Saturday 25 November 2006

Lace on underwear

(This post has been edited - as I was wrong!)

Deep in the depths of Sarah Carter, my team and I are still cataloguing.

This is a beautiful piece of bobbin lace we found the other day. (I had mixed it up with the hand-knitted one)

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Imagine doing all that work. Wouldn't you just be so proud to show it off?

So where is it???

On these bloomers!

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We are finding lots and lots of beautiful night dresses as well - and the work on them is stunning.

Which has me thinking again about Glory Boxes - and wondering if the term and practice was just Australian. Where young women, as soon as they could sew, started work on their Glory Boxes, the linen they would take with them to their new home when they married.

There was one exhibition that toured along those lines many years ago - the boxes these women had in which they lovingly put away their finished work, ready for their first home of their own.

Some others referred to it as a "Bottom Drawer" - items put away there, to be ready.

Must do a bit more searching / thinking about it. I know there was a formula - how many nighties they should have, how many table cloths, how many supper cloths etc etc. I think my Mother started one, and she married in 1948, but I think it basically died as a practice in the 1950s.

Any thoughts, anyone???

5 Comments:

Blogger Susan said...

That's just gorgeous. I thought it was a pillowcase. What a surprise to find it was bloomers!

2:59 pm  
Blogger wendy harbaugh said...

I can't tell in the picture very well but it looks like bobbin lace not knitted lace. The photos don't do a good enough close up but if it it bobbin lace handmade and not machine made it take slonger than knitting and is more rare to find. i make bobbin lace and I see what looks like rose ground the squares next to the hem, I see spiders the ovals with legs, I see linen stitch the solid areas, half stitch the almost solid areas, and I see either fans or trees the edging that scallops. Doesn't look like any knitting I have ever seen looks very mush like bobbin lace. Which to me is the better find.

Take care Sunshine and what a find

3:47 pm  
Blogger Linda said...

Ooooooooooooooops.

Thanks Sunshine - I had my pieces mixed up - this is the bobbin lace bloomers, and the knitted lace is on a slip.

Thank you - I am off to post further

4:04 pm  
Blogger wendy harbaugh said...

The knitted lace is lovely too. Together that is one nicely dressed woman under her clothes. I think you know what I mean.

have a great day
Sunshine

5:01 pm  
Blogger Marty52 said...

In the states those boxes used to be called Hope Chests. Each young woman started filling a wooden chest with hand-stitched linens as soon as she started stitching.

The trimming on these is just fantastic. Imagine all that work for something that was rarely seen. Amazing!

1:33 pm  

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