I have been sewing again, making more curtains, I made a lot when we moved in to this house last year, but there were some windows still undressed and some with the previous occupant's choice. I have just about worked my way round the house now, one more set to make. And during the long dark evenings I have occupied my fingers with embroidery. Whilst husband slumbers in front of what ever he thinks he wants to watch on the telly my imagination and needle fills up a small postcard sized piece of material with stitches. I am not particularly accomplished, and one eye is half on the box and the light is not that good, but it gives me a sense of achievement. But then what do I do with them ? I have made some of them into picture books. And just as clothes have memories of when and where you wore them, these little bits of cloth have memories too. I made that when I watched "Endeavour" or whatever it may be ! But when ever you make something, you ALWAYS have bits of fabric left over. And the needlewoman has this everlasting problem of What to Do with the Remnants. You keep them, of course, in a stash. No matter how often you try to reduce your stash of fabric, it never seems to get any smaller. From time to time you take it all out and review it by colour and type of cloth and quantity to see if anything can be used - then put it all back. I do patchwork, which uses up quite a lot, but then you always have to buy that extra little piece ..... but you don't use it all. And you NEVER throw any of it away, and other people give you extra bits. All my bits of embroidery are on samples of curtaining fabric given to me. Fabric is forever fascinating, the types of cloth, the weave, the colours, the patterns, the names, and all have a story. Different parts of the country, and differents parts of other countries, specialised in weaving cloths, and the names of those places became the names of the cloth. Worsted, a hard wearing cloth, was made at Worstead in Norfolk. Lawn, that very fine, smooth cotton, came from Laon in France. Most know that denim came from De Nimes in France, but did you know that material for Jeans first came from Genoa ? Or that diaper was from D'Ypres ? When Lucie was looking for her pinny in Mrs Tiggywinkle's laundry, Mrs Tiggywinkle took a tablecloth off the clothes horse. "That's a damask table-cloth belonging to Jenny Wren; look how it's stained with currant wine! It's very hard to wash!" And damask cloth came from Damascus originally. Muslin came from Mosul; Calico from Calicut; Cambric from Cambrai, and so our fashions and fabrics were drawn from merchants who travelled around the world. And some from home as well. Daniel Defoe, in his tour of the whole island of Great Britain noted the different types of cloth manufatcured in different places. This was in the 1720s, before widespread factory manufacture when most was woven in homes and brought to a Piece Hall or market. Defoe noted that in Huddersfield there were quantities of Yorkshire Kerseys. Obviously there was no restriction on the use of the name as Kersey cloth had originally been made in a town of that name in Suffolk. When Defoe got to Halifax he noted all the tenters with cloth, kersie or shalloon on them. Shalloon was a tight woven twill originally from Chalon sur Marne in France. The various weaves were for different applications. Samples of silk from my stash, a bit from a lovely suit I made, some from a Prom dress for a daughter (so that makes it about 20 years since), a bit from fancy waistcoats and a wedding dress. Silk, of course frays and frays and you have to finish the edges before you can start and sew any seams. And it is a luxury fabric, so I don't have much. More durable fabric I have a-plenty. But it is nice to have a piece of silk Robert Herrick [1591 - 1674] wrote Whereas in silks my Julia goes Then, then (methinks) how sweetly flows The liquefaction of her clothes. At the top of the advertisement (from 1963) is a small child in a Duffel coat. Remember those ? with the wooden toggles. I think you can only find Paddington Bear wearing them now, and that dates Paddington Bear ! Duffel is actually the name of the cloth which was named from a place called Duffel near Antwerp in Belgium and was originally used for sailors' coats. There are other garments which have adopted the name of the type of cloth. Chinos we think of as summer trousers, but Chino is the type of light twill, used in uniforms, came from China and by way of the Spanish language became "Pantalones Chinos", Chinese trousers, and then just Chinos. And who remembers Gaberdines ? I think they were essential wear for decades. This advertisement is from 1921 but they were still part of my school uniform in the 1960s. Gaberdine was the name of the cloth not the garment, and had a diagonal twill weave. I found very early evidence of the name being used as a garment, and later advertisements that I could not copy for you as they described the colours and a very popular colour began with N and ended with R and we would never use it now at all as it is a word with racial connotations. This is from the Kentish Gazette for 10 November 1770 where the runaway James Terry was described and he wore a white swanskin waistcoat, a blue great coat with large metal buttons, and had a long Gaberdine when he ran away. Aah, tweed, nothing quite like a good piece of tweed. The colours have come out funny, because the piece in the top right hand of the picture is a bright green Donegal tweed. How I loved that skirt (until it somehow got too small). The top left was some trousers I made, the pink a suit for a wedding, and the purple a lovely, lovely skirt I made at night classes when first married and just learning how to sew. (see how long I keep bits of material ? it is over 40 years old and I still have the receipt, bought on holiday in Wales) ! A whole jumble of vintage and retro fabrics. The two at the top I cannot ever imagine how I will use them, they are quite big pieces of rather horrid manmade fibre. Think back to the age of brushed nylon (aagh) and nylon covers for "Continental Quilts", yuk. Of course, these came from my mother's stash. I have no idea why I have kept them. Gingham is now quite hard to come by, and I only have tiny scraps of the red and green check, but they bring back nostaligic thoughts of summer dresses and aprons and sewing lessons at school. Gingham seems to have been around for a long time, here is an editorial piece from the Leeds Mercury in 1923 about fashions for that summer. More advertisements - from a journal called the Landswoman which was written for the very early First World War Women's Land Army. The adverts hint at the type of Society "Gal" they were recruiting. The outfit on the left was the Banbury for Women Farmers in Bedford Cord. The outfit on the right, Beatrice, was in Velveteen Cord. This was from January 1918. This advertisement was from February 1919, so they still needed women on the land, and it amused me to see that they could get their uniform from Harrods ! In the second World War I think it was very different. The Khaki Drill coat and the Bedford Cord Outfit with Whipcord Breeches and showerproof twill gaiters would have turned some heads as well as turning the weather. Interestingly the breeches came in two sizes , waist 26 and 29 inches ! Corduroy is a hard wearing fabric used for outdoor work, traditionally in farming, and I always thought it represented the furrows in a ploughed field. If ever you want a good Country Book to read, seek out "Corduroy" by Adrian Bell. Two interesting types of fabric here, both have Indian connections. At the top of the pile are two pieces of seersucker, one was a summer dress, the other a romper suit for a baby. It is a light weight fabric with "bubbles" in it. The word comes to us from India. And below are some Paisley designs, from the town in Scotland called Paisley, but these designs also first came from India. Paisley shawls were very popular, but expensive, much cheaper when made in Paisley in Scotland This little tidying up of my fabric cupboards (plural) has reminded me of all sorts of garments I have made and worn, and also of the vast choice we have. The ingenuity of weavers and the inventors of looms. A subject I will return to again. The first fabrics were home spun, woven on looms in the home, it may have been a tedious job creating enough fabric to clothe your family, or it may have filled in time. It may have been undertaken under duress or as a penance. The poor Lady of Shalott -
There she weaves by night by day A magic web with colours gay She has heard a whisper say, A curse is on her if she stay To look down on Camelot. She knows not what the curse may be, And so she weaveth steadily, And little other care hath she, The Lady of Shalott. Alfred Lord Tennyson [1809 - 1892] But I will away to my sewing room, no penance at all, and measure out the next set of curtains.
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AuthorThis is where you can share creativity with me. I believe that everyone has something creative within them, and it is a joy to find ways of being creative. Blogging is NEW to me, so here goes ..... Archives
January 2024
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