Sewing with a treadle machine

By: Margaret Mills, Board Member, Costume Museum of Canada

 My Mother had a sewing machine when I was little, a long time ago.

 The machine ran by rocking your feet on a fancy metal plate, called a treadle, at the bottom.

 My little brother liked anything mechanical, so he loved this machine, and when she was sewing and her feet rocked the treadle, he would get in her way, looking closely at the treadle, and the way it moved.

 He liked the thin rubber belt that connected the treadle to the wheel on top and made the needle move in and out through the fabric.

 Mum could fix a hole in the knee of my brother’s pants, or let down the hem of my skirt when I got too tall.

 The best thing she could do with the machine was to make new pyjamas for us every Christmas, and at Halloween, she made wonderful costumes for us.

  In grade 1, I won a prize at school for the best costume. I was a fairy princess all in pink!

 One day, my Mother started to teach me how to sew on her machine. We were going to have a new baby at our house and Mum need lots of diapers made. I learned how to make long straight hems, so that the edges would be smooth.

 Soon I was able to make other things, like nightgowns for the baby, and I even made an apron for myself!

 I learned how to be careful not to let the machine run backwards, or it would break the thread. When that happened, I needed to thread the machine carefully through all the little special places all over again.

 When I grew up, I got a sewing machine to make my own clothes, but it was much different. It was run by electricity and when my children watched me sew and make their costumes, there was no treadle to play on.

 My own little girl learned to sew too, and now I patch the holes in my grandson’s pants!

 

 

Author Margaret Mills is the narrator of the Heritage Fashion Review.

 

While you are here, consider making a financial donation to the Costume Museum of Canada.  The museum preserves one of the largest historical collections of apparel in Canada.  Donate online at http://www.costumemuseumcanada.com/

 

 

 

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Fashion of the 1880’s

In case you missed out on our exhibit at Dalnavert during Doors open here’s a sneak peek of our display! There are still a couple of our garments hiding around in the house though so you might want to go check it out! Make it a scavenger hunt!

1880s: Ladies Fashion

The silhouette of the skirt changed as the bustle reappeared at the beginning of the 1880s. The fullness of the skirts moved to the back and up towards the waist. A new arrangement of folds, pleats and drapes came into fashion. Skirts were frequently trimmed with frills, pleating, ruffles and other interesting design features.

By the end of the decade, a narrow skirt was popular, which had the excess fabric wrapped in the back at the thighs, making it difficult to walk.

The basque (long and jacket-like) and cuirass (form-fitting, long-waisted and boned) bodices that appeared in the 1870s continued to be worn into the 1880s. Corsets were still worn at this time, a necessity to achieve that perfect hourglass waist.

Sleeves were tight fitting and often three quarter length, ending partway down the forearm. After 1887, the sleeve head began to puff out, but it did not achieve the large leg o’ mutton style until 1895.

1880s: Men’s and Children’s Fashion

Well-dressed gentlemen in this decade wore suits with lounge coats or the longer, but also fashionable, frock coats. In the winter an overcoat reached almost to the ankle. Trousers tended to be made up in basic dark colours. For gentlemen in this era, clothing was generally made-to-measure. Top hats and derby hats were the favoured headwear, and ties and suspenders were common accessories.

Whether boy or girl, all babies and small children were dressed in the same style of clothing – long white dresses, usually made up with cutwork and/or lace. More mobile toddlers wore ankle/mid-calf length dresses that allowed more movement and freedom.

Boy’s dresses often included pleating or buttons down the front, and could be styled like sailors and soldiers outfits. About age 6 boys were breeched, dressed in short pants; pants lengthened as the boy aged and eventually he was permitted to wear long trousers.

Girls were dressed similarly to their grown counterparts. Older girls wore bustles and a tamer version of a corset.

Britt

Wordless Wednesday: Fashion Illustration Edition

Wordless Wednesday: Fashion Illustration Edition

Wordless Wednesday Detail Shot

Festival du Voyageur

I’ve decided to forgo our Fan-tastic Friday post this week to bring you a post about a very important piece of Canadian history. My coworker and I discovered this friendly (albeit somewhat creepy) guy in one of our education kits yesterday and I decided that with Festival du Voyageur kicking off today, it would be a perfect time to share some information about the voyageurs!

You may be wondering “What’s a voyageur?”

From the 1600’s to the 1850’s Canada’s largest industry was the fur trade. The furs had to be transported long distances from where they were trapped, to where they would be sold. This transportation happened over water. The voyageurs (which is French for traveler) were the people who took these voyages by canoe to transport the furs. The voyageurs were mostly French Canadian men. The men had to be able to paddle a canoe and carry at least 2 bundles of fur at time over several miles, each of these bundles weighing 41kg (90lbs!). Some would carry even more than 2 bundles at a time, and injuries including hernias were a common hazard for voyageurs.

Voyageurs traveled by foot across land, and by canoes made of birch wood stretched over a white cedar frame, there were two common sizes of canoe, one was 7.6m long and the other being 11m long. Their journeys were long and arduous and fraught with peril. Few voyageurs knew how to swim, and drowning was not uncommon. Black flies and mosquitoes were kept at bay by sleeping by a smudge fire which often caused eye, sinus and respiratory problems. Along with the injuries caused by carrying great amounts of weight across land, these things made life difficult as well as dangerous for the voyageur.

Voyageurs were expected to work at least 14 hours per day, waking at 2 or 3AM and setting off without eating breakfast. They ate two meals a day, and had to carry food with them as there was no time for hunting or gathering on their journey. Meals often consisted of a small piece of pemmican or biscuit while rowing. The men would stop briefly for a pipe each hour and in this way “pipes” were used to measure distances traveled. When night came they pulled ashore and turned over the canoes to use as shelter while they slept.

“Many voyageurs had long hair, which served as protection from the mosquitoes which beset all those who voyaged. Voyageurs dressed themselves with a shirt, a felt hat or red toque, a pair of deer skin leggings which reached from the ankles to above the knees, and held by a string secured to the belt about the waist, and pair of deer skin moccasins. They sometimes wore breeches or the breech cloth of the Indians, a winter coat with a hood (capot) and a sash. At the annual meetings at Grand Portage (later Fort William), they liked to look their best, wearing their cleanest shirt and feathers on their felt hats.” http://digital.library.mcgill.ca/nwc/history/08.htm

Singing was a favoured way to pass the long hours spent in the canoes and travelling over the land. A La Claire Fontaine was a favourite song. There are many tales of the voyageurs singing, and the folk songs have remained popular in parts of Canada. Most of you probably know the song Alouette. It was believed that singing helped the voyageurs paddle the canoes faster and helped them keep rhythm.

As I mentioned above today is the opening of Winnipeg’s Festival du Voyageur, and I hope that if you are close enough, that you’ll go check it out! There is a lot to learn, and see and participate in at the festival. What a great way to celebrate our Canadian history! I hope you’ve enjoyed this little “voyage” through time with me.

-Brittaya

Citations and Further Reading:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voyageurs

http://digital.library.mcgill.ca/nwc/history/08.htm

http://www.therewasatime.net/voyageur%20song-%20lyrics.pdf

http://www.netlibrary.net/articles/alouette_%28song%29

http://www.northwestjournal.ca/XVII1.htm

Wordless Wednesday: Fashion Illustration Edition