Sew What?

Allie Bennett, owner of Stitchville, muses on the history of sewing: Let's talk about the oldest form of textile arts, shall we?  It's not knitting or weaving or spinning, but sewing!  Neanderthals were sewing well before it was cool, making clothing and shelter out of skins and fur and fastening it using bones for needles and guts for thread.  And you though sewing was for sissies!

Sewing was done by hand for thousands of years, until the sewing machine was made in the 19th century.  And it's not just for clothes!  Shoemaking, bookbinding, and sailing- all of these occupations required skill with the needle and thread.

Sewing was largely woman's work- as it was a woman's duty to take care of the home.  Fabric was expensive and the longevity of clothes was very important.  Mending and revitalizing the clothing was critical.  Even after a useful life, clothing could be made into quilts and other household items.

The invention of the sewing machine changed the lives of many.  Barthelemy Thimonnier was the first to introduce a simplified machine to yield France's military uniforms in 1841.  However, a mob of angry tailors broke into the shop and destroyed the machines, believing they would be put out of work by them.  Issac Singer produce a smaller and more accurate machine in 1850.  This gave rise to the  garment sweatshops in New York City and London, where thousands of machine operators cranked out clothing.  Tailors were considered superfluous and employed only by those who could afford such finery.

So whether you make clothes, quilts, or crafts, you now have an idea of how the oldest of the textile arts came about.  As they say, necessity if the mother of all invention.  So, sew!

Textile Talk: A History of Knitting

Textile Talk is a new weekly blog feature written by Allie Bennett of Stitchville As promised, a brief history of knitting. I hope you will find it as fascinating as I have.

The origins of knitting are cloudy, since the one thing we are sure of is that knitting (or something like it) has been done for a long, long time. Before people actually knit, a technique called 'nalbinding' was used. This made a strong, stretchy fabric and was formed by making a series of knots. Interestingly, the oldest know artifact is a pair of socks. Yes. Socks. From the 300's. Here's a picture:

As far as 'real' knitting, meaning two sticks pulling loops of yarn through loops of yarn, the earliest remnant is, again, a pair of socks. This time from much later, sometime around 1000 and from Egypt. As you can see, the pattern is quite complex, leading us to believe these fellows had been at it for a while. Look how cool:

As time went on, knitting moved from a necessity to hobby. The purl stitch was invented somewhere around the 16th century and from there many of the more decorative garments were created (cable stitching and other patterns) and during the 17th and 18th century it was very popular in Scotland, where even the men took up the craft. They developed a beautiful technique on an island north of Scotland called Fair Isle where they created beautiful multi colored patterns. As seen here:

During the 19th and 20th century, knitting experienced a downslope in popularity, most likely due to it not being a necessity any more- with garments being readily available quite cheaply. But in the 21st century, thanks to the handmade movement, as well as yarns becoming more affordable, there seems to be a surge in the craft.

Which brings us to modern day.