Machines

When wandering around the fields at Brimfield (or any antique show or store) I am always looking for items that relate to sewing. I do look at other things, but sewing is my passion and all things related to it interest me! Textiles and vintage clothing also attract me as they often showcase the type of stitching and work that I love to do.

 So it was interesting to see that there were actually a lot of sewing machines for sale at various booths at Brimfield this July. Some were just everyday Kenmores or store brands but others were more collectable, like this New Home that the booth owner opened up out of the cabinet just for me to photograph for the blog!

Check out the beautiful foot pedal!

Then there were the three Singer Featherweights. Very collectable and some people  I know have many of them. I already own one that was given to me by a friend and have no desire to have more. It was easy to walk passed these ones especially as the prices were more than I would have been prepared to pay! I have no desire to collect Featherweights- and without checking these out more closely I couldn't tell the condition.

Then as Lisa and I were just ending our walk-about, we spotted this machine. Okay, it isn't a sewing machine, but a mangle or ringer (depending on where you come from). There would have been tubs that went into the front and back areas to hold the laundry or water.

The 'key' at the top right can be turned to adjust the pressure on the rollers.

The flap at the front can be used either side to direct the water squeezed out by the rollers.

Museum Textile Treasures

I recently took a trip to Wethersfield, Connecticut to visit the Webb Deane Stevens Museum and take the Textile Treasures-Digging Deeper Tour. The day was one of the hottest and most humid of the year but that did not deter the ladies that came with me!

We had made reservations and when we arrived we joined the other ladies in the small museum shop (which had A/C) to wait for the start of the tour. As there were 20 ladies signed up the group was divided into two and each group looked at items in a different house before swapping places. Bearing in mind the heat and humidity and the fact the house did not have A/C, just fans, the items had been removed from their second floor settings to make it more ‘comfortable’ to view them.

                                          

Our group started with the oldest pieces in the textile collection, a bed covering thought to have been made in India, made of pieces of embroidered fabrics joined together in no particular way. The designs were flowers, birds and butterflies and the colours remained very bright. The designs were worked in tiny chain stitches, most likely with a tamour hook, as they were too tiny and even to have been worked with a needle. 

The second piece was a silk dress of woven fabric which had been re-made. Fabric was imported from the UK into the US prior to the revolutionary war and so a silk fabric would have been very expensive and dresses were often re-made to fit another family member. Again, the colour on the fabric was still very bright.

                                                      

        

Other pieces shown were items that were made using crewelwork and several cross stitched samplers were on display along with mourning pictures, stitched on water colour painted silk backgrounds.

                                     

Not too overcome by the heat in that room, the group moved to the house next door, braving the heat outside, to view more items from the collection. Here we saw a bargello stitched bag, a pincushion with the pins spelling “March 17 1761” (these were often given as gifts to commemorate events), another bed cover worked in wools, a few items of men’s clothing and a beautifully stitched man’s pocket book that opened to reveal pockets for masonic items. Several of the internal pockets were made from knitted pieces rather than embroidered.

I urge you to check the websites of your local historical homes as quite often they have collections that they hide away for most of the time and then have special exhibits to share them with the public. Sometimes the advertising for these exhibits is not as good as it could be, but the items are so worth seeing up close and personal! 

Visit Williamsburg- SAGA Convention Pre-day Tour!

Colonial Williamsburg textile tour

Tuesday, September 20,2016   8:00 am – 4:30 pm 

8 am  depart the hotel by charted coach to Colonial Williamsburg where you will begin the day touring two of the DeWitt Wallace museum’s textile exhibits. A Century of African-American Quilts showcasing eleven colorful and stunning quilts, half of which have never before been seen by the public. The quilts of African Americans varied widely, depending on the date, location or community, the purpose for which the quilt was made, and the personal artistic vision of the quilt maker. The bold designs and brilliant colors of the quilts featured in the exhibition speak to a longstanding cultural and artistic tradition within which the women designed and created their quilts.

African-American Quilt

Also view 18th- early 19th century stitched textiles in A Rich and Varied Culture: Early Southern Textiles. See stitched textiles, such as quilted clothing and bedcovers, decorative pocketbooks, and small accessories, which were usually made at home by women. Most needlework pictures and samplers were stitched by girls attending schools or seminaries often located many miles from the needle worker’s home The majority of American schoolgirl embroideries were created by middle and upper class white girls who lived on the Eastern seaboard in the New England and the Mid-Atlantic states. Southern embroideries are not as plentiful as there were fewer cities and large towns where schools were most likely to be established. The samplers come from several different states including Virginia, the Carolinas, Kentucky, Tennessee and Mississippi. Each sampler on view offers a glimpse into a young girl’s life.

Williamsburg Sampler

12:30 pm following the museum tour the group will enjoy a southern lunch at the Shields Tavern. (At the time of registration, attendees will choose between pulled pork and fried chicken. All lunches include salad, tavern bread, beverage and ice cream)

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Williamsburg Millinery Shop

The afternoon will include a tour of the Colonial Williamsburg Weave Room, as well as the Millinery and Tailor Shop. Explore the technology of weaving and other aspects of producing textiles, including spinning and dyeing.  Karen Clancy, Journeyman weaver, spinner and dyer will share how Colonial Williamsburg uses botanical recipes to blend the historic old with a vibrant new world of pure color to create authentic dyes that are then spun and woven right in the Weave Room.  Just down the street visit the Margaret Hunter Millinery Shop and explore the trades of the milliner, tailor, mantua-maker, and stay-maker. Fashion was just as important in the 18th century as it is today. Learn about the changes and how clothing was viewed by society.

 

Masonic Apron

3:30 pm the group will depart for the hotel. Water and apples will be provided by SAGA business member, Lavender House.

Timeline summary

8:00 am               depart hotel for Colonial Williamsburg

9-9:15 am            arrive Colonial Williamsburg; walk from parking lot to museum

10am – 12 pm   tour the Dewitt Wallace museum exhibits

12:15-1:30 pm   lunch at the Shields Tavern

1:30-3:00 pm     walking tour of the Colonial Williamsburg Weave Room and Milliner and Tailor Shops

3:30-3:45 pm     board bus to return to hotel

4:15 – 4:30 pm arrive at hotel

Cost for the day - $130:  includes transportation, museum and historical grounds fee, lunch and all tips

Participants should wear comfortable walking shoes and dress for the weather. A sweater or light jacket is recommended for inside wear. 

Visit the SAGA website to sign up! www.smocking.org