Row 5 Begun
September 21st, 2011
My latest petticoat trim continues to progress in an orderly fashion. This one isn’t nearly so quick to work up as the last, and by rights it should be taking even longer — I just realized that the pattern asks for size 16 thread, not size 10 like the first (crochet thread gets thinner as the numbers go higher).
Tonight, while watching reruns of Bonanza on DVD — come on, who doesn’t love Little Joe? — I finished the last four motifs and started on the first of three or four more rows that will join it all together.
If you will recall, this is the pattern from Peterson’s, 1855, that’s meant to imitate guipure — a type of embroidered thread and cut fabric lace also popular at the time, and somewhat interchangeable with crochet. I’m not sure how I feel about it, after reading the following in Miss Lambert’s 1848 treatise, My Crochet Sampler:
“The following six collars, though simple and unpretending, are in better taste and style than most productions of a similar kind, in crochet: they show themselves to be what they really are — a clever and ingenious method of producing an elegant and useful article of dress, without attempting to imitate, (which indeed would be but waste of time), lace, guipure, or any other manufacture. This description of work, if well executed, may rest on its own merits.”
Of course I plan to make all of the “following six collars” in the very near future. Though I think I will need to order some finer cotton and dig out my REALLY tiny hooks (or tambours as they were properly called in English, before the french term crochet, meaning hook, took over in the 1840s — I’ve also seen them referred to as crochet needles). I’ve been doing a lot of reading about the development of crochet in the first half of the 19th century, including other works by needlework greats Miss Lambert, Cornelia Mee, and Eléonore Riego de la Branchardière, to name a few. I’ve also found at least four new petticoat trims in crochet from the 1840s and 50s, including one worked the short way!
For now, back to my faux guipure.
More Words to Live By
September 20th, 2011
“On no occasion does a lady seem more lovely than when half occupied with some feminine art which keeps her fingers employed, and gives an excuse for downcast eyes and gentle pre-occupation. This sort of playing at work, and working at play, sheds a home feeling around the guests which no studied effort at hospitality can produce, and forms habits of usefulness which consumes many an hour of idle time that might be put to far more harmful uses.
“There is an air of tranquility, and a proof of innocent contentment in these domestic accomplishments, that have a beautiful significance in the family circle. It is only in well regulated houscholds that leisure moments are thus gathered up. It is only minds composed and serene in their joy, or submissive in sorrow, that can constrain themselves to the gentle monotony of work like this.
“The time which any lady gives to ornamental needle-work is usually made up of those leisure moments which would be lounged away on a sofa, or in a rocking-chair; and it is wonderful how many pretty objects start into existence, that, but for this taste, would be dreamed away into nothingness.
“Of course, no person of well-regulated intellect would make a business of this graceful accomplishment, unless compelled to exercise it for a subsistence. We advocate it simply as an amusement, like all recreation, to be indulged in only when the more serious duties of life are disposed of. But it has advantages not always recognized. Many a fine eye for colors has been cultivated into artistic perfection, by the nice discrimination necessary to assort the tints of a worsted rose. Grouping may be learned from a close study of patterns, and a thousand charming associations may be woven in with the forget-me-not or heart’s-ease, which we have wrought tremblingly into the canvass, which a beloved eye was gazing upon.
“Without a gift for needle-work, what should we ladies do for appropriate mementoes for our brothers, husbands, and friends, at Christmas time, and when birthdays come round, sounding their yearly remembrances upon our heartstrings? What should we do for wedding cushions, and christening robes, when our favorite cousins insist upon becoming heads of families, and useful members of society? What excuse should we have for casting down our eyes, when other people’s eyes become troublesome? Every lady knows how many heart-tremors can be carried off in a vigorous twist of the crotchet-needle; how many pleasant words may be innocently received in a sensitive heart, when all its defensive faculties are busy counting stitches? In short, we persist in it, that a feminine character cannot be quite perfect without a knowledge of all sorts of needle-work, and a down-right hearty love of it, too. For our part, we have buried many a heart-ache in the growing leaves of a silken rose, and blunted the sharp edge of pangs that would not be wrestled with by the sweet, calm mbnotony of a shining bit of steel.”
The Ladies’ Complete Guide to Crochet, Fancy Knitting, and Needlework. By Mrs. Ann S. Stephens. 1854, New York.
19th-C. Hand-Work Circle: Crochet Workshop
September 14th, 2011
I’m going to share my recent obsession for mid-19th century crochet edgings next month at our first fall meeting of the New York Nineteenth Century Society Hand-Work Circle. I hope you’ll plan to be there!
Saturday, October 1, 1 to 3 p.m.
At the Ottendorfer Library, 135 Second Avenue in ManhattanJoin the New York Nineteenth Century Society’s Hand-Work Circle for a presentation featuring techniques for recreating crocheted lace from historic patterns. Afterwards, you’re invited to hone your own crochet skills (please bring a spool of crochet thread — not yarn — and an appropriately sized hook), or simply sit back and enjoy the company of fellow enthusiasts while you work on your latest hand-work project. Free, but space is limited. RSVP to eva@nineteenthcenturysociety.org. Use of library space by the New York Nineteenth Century Society for this program does not indicate endorsement by The New York Public Library.
Earlier this month, I finished my second fancy petticoat with a hand-crocheted trim based on an 1855 pattern from Peterson’s. I guess I’m a glutton for punishment, for I’ve already begun another length of crochet trim, also from a Peterson’s 1855 pattern. This one is quite a bit more elaborate. And time consuming. Plus, I think it’s fussy enough to stand a little embroidery on the accompanying petticoat skirt…
So far, I’ve just got the header done, and have begun adding the central motifs, spaced along the length every couple inches or so.
I really enjoy adapting crochet patterns from the past. It helps so much when there’s a picture to go along with the written directions, since so much is up for interpretation in crochet. I also like the way crochet can be used to imitate other styles of lace — that’s partly the reason crochet caught on in the first half of the 19th century. We’ll discuss the history of crochet, as well as techniques for finding and using historic patterns, at the upcoming Hand-Work Circle.
Here are a few other crochet projects from my past:
This is the neck and sleeve of a chemise, made to be worn under an 1870s ballgown. I made up the pattern myself, based on a picture in Weldon’s Practical Needlework. I was in too much of a hurry to work through the pattern properly!
Ignore the top two, they’re both tatted (and very poorly). The bottom one is a crocheted insertion, from a modern pattern.
A completely apocryphal crocheted collar — just a bunch of repeats of a mid-20th century edging. Still, it’s rather pretty, and would look well on a dress…if I ever actually finished one, that is!
Once I finish my current crochet trim, I think I’d like to try something with really fine thread. I have a set of teeny weeny hooks, imported from Germany, that don’t get nearly enough use. My size 10 steel hook (just about perfect for bedspread-weight cotton thread, which Peterson’s says is right for a petticoat) has seen so much activity lately, it’s changed color where my fingers go and started to bend at the top!
Petticoat II
August 20th, 2011
I haven’t assembled my cage crinoline kit yet, so the skirt of my monumental broderie anglaise petticoat continues to languish in the closet. I need the cage — not to mention my new corset — in order to properly fit and balance the petticoat on its waistband.
Meanwhile, I’ve begun a crocheted edging for another petticoat. I’m using a pattern from Peterson’s, 1855 (I made a sample of this pattern earlier in the year):
I usually try to avoid crochet patterns that begin “work a chain slightly longer than desired.” I vastly prefer to work one entire repeat at a time, like knitted lace. Unfortunately, most crochet patterns require the header at least to be worked full-length, and this one is no different. After the header and top row of loops though, it’s worked by the repeats. So it could be worse.
It took me about 6 days of fitful work to complete the full-length rows. Now I’m happily hooking away on the fun part. I like to put three breadths of 45 inch cotton into my petticoats — a little narrow for the cage era perhaps, but I need them to be manageable over a horsehair crinoline as well. So, with about 135 inches in my hem, I decided to make 145 inches of edging. I’d rather have to ease the edging onto the hem than the other way round!
I want to get some nice cotton broadcloth (or a nice old sheet) for this petticoat. I’ll definitely tuck it, and have been considering some embroidered inserting, but that may be a bit much…
The real question is, what on earth am I going to do with all these fancy petticoats?
Achoo
August 15th, 2011
I have just returned from a whirlwind journey, and have a splitting headache. So I’m not going to write anything clever. Besides, they say a picture is worth a thousand words, so here is a picture of the finished handkerchief.
May the bride who carries this enjoy a lifetime of love! And may she pardon my slightly off-kilter stitching…
In case you’re interested, here is the pattern I used, originally published in Godey’s Lady’s Book, August 1850.
Now, back to The Mayor of Casterbridge, which I just began. I sped through Agnes Grey on the train, but will make you wait to hear more about that until I feel I can do it justice.
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