiles and embroideries, classing them as visual arts rather than domestic craft.
Joynes joined the Embroiders Guild NSW in 1965 and in 1969, displayed her sewn models of waratahs at the Craft Association of NSW Biennial Exhibition. In 1970, she was one of the first three Australians to earn City and Guilds certificates in needlework from London.
In 1971, Joynes taught her first classes and was soon teaching all over Australia and New Zealand, as well as being invited to teach in Canada.
In 1974, Heather and Jack produced a short film, The Creative Stitch, funding the production themselves.
About this time, Joynes had also started working as a voluntary conservator at the Australian Museum, eventually spending more than 35 years with the materials conservation unit. Among the many pieces she worked upon were a Tibetan bone apron, a Balinese painting cloth, a Canadian button blanket and, most importantly, the great Hawaiian feather cape given to Captain Cook in 1778, which was to be lent for an exhibition.
The cape was so large and fragile that Joynes and fellow needlewoman Jean Vere had it laid on a special table and, with Joynes crouched underneath, the needle was passed up and down between them, carefully stitching the feathers back to the backing and adding a protective cloth behind. Joynes summed up the many, many hours of painstaking work simply as, "It was a scream".
Joynes also designed a storage wheel (familiarly known as a donut) that changed the way the museum stored a great variety of objects and has been since adopted by other collections.
In the 1980s, Joynes discovered ribbon-work embroidery and is usually credited with reintroducing the style to the world. Her first book on the subject sold out its print run of 3000 copies and had to be reprinted. In all, Joynes published nine books about embroidery.
In 2013 she was awarded a medal in the Order of Australia for her work, and in 2014 attended the Jean Arnot Memorial Luncheon honouring women 90 years and over who have contributed to their communities.
Joynes never stopped working, saying "If I don't sew I feel there is something missing". Over the years she made 12 quilts for her family, with personalised subjects from cakes to the Arsenal football club, and was working on the 13th quilt, for a great-grand-niece, when she died.
Heather Joynes is survived by Jack, and her sister June and her family.
Harriet Veitch and Kerry Easton