21 Aug 2012 2 Comments

Present Trends in Home Sewing (1927)

I found a very interesting article about the trends of home sewing in the late 20′s, in North America.

The article compares a series of studies and reports on home sewing, the type of fabrics bought and the kind of garments women would sew for themselves and their family in the late ’20s.  It doesn’t talk about those women who practiced sewing because they liked it and not necessarily because they needed to sew, but it does say a lot about the types of garments they considered necessary for them and their families at the time.

Here are some interesting facts:

Women would sew up to 32 types of garments

Most women would make between 7and 11 kinds of garments, but women living in the countryside with larger families would make up to 32 types of garments.

These would include (listed from the most sewn to the less sewn): kimonos, nightgowns, bloomers, chemises, petticoats, slips, hats, coats, aprons, blouses, skirts, wool dresses, silk dresses, summer dresses, house dresses.

The most common types of garments women would sew for their children were night garments and bloomers, rompers, cotton and wool dresses, shirts, hats, petticoats and slips.

It would be interesting to see what women sew nowadays. How many kinds of garment do you sew?

This is my list of sewn garments:

1. dresses
2. skirts
3. tank tops
4. blouses
5. shorts and pants
6. a cape
7. pajamas
8. bags and backpacks
9. aprons and chef hats
10. scarfs
11. fabric belts

People living further away from the city used to sew more

People living in the countryside would make more types of garments (from night gowns to underwear and shirts for their husbands to dresses and even coats for their kids), while people who lived in cities they would rather buy than make some kinds of garments (such as coats or garments made of wool and silk, which were more difficult to manipulate).

I am not sure if this would still apply. I even have a feeling sewing has become a very urban hobby. There are a lot of sewing resources, shops and meetups in the city.

Is this true in your case?

Women would sew because it was cheaper to make higher quality garments at home

Depending on their social status, women sew at home because it’s cheaper, some because they don’t have easy access to the ready-made garment shops and other because they think home-made garments have a better fit and they can use better fabric.

I think this is very true nowadays also. If you want a really special/couture garment it is more likely that you can afford making it yourself (or asking a seamstress to make it for you) than buying it from a big fashion house. (Hello €3800 Donna Karan maxi skirt, you are nice, but not THAT nice:)

Almost everyone has a sewing machine at home

The majority of women included in the study owned sewing machine. The rest of almost 2% refused to answer the question.

In another study included in the cited article it is mentioned that more than 90 percent of the women think it’s important how to construct garments (even those who lived in the city and made less clothing than they would buy ready-made.

Interesting, don´t you think?

by sky in Inspiration, Sewing