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History of Embroidery in America
History of Embroidery in America, the earliest years.
What kinds of embroidery did your mother, grandmother, great-grand relations do? Did they enjoy it, hate it, have to do it, or look forward to the time they would have to spend with a needle? Embroidery is the thread that connects women through all the centuries of our history, no matter how much our lifestyles change. We have always shared that passion, or at times, the necessity. Needlework has been represented in and throughout history in some form or other. The likes and attitudes of the current time give way, or make way, for changes and innovations in design and technique. Many forms of embroidery reappear, in some form or other, and unfortunately, some die out, but all or almost all have left their mark. This is the only way I can imagine that women through the centuries can connect. We have that much in common. Those who sew, make history. American History begins where? 1492? This would coincide with the beginning of the Renaissance Era in Europe.It seems little if anything was written for future generations, unless you count samplers. Who could read? And who would waste precious paper and ink on embroidery, something taken for granted. After all, everyone needed clothes, so women sewed. Period. And those who enjoyed the sewing would naturally start embellishing. Hence, embroidery. Much if not all was taught at hand. It appears that the same stitches have survived throughout history. Stem stitch, satin stitch, chain stitch, knotted stitches and crosses. Designs for embroidery came with the traders, first from the Portuguese, then Dutch, and finally the English setting off on long voyages to bring back cargoes of all sorts, especially spices and textiles. Soon from China and eventually India came "musk, rhubarb, pearls, tin, porcelain, and silk and wrought stuff of all kinds." All of this, in some form or other, came to America with the first and subsequent settlers, whether pieces already completed back "home", or a few materials set aside for whenever the time was available, or the merest idea for a future project. American women had little time for the making of beautiful things when just existing became a grueling 24-hour a day job. Plain sewing was taught to young girls as early as they could hold a needle and thread, for everything had to be sewn by hand, and any help would have been greatly appreciated. Jamestown was the first settlement in the "New World" in 1607. (No women cared to travel to "Virginia, Earth's only paradise" at that time.) It was very cold that first winter. (Indeed, many criminals sentenced to death by the English could choose to go to Virginia or Barbados as indentured servants.) It set a precedent…life was not going to be easy, and it would be a long time before it was improved upon. All had to work and work hard to stay alive. Many of the first to arrive were hoping to find gold. They were sadly disappointed. Some of the patriots from England, buoyed up by the defeat of the Spanish Armada, hoped to start a settlement where none had stood before. After the first year, 38 of the original 104 were still alive in Jamestown. In 1609, 600 more came and their numbers later dwindled to 60 due to famine and sickness. Not much time for embroidery. These early settlers came to a land with no stores, no friends, no relations. Just a lot of hard work, and under the most primitive conditions imaginable. Pilgrims landed on the northern shores of the Atlantic in 1620. Ten years later the Puritans arrived, who left Europe because their economic prospects were poor. The thirty years' war was destroying the continent. England's woolen cloth was piling up on the docks. Weavers and spinners were out of work. It was time to migrate! Obviously, skills learned in the old country were brought to the new, and needle workers had to adapt as best they could. Supplies had to come with them. Winters were much harder than they were used to experiencing and Indians became increasingly hostile. But this did not deter the early settlers. The population growth was very slow in the beginning, but largely because of the great Puritan migration beginning in the 1630s, North America's population started to swell. By 1775, two and a half million people had claims in America, roughly a third as many as lived in all of Great Britain. We find that the first "needlework" was almost always a quilt or comforter of some kind. It was a practical necessity. Fabric was very scarce. Every little bit was precious, and was saved for further use. When any piece of apparel became worn, it was patched until it couldn't be preserved any longer. The better parts were saved and reused. Many old quilts were reused as linings or battings for newer creations. When these became too worn for use, they were torn into strips and stuffed into the chinks of log cabins, still used to keep warm. Quilting was an area in which many women found an outlet for their creative and expressive artistic talents. When rags were unusable, they were boiled to make paper. Nothing was wasted. Quilts were made out of anything. (We find this well into the depression era, too.) Art rarely entered into it at first. A needed blanket may have looked like anything but art, but the thick pieces of old coats, pants, whatever, all came together to make the warmest and heaviest quilts to be had. Keeping warm was the utmost concern for the early settlers who had to contend with extremely cold winters in New England. Keeping her (large) family warm and well fed was the only concern for the colonial mom. Many of the samplers made at the time were biblically based. In 1639, the first printing press was set up in Massachusetts. And the first books were…bibles. Well, the very first book printed in the colonies was a hymnal. Education was provided by the church, and a practical lesson to the girls who had time to attend was to learn the alphabet and numbers in stitchery. The first novels weren't written in America until approximately 1800. Those I can recall reading were satirical or moralistic. Not much to go on for ideas. Thank goodness for herbals, books depicting very well-drawn likenesses of plants and flowers, not just the descriptions of purpose. Flowers always were and still are favorite motifs of many of us. Ben Franklin helped start the first calico printworks near Philadelphia in 1772. He also encouraged the cultivation of silk worms as an industry. I wonder how successful this was? Until this time, a woman had to spin and weave her own cloth, or purchase very expensive imports, which were solely available in the larger port cities, and purchased only by the very wealthy. Cotton became the up and coming commodity of the south, and indigo was raised and sold along with sugar as mainstream staples. Felt and beaver hats were exported to England and traded: for a while a very big seller. This brought lovely imported Indian muslin and English woolens to the states, and much sought-after information as to fashion on the continent as well! By the mid 1700s, the struggle for survival, such as that experienced in the early colonial days, was fading into history, at least in the coastal cities. Women struggled to improve the primitive living conditions with any means at their disposal. Crewelwork was done at that time, and I've heard it referred to as "spontaneous and vigorous needlework." English embroidery used a lot of thread, (such as in traditional satin stitching) while the colonial woman had to be much more frugal with her thread as well as her time. (Popular stitches were, among others, herringbone, conventional cross stitches, and a stitch which came to be known as Deerfield Stitch, which showed much more thread on the front of the work than the back.) Let's not let the stories be lost in the past. Ask, record and save them! I wish I could ask my foremothers… So please don't forget to document your work. You will be so glad that you did. Sign your pieces, keep a journal, photos would be a grand addition! Talk to your children, nieces and nephews, etc. Just a line or thought here and there when setting the table with a treasured cloth will stay in their memories. It may even spark their curiosity, and bring up questions of the past. Share! If you care to share your stories, just drop me a line. And please mention what part of the country you're talking about. I would love to include it in this History of Embroidery in America.
"Simply Embroidery", a great article by Sîban nî Sheaghdha, CL , covering embroidery from Europe, associated with the SCA. A wonderful history of smocking (something I don't do, at least not yet) can be found at Garden Fairies, written by Beth-Katherine Kaiman...It's great! Needle Vision of New Zealand is now JMD Designs, and she has a wonderful history section...do please visit. |
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