Needle Arts
A mastery of needlework was an essential skill for any young woman in the 19th century. It was an expression of a woman’s upbringing, education, and character, as well their potential suitability to being a wife and running a household. These possessions, therefore, are an important articulation of a woman’s life and often how she can identify herself in the historic record. These artifacts offer us an intimate perspective of 19th century women and remind us that these individuals were alive. Knowing that Hylah and her daughters spent time creating and working on these objects gives one a sense of personal connection between the past and the present.
Description:
Emery pincushion, white strawberry with light blue silk embroidered seeds and leaves. Small light blue silk loop at the top center.Pincushion was darned. Emery pincushions were filled with the mineral "emery," which was usually dust or sand consistency. The purpose of using emory was that it resembled fine metal shavings, which sharpened pins and needles.
Description:
Nineteen hexagon patches (with paper still inside) were sewn together to form a pincushion which has been edged with silk fringe similar to that used on women's clothing in the 1850s and '60s. The color combination and patterns seem fairly haphazard and suggest that this pincushion was made from left over hexagons used for another project - possibly a quilt.
Honeycomb patch-work
The technique of forming small hexagon shaped cloth pieces and then sewing them into units that would form the patch-work ground for a quilt, was extremely time consuming and difficult to master. Nonetheless, the so-called Honeycomb quilt (later known as Mosaic or Grandmother’s Flower Garden) was a popular quilt type in the 19th century. Its roots go back to English pieced quilts of the 18th century. The following is quoted from the instructions in Godey’s Lady’s Book for “Fancy Needle-Work.”
Perhaps there is no patch-work that is prettier or more ingenious than the hexagon, or six-sided; this is also called honeycomb patch-work. To make it properly you must first cut out a piece of pasteboard of the size you intend to make the patches, and of a hexagon or six-sided form. Then lay this model on your calico, and cut your patches of the same shape, allowing them a little larger all round for turning in at the edges. Of course the patches must be all exactly of the same size. Get some stiff papers (old copy-books or letters will do) and cut them also into hexagons precisely the size of the pasteboard model. Prepare as many of these papers as you have patches. Baste or tack a patch upon every paper, turning down the edge of the calico over the wrong side.
Sew together neatly over the edge, six of these patches, so as to form a ring. Then sew together six more in the same manner, and so on till you have enough. Let each ring consist of the same sort of calico, or at least of the same colour. For instance, one ring may be blue, another pink, a third yellow, &c. The papers must be left in, to keep the patches in shape till the whole is completed.
Description:
Beaded bag or reticule made in the round with a continuous floral pattern.
Description:
Two embroidery patterns: one is of roses and leaves in ink and the other is a geometric border pattern. The patterns were created using a hand drawn graphed background in pencil. The paper pattern was glued to another piece of paper, most likely for support. Several handwritten notes in ink and pencil can be seen around the entire edge of the pattern. The following notes, which seem to go with the roses pattern, read "Louisa Hasbrouck "Locust Lawn" 1853", "November 28th,1851", "The Rose Pattern copied from S. Washburns", and "November 31st, 1851." The other two notes, which seem to pertain to the border pattern, read "The pillow and wreath pattern copied November 28th, 1851, Louisa Hasbrouck: and Louisa's name written out several times at the end of the graph lines. Louisa was between 20 and 23 years old when she created these embroidery patterns. They may have been created while she was attending school at the Poughkeepsie Female Collegiate Institute.
Description:
A "darning egg" made of a light and dark wood. This sewing tool would be used to repair holes in clothing or fabric that was not along the seam, such as on the heel of a sock. The darning egg would be inserted into the heel so that it holds shape while the framework for the repair is completed.
Description:
Updated needlework sampler by Louisa Hasbrouck, constructed when she was a young girl. The sampler consists of the alphabet in capital letters and numerals 1 through 8 in red cross-stitch. Each line is separated by different cross-stitch designs in blue, black, and red. The lastline has several 8's and Louisa's name in a double running stitch. Louisa's name appears again at the bottom in a similar double running stitch, with an "L" to the left in a cross stitch, black cross-stitched border. A needlework sampler was used as practice or a demonstration of skill. Girls typically began making samplers at a young age beginning with a "marking sampler" that contained the alphabet and numbers, along with the child's name. These needlework's were never intended for framing, rather they were rolled up and unrolled as a reference of a pattern or stitch.
Description:
“Huswif”, a small portable cloth case used to store scissors, thread, needles, and other sewing material. Hand-made cylinder shaped roll-up made of wool, silk, and velvet with an ombré strip and pincushion ends. Made from fabric scraps remaining from a dress made of the same material. Pincushion ends are blue velvet. The trim in the interior is 1.5” wide and 10” long. Exterior of the trim is a brown wool with a white and light blue floral design. The interior trim is lined with an ombré stripe wool fabric, which is embroidered every 2” in alternating blue and brown thread. There are four small brown embroidered loops at one end. The term “huswif” refers to being an extension of the housewife.
Description:
Rectangular shaped light blueish gray stiffened mesh, with a central oval shaped floral design in Berlin work and beadwork. The floral design has a central composition, with flowers in white and brown and leaves in gray. Around the central floral design is a border, with black flowers edged in gold and oval shaped leaves in white and silver that connects all the flowers. The outermost border is dark blue unfinished Berlin work, while the interior border also unfinished is a lighter blue color. A threaded needle is visible on the right side of the outermost border. This design, for a decorative cushion or pin cushion, was found wrapped in paper in the attic of Locust Lawn, along with some of the yarn and a threaded needle, which is still attached. The wrapping was labeled “unfinished cushion”. This is an example of Berlin work combined with beadwork. Because it is in an unfinished state, it shows how Berlin work was executed.
Description:
"Love" embroidered on perforated paper in green, blue, pink, red, and yellow. Starting in the 1820’s, women could purchase commercially produced perforated carboard for making smaller embroidered items such as book-marks, needle cases and trinket boxes. Larger pieces such as mottos designed to be framed and hung on the wall were also made using the paper “canvas.” Care had to be taken however in working with the fragile paper. Fine needles were required so as not to tear open the perforations. Soft wool produced from Merino sheep (referred to as “German”, “Merino” or “Zephyr” wool) was best suited for Berlin work but silk was also employed for more delicate, small patterns.
Berlin Work
The Victorian love of embellishment for the decoration of every conceivable surface — walls, tabletops and furniture in parlors, dining rooms and bedrooms — was realized through a variety of fancy needlecrafts including embroidery, beadwork, tatting, and crocheting. One of the most popular needlework forms of the time was known as Berlin work. This wool embroidery, worked on a wide mesh canvas originated in Berlin in the early 19th century. Berlin work used simple tent or cross stitches and was therefore less complicated (and faster) to execute than earlier embroidery work where elaborate and varied stitching was showcased. Berlin work was bright and colorful, illustrating a broad range of subject matter, from religious scenes to flowers, animals, exotic birds, and geometrics. These designs (along with all manner of fancy work and dressmaking) were often copied from a profusion of home management and decorating manuals (the “how-to” books of their day) and monthly magazines such as Godey’s Lady’s Book, available to 19th century women. Embroidery designs from these publications were printed in a grid format, then hand-colored, with instructions for transferring the design to canvas. Women no longer needed to draft their own designs or work out the colors — they now had a “ready-made” source of inspiration. Predesigned patterns along with their relative ease of execution, made Berlin work very wide-spread and popular until almost the end of the 19th century.
Description:
Pillow shaped pincushion, with a geometric design on one side. Pincushion is an example of Berlin work. The overall central design is a diamond, with a clover like design in the middle in reds and outlined in yellow and black. The indented edges of the clover are black diamonds outlined in black and yellow. The points of the clover are overlapped by a square design, in yellow, light blue, red and orange, outlined in black. Several pins have been placed throughout the design along the black edging, centers and on the corners. The entire edge of the pincushion has a Greek key design in black. The background is in an off-white color. The pincushion is edged with a red silk trim in a box pleated design. The backside of the pincushion is lined with a pleated stripe design in orange, white and black silk, examples of this fabric have been found in several other sewing accessories, see relation field.
Description:
Pillow shaped pincushion, with wool Irish stitches (later known as Bargello or flame stitch) on one side. The overall design is alternating diamond patterns in shades of gray and red. Each stitch is outlined in black with a white center. The edge of the pincushion is decorated with a red and yellow silk corded, which has been hand sewn on. The back of the pincushion is lined with an umbra stripe silk fabric in purple, green and white.
Description:
Pillow shaped pincushion, with wool Irish stitches (later known as Bargello or flame stitch) on one side. The overall design is alternating diamond patterns in shades of yellow, red, purple and green. Each stitch is outlined in black with a white center.The back of the pincushion is lined with an orange wool fabric with a black and silver sprig design.
The diamond designs are reminiscent of 18th c. Irish stitch (later known as flame stitch or Bargello). The pincushion was found wrapped in a rectangular shaped white pillowcase, with pink stripes and green dots and a floral design. Inside the pillowcase was a note written on a mail order form with the date ""March 5, 1927."" The note, located on the back of the form, written in pencil read ""Old pincushion probably HBH"".