The Threads of Time.
The
History of Sewing.
 |
| The history of sewing |
In this post-COVID-19 world, with the economy in decline, women are slowly having to find work to supplement the family income or accommodate a bulging budget. Many have turned to the opportunity of working from home as jobs in the office workforce have taken a hit.
Many have turned to the home arts for inspiration and income, me included, in what is today called the creative industries.
With this newfound necessity and interest, it would be nice to reassure ourselves that our chosen pursuit is not a mindless pastime as some would intimate, but has a rich history; passed down to us by cherished hands… our mothers, aunts, and caring teachers.
What is sewing?
Simply put, it’s the craft of fastening material together, be it leather, cloth, canvas, etc. using stitches made with a needle and thread.
Over the years, the art of sewing came to include needlecraft; as clothing featured embroidery, ribbon embroidery, needlepoint, cross-stitch, patchwork, quilting, crochet, and knitting.
The History Behind the Art of Sewing
The art of hand sewing is at least twenty thousand years old. Starting with the Stone Age, fur and skin clothes were fastened using bone needles without eyes.
In the 15th Century iron needles with eyes were invented and eventually sewing needles were made of steel.
From then on, sewing was done by hand until the 19th Century and the Industrial Revolution saw the invention of specialized sewing tools and the sewing machine; today, most sewing is done by machine.
The 19th Century also saw the invention of the clothing factory and with it the mass production of the clothing industry. This saw a decline in the “modern woman” home sewer. With the clothing factories in place, a woman could go out and buy a mass-produced, ready-made, often lower-cost outfit than it cost them to make at home or have sewn by a custom dressmaker.
In the 20th Century's progress, sewing machines became affordable and came in all shapes and sizes with all sorts of accessories and time-saving creations. A good example is Ebeneezer Buttericks’ paper patterns that could be traced over cloth, cut out, and sewn at home.
All these inventions, however, did not see hand sewing die out. Instead, it journeyed alongside and is still practiced today and is what we call custom dressmaking, fashion, and quality tailoring.
A woman’s world
There used to be a time when every girl was taught to sew and darn and embroider, and every woman on her engagement or marriage was gifted a sewing machine and sewing tools by her mother.
This art of needlecraft has shown a predominant relationship between women, needlework, and design. Sewing was a way for the women of the Elizabethan and Victorian years to prove their femininity and worth as homemakers and then as wives and mothers.
Women sewed out of necessity, sewing for the home and family. Sewing, embroidery, and knitting were likewise considered suitable amusement and activity. Needlecraft in all its forms was seen as an essential of femininity and virtue.
However, until the 1900s a married woman in Britain (and the colonies under British rule) could not own any property as she had no legal status independent of her husband. So, she could not own a sewing business or even collect a salary if she worked in a sewing establishment.
Sewing tools that were considered feminine and thereby, low in value were among the few things a woman could own and bequeath to her daughters, sisters, nieces, or friends.
Much has changed now but the techniques are still the same; tweaked a little yet still around.
Men who worked in a woman’s world
Men had no such difficulty under the law. While sewing was a woman’s claim to femininity; men sewed to help themselves or earn a living. Unlike the women, they could own sewing establishments and generate income. And they got paid for their work.
Tailors of the 18th Century sewed for men working mostly on men’s clothes and the more elaborate forms of women’s wear such as the pleated gowns of the 1750s to 1770s.
The
tools of Needlework..jfif)
The tools of needlework
The tools and implements used by women were works of art in their own right and often reflected the modern decorative styles and manufacturing technology of the time; lending a certain “air” to the status of the women who owned them.
From the steel cut buttons that sparkled under candlelight to thimbles that displayed coded messages; such sewing tools were the possession of wealthy women.
The poor women had no elegant tools. They earned their living in the trade of dressmaking, shirt making, and millinery; working on “piece work” at home for inadequate pay, with simple tools that were purchased by one or more and shared by everyone.
The invention of the sewing machine by Isaac Singer in 1851, as a labor-saving device representing modernity, became an object of status when it first appeared and it wasn’t until after 1900 when prices began to drop that poorer women could finally buy one either on “loan” or putting aside a little at a time to do so.
Home sewing is still around.
It was never really lost even though it was no longer needed for the feminine identity. The Second World saw that with its rationing and the "make do and mend" program.
In more recent years, the arts of sewing and needlecraft have been reclaimed by women, and their techniques elevated and refined into what in 2024 is called the "creative industry".
The niche involving this "art" has expanded and exploded to include not only itself but any fabric and textile crafts... quilting, lacemaking, embroidery, cross-stitch, rope making and canvas work, macrame, spinning, tatting, rug making and hooking, weaving, and crochet, knitting, shoemaking and felting.
Thank you for this article. Being in the industry, you can't miss the sniggering when you're asked "What do you do for work?" and you tell them. This article helped keep me positive.
ReplyDeleteD.S