I may be about to buy a Victorian sewing machine. Readers who do historical re-enactment may understand the need for authenticity that is driving that purchasing urge. To me however it is relatively new. Previously I’ve been happy researching historical knitting without much need to re-enact it, except to demonstrate to others how it was done, eg how a knitting sheath was used. Nor was I insatiably interested in dressing in historical fashion, except as a convenient way of showing off stockings (knickerbockers to go with Victorian style stocking tops). However, my recent experience of dressing up for the Brighouse 1940s weekend has sparked a strong urge to dress in historical fashion. For several years before the pandemic Brighouse had an annual Christmas market, and initially this had a Victorian theme. So I am pondering making a Victorian costume to wear to the Christmas market.
Followers of my blog will know that I have a late Victorian home, and am slowly restoring that in keeping with the Arts and Crafts style in which it was built. So I do already love re-creating the past in my home’s decor. If I also create a Victorian costume I would specifically want it to be the style of that period, ie the 1890s, and I am increasingly attracted to the idea of using historical sewing techniques to do it. There’s lots of inspiration on YouTube for this, and I’m sure the many videos by historical re-enacters that I have watched over the last few years have a lot to do with this growing urge.
Luckily antique sewing machines are relatively inexpensive, so I can buy a sewing machine from the relevant period (mid to late 1890s) for relatively little outlay. Indeed, yesterday I watched the renovation of a Victorian Singer machine by a costumer that had bought it for just £25!
I do already have a vintage Singer treadle sewing machine. However, it is not in good working condition, and is from 1924, not the late 1890s. So my plan is to sell this (maybe a better restorer than me will be interested in it?), and buy an older one in better condition. I’ve got my eye on one in particular on ebay.
But what will I make with it? And how? Despite having lots of dressmaking experience, I’ve not yet mastered pattern-drafting, ie making my own bespoke fit patterns rather than using a ready-printed commercial pattern. However, dress-makers of the period would have drafted their own patterns. To be able to follow my new costuming yen fully I have much to learn.
It doesn’t help that I don’t like voluminous sleeves. Luckily sleeves got smaller towards the end of the 1890s, and my house was built in 1896/7. The first woman to live in my house was Fanny Parkinson, wife of James Parkinson, Brighouse’s Town Clerk. I think it’s highly likely that she owned and used a sewing machine. Possibly of the same make as the one I’m buying, which was made less than 30 miles away, near Manchester. The Jones sewing machine company claimed that they had the largest factory in England making sewing machines.
So, I’m aiming to make a 1897/8 costume; specifically a “walking suit” that would be suitable for wearing outdoors on a cold November day in Brighouse. I want to make it in Yorkshire wool of course, with knitted undergarments for warmth. Maybe the “Lady’s Undervest” from the 1895 volume of Weldon’s Practical Needlework?
Interesting! I remember my mothers, which was turned electric in the fifties, i think. We where five kids and everything was made by a seamstresses that came home to us. I still remember her pinching me when trying on the creations.