sewing

Wishing they knew how to keep their tea warmer, no doubt. (Image from NYPL Digital Gallery)

After reading a recent article in Australia's Age about the demand for unique handcrafted tea cosies made by volunteers in Pascoe Vale, Australia, I became curious about the past and present status of the cosy.

According to Richard Rutt in A History of Hand Knitting, the first documented use of a tea cosy was in 1867. Tea cosies flourished during the Victorian era, a period in which homemakers were obsessed with the decoration or covering of any and all available objects.

Tea cosies had their heyday on this side of the Atlantic as well, as the newspapers of the late nineteenth century reveal. An Oct. 20, 1892 article in the Philadelphia Inquirer reported that "cosies are enjoying a sudden and unexpected rise in public favor" among women who hosted afternoon teas in their reception rooms. In Boston, a town with quite a reputation when it comes to tea parties, an issue of the Boston Journal (Nov. 25, 1879) included in its women's advice column an explanation of just what a tea cosy is--"simply a wadded covering for your teapot"-- and hints on making one: "Some very handsome ones are made of remnants of heavy brocade, but linen is generally used, embroidered or not, according to taste, as these covers are washable. Make the covering large enough for your teapot and provide a ring at the top to lift it off with." I read these articles in America's Historical Newspapers, an excellent database which enables you to find what you want fast in old American newspapers--it's available at all Library locations.

What is happening in the world of contemporary tea cosies? Teapotmania: The Story of the British Craft Teapot and Teacosy provides some answers. This exhibition catalog for a 1995 show at the Norfolk Museums and Archeology Service on contemporary British artists' and artisans' embrace of the teapot and teacosy as artistic forms provides both historical context as well as plenty of illustrations of the objects included in this exhibition. Artists of both pottery and needlework will find inspiration in the work of the artists represented here. Additionally, this museum's teapot collection now numbers almost three thousand teapots that can be browsed at their website. And if etsy is any guide, then there is both an interest and a market for handmade cosies today--search tea cozy AND tea cosy to be sure that you don't miss out.

It turns out that you need not drink tea in a cold drafty home to appreciate a fine cosy, after all.

Just one of dozens of inspiring textile designs available for browsing on NYPL Digital Gallery. Search for textile design to see more!

In last week's Handmade Then and Now* class, I met some very creative people and we exchanged plenty of good ideas for learning, obtaining materials, and finding new creative outlets. Here are three sites we discussed in class, for those who wish to follow up:

Spoonflower
While still in beta (which means, among other things, that you have to put yourself on a waiting list to have a chance to use it), this service is worth watching and waiting for. It allows you to design your own fabric—Spoonflower then prints as much of it as you want and sends it to you!

Materials for the Arts
Run by NYC’s Department of Cultural Affairs, this organization supports active re-use of objects with arts and crafts potential. They collect and then distribute arts supplies of all kinds to community projects, schools, and arts programs.

Material Connexion Library
This library, maintained by Material Connexion, provides access to innovative materials of all kinds. Their resources can help designers to select innovative, sustainable, or cradle-to-cradle materials that work best with their creations.

My thanks, once again, for the great conversation, suggestions, and questions. It's always such a treat to connect with enthusiastic handmakers.

*Taught at NYPL, this class provides ideas for the craft-curious on how the Library can inform and inspire one's handmade creations. If you’d like to attend a future Handmade Then and Now class, just keep an eye on the calendar. I’ll teach it again this fall!

From Shôchan no bôken, published in 1923. (Image from NYPL Digital Gallery.)

This weekend I attended New York Comic Con, an intense gathering of lovers of comics, gaming, and costumes. I went dressed as a librarian, in search of information on libraries' role in collecting, preserving, and making comics available to readers. Thanks to some great panels, I came away informed. And --no surprise here--I also came away inspired by the enthusiasm of readers and fans for this definition-defying genre.

In addition to wanting to learn about the role of comics in libraries, I was also on the hunt for publications that might combine comics and crafts. My favorite find is a series of books created by the team Aranzi Aronzo. From The Cute Book to The Bad Book, each of their books contains stories featuring a cast of quirky creatures, along with detailed patterns and directions on how to make your own little stuffed sewn versions of these strange characters. Brilliant!

Originally published in Japanese and now made available in English editions by Vertical, Inc., Aranzi Aronzo books are in dozens of NYPL branch libraries. So check them out (they are listed in LEO) and get started making your own handmade versions of the good, the bad, and the cute. If you are a fan of other comics-meets-crafts books, let me know your favorites!

(These trading cards, picturing that famous O.N.T., are from the NYPL Digital Gallery.)

Chances are, if you own some spools of thread or hanks of embroidery floss, then you own some products created by the Coats & Clark Company. Their thread—for sewing, quilting, embroidering, and more—is sold everywhere. After picking up a fresh supply of Coats & Clark Dual Duty thread a few weeks ago for a dress, my curiosity was piqued. Who are these Coats and these Clarks?

As I learned, Coats & Clark started out in the nineteenth century as two independent companies, and the two did not merge until 1952. Coats had mills in Paisley, Scotland, and in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, while Clark was based in Newark, New Jersey. And it was George Clark who revolutionized home sewing with the invention of the first thread that would work reliably in sewing machines. Clark marketed this new thread as “Our New Thread,” a tagline that would be shortened over the years to become “O.N.T.”

The Library holds several small pattern books published by Clark between 1916 and 1919, and each includes O.N.T. in its title. For instance, there’s Clark’s O.N.T. “Woolsaver” Knitting and Crochet Book” (1918), in which I learned that Woolsaver Cotton, available in military hues of “olive drab, navy blue, and grey,” was made to be used along with wool “to strengthen and prolong the life of knitted articles” while there remains an “urgent need to conserve the wool supply for Our Boys at the front.” You can find the other Clark’s O.N.T. books by searching in Catnyp for “Clark’s O.N.T.” as a title.

And if you are curious, you can learn a bit more company history at the Coats & Clark website. The site offers free patterns as well.

In no particular order, here are some recent gleanings on the theme of making one’s own shoes. Simple Shoes has created a diy shoe kit. This kit comes in different colors, and it lets you be the cobbler. Such a shortcut might feel a bit like a halfway measure, though, for people who are truly obsessed with the artisanry of shoe-making. Those people include Daniel Day-Lewis, of course.
Would aspiring shoemakers have been part of the readership of Vogue Pattern Book in the mid-sixties, though? In a series of issues I recently examined, there are recurring advertisements for a mail-order booklet that will teach one a “simplified shoemaking method” that will enable a woman to have “a pair of shoes to match every outfit.” Sounds like too many shoes to me, but I have a small closet. Plus, I’m not really shoe obsessed–in spite of multiple postings on the subject. The booklet’s author, Mary Lofthus Wales, promises: “Any woman who sews can make her own shoes,” but I personally am not really convinced that I would be up for such a challenge. Ads like this, flanking the introductory and closing pages of each issue of Vogue Pattern Book, provide an intriguing view of home sewers as a market audience. And NYPL’s run of Vogue Pattern Book stretches for about half a century.

The Shoemaker of Yesterday. (Image from NYPL Digital Gallery.)
Interested in making your own shoes? Want to learn to cobble at home? Although we don’t often set out to make our own shoes today, there are still opportunities to do so, and artists who tackle the form. At NYPL there are a number of books on the industry of shoemaking. One of note, which might inspire you, is Every lady her own shoemaker, an 1856 publication written by “a lady” and printed here in New York. As for me, I’m thinking of knitting some slippers.

(A McCalls pattern from 1915. Image from NYPL Digital Gallery.)

A few weeks ago I took one of NYPL’s free research classes on costume and fashion history. I was curious to learn how the library could help me to find ideas for mid-20th century dress patterns, and I was pleased to learn how, and more. Taught by curator Paula Baxter, the class covered how to mine catnyp for this subject, what the best basic references and histories are, and what online tools are the most useful. If this subject interests you but you can’t get to her next class (it’s on Oct. 17th at 12:30pm), take a peek at Paula’s online research guide to this subject. Her class was based upon all that’s contained in it. She’s an expert and has plenty of good advice.

As for me, I learned my research topic falls in the scholarly realm of costume history (a mode of dress of a specific time period and place), not fashion history (a term most often referring to the development of haute couture and specific designers). Home sewing magazines from the fifties and sixties will be the best place for me to begin my search. I’m going to order up copies of Vogue Pattern Book and McCall’s, and start browsing.

(Fashionable ladies have come from the NYPL Digital Gallery.)

At 12:30pm on Wednesday, Sept. 26th, Paula Baxter will teach a free class at the Humanities and Social Sciences Library on how to make the most out of the collections here (including electronic resources!) related to the history of fashion. There’s also mention of pattern books, and I’m particularly curious about these. For example, NYPL has a large run of Vogue Pattern Books and I can only imagine what vintage patterns await within. I’ll be at the class, and you should come too. Either way, I’ll share what I learn!

(Original Singer Sewing Machine; from NYPL Digital Gallery)
September is National Sewing Month! How lovely is it that we have such a month? Very lovely indeed, even though I admit that I haven’t done any sewing yet this month. What I did do recently was purchase some dress fabrics and trimmings from the fashion district here in New York and from Philadelphia’s Fabric Row (both great neighborhoods for textile hunters). I plan to create some winter dresses before winter actually arrives. In the meantime, I wanted to honor this month by reporting on one of NYPL’s holdings that intigues me. Around 1960 the Singer Sewing Machine Co. released a series of jingles to promote sewing, the lead title being: Sing a Song of Sewing. The recording is held at NYPL’s Library for the Performing Arts, and I hope to get over and listen to it soon (and will report back!).

(Quilt from NYPL Digital Gallery)
I learned in today’s New York Times that Cuesta Benberry, a renowned historian of the craft of quilting, has passed away. She worked to collect, interpret, and preserve quilting traditions of African American women over the course of many decades, and her scholarship resulted in books, archives, as well as collections of patterns. If you wish to learn more about her work and about the rich contributions African American women have made to the world of quilting, I would recommend any number of Benberry’s books that we have here at NYPL, including especially Always there : the African-American presence in American quilts and A Patchwork of pieces : an anthology of early quilt stories, 1845-1940.