A Family Textile Collection at the Smithsonian
Look at these two very similar samplers — They were made 57 years apart, the second one by the great-niece of the first, and based on her design. Many of us make quilts… Continue reading
Category Archive: Historic Textiles
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Even More Sail History
Source: Sailcloth – National Maritime Museum Ahoy, maties! After 3 years and 3 months, I have finally found an example of real sail cloth to share with you! This is from the National… Continue reading
Following up on Viking Sails
Back in 2013, I visited the Maritime Museum in San Diego, California, and aboard one of the historic ships I saw a huge storage area set aside for extra rigging and sails, and… Continue reading
Rags, Rugs, and a Mystery
I saw this picture in a National Archives blog post for Mother’s Day. The winding of the rags caught my eye. I thought I remembered reading that during the Great Depression, whole kits… Continue reading
Rose Overshot Coverlet
This year is flying by and I have yet to finish a project, but I am buying enough textiles to make up the difference! This past week, my sister and great-nephew visited, through… Continue reading
Textile Treasures
A most generous reader, Ranger Elaine, has sent me some wonderful treasures from her collection. The star of the show is this tiny silk-covered accordion book with quilt scraps in it. Elaine thinks… Continue reading
Domestics and the Crinoline in 1862
Yesterday we went to an estate sale at a huge ranch. Thousands of items were being sold, but most of them were just ordinary things like throw pillows or boxes of glassware from… Continue reading
What Clothes Reveal
You know the image of our industrious forebears — After studying textile history for the last 20 years, I had a hazy idea that that image casts our ancestors in a glorified light,… Continue reading
Three Clues in the Parchment
In the early 1960s, a young agriculture historian named M. L. Ryder had the idea to use parchment manuscripts to research medieval sheep breeds. He surveyed manuscript illuminations for evidence of the colors,… Continue reading
Dress Diary 1855-1917
A few days ago, when I was looking at the Hollywood costume sketches at the Brooklyn Museum, I noticed this wonderful dress diary in their archives. The diary’s owner, Ida Jackson, was born… Continue reading