Domestic sewing machines were used for domestic sewing - plain sewing,
seams and hems. Very few people had a sewing machine at home prior to
the 20th century. Industrial machines, which were around in factories
from early/mid 19th century *were* used (and designed for) embroidery.
Brenda
On 5 Jul 2006, at 22:29, Jean Nathan wrote:
I endorse what Tamara says. Don't know Jeri's background, but I too
come from a long line of weavers, tailors and dressmakers all in the
East End of London (the poor part), and the emphasis was on making
basic plain clothing, reusing the good parts of discarded clothes from
the wealthy, hemming and binding sheets, blankets, and other household
furnishings, and mending. Lace and embroidery were embellishments
which had no place in the lives of those people. Everything was done
as cheaply and quickly as possible to earn a few pennies for basic
needs.
Never heard reference of a sewing machine being used for embroidery
until the early 1950s, and never heard of it's use for lace until very
recently. Even when my mother bought a brand new Singer machine in the
early 50s, the salesman's pitch was only for its utilitarian and
money-saving uses. The instruction book didn't mention them either.
My grandmother (born 1884) used to buy as many of the needlecraft
magazines she could afford (she was earning pennies for errands and
babysitting at age 10), especially when she was young, and passed some
of them on to my mother. They were brown and falling apart when my
mother died, but I looked at them all before binning them. None of the
advertisements for sewing machines mentioned embroidery or lace. I
assume they were pubished in the UK.
Jean in Poole, Dorset, UK
-
To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line:
unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Brenda
http://paternoster.orpheusweb.co.uk/
-
To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line:
unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
