A GUIDE TO
NINETEENTH CENTURY
HAND SEWING
In olden days, the great occupation of women's life was needlework. Many are the pictures we have of ladies and their maidens at work on the tapestry hangings and emblazoning colours for their lords, and many are the specimens still existing of exquisite point lace, marvelous kerchiefs, aprons and samplers, etc., which fill us with wonder at the patience and eyesight of the workers of the past.
But in these days of moral and intellectual improvement women devote themselves to music, languages, art, politics, physiology, geology, metaphysics and social reforms.
Our exquisite souls soar to realms of poetry and mysticism, and, as a natural consequence, many homely handicrafts, amongst others that of plain needlework, have fallen into disrepute, or at least into disuse.
Of course we must know all the latest theories respecting light, chemistry, or telephones; but what can be said on needlework that is new? This is the point. We do not profess to teach a new thing, but a new and more interesting mode of teaching an old subject.
~Emily Jones, 1886
- Are your fingers sore? Eyes weary?
- Broken needles, tangled thread?
- Does the cat hide when you're looking for a pin cushion?
HOLLIS & BELL has published a book which offers instruction in the almost-lost art of hand sewing. A sixty-four page soft-cover book, Plain Needlework, by Melissa Roberts, offers instructions and illustrations (black & white), all taken from original period sources and carefully chosen to assist those who want to learn plain sewing. Complete bibliography, extensively researched.
Second Edition Now Available!
ADDITIONAL RESEARCH, UPDATED BIBLIOGRAPHY
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- Identify the stitches used in antique clothing
- Use authentic methods to recreate clothing of the past
- Learn who published the earliest hand sewing instruction manual - why to use a thimble - when to use a running stitch - what a mantua-maker's hem is - how to finish the seams in a wool flannel shirt - where to use gauging - and much more...
Contents of Plain Needlework:
Plain Stitches
Running ~ Tacking ~ Hemming ~ Seaming ~ Stitching ~ Overcasting
Herringboning ~ Marking ~ Whipping
Ornamental Stitches
Tucking ~ Piping ~ Gauging ~ Biasing ~ Honeycombing
Chainstitching ~ Featherstitching ~ Hemstitching
Construction & Fastenings
Felled Seam ~ Mantua-maker's Hem ~ German Hem ~ French Seam ~ Gathering & Stroking
Setting In ~ Gauging for Skirts ~ Gussets ~ Plackets ~ Tapes
Buttonholes ~ Buttons ~ Hooks, Eyes, Eyelets & Loops
Mending
Darning ~ Patching
To order your copy of Plain Needlework, send a check or money for $20.00 plus $3.50 shipping (2-3 days) to:
Hollis & Bell
324 Hawks Nest
Sautee, Georgia 30571
We can also accept credit card payments through Paypal; please enquire.
U.S. orders only. Georgia residents please add 7% sales
tax.
Interested in hand sewing workshops or presentations?
