Following on from last week’s post covering the 1950s, 60s and 70s in the Museum Section of my home sewing library, here’s some beaut books from the three decades before.
1940s
The 1940s is represented mostly with Home Ec textbooks produced by the Education Department of South Australia.
This home ec text book belonged to Colleen Baldock of Thebarton Girls Technical School in Adelaide. The school is still there and celebrating 100 years this year – it became a co-ed high school, and when I was a teen it was known as “Thebby High” or “The Barton”. It’s now Thebarton Senior College.
The book is called Principles of Dressmaking by Doris Lewis. The first half consists of pattern drafting for skirts, dresses, collars, sleeves including raglan, a school tunic as shown above, and bodices. The second half is “how to sew” instructions. Typed class handouts are pinned with sewing pins on some pages. There’s also a page of Doris’s handwritten notes tucked in the front. It’s in cursive in green biro, so maybe this book was still being used in classes in the 1960s?Drafting and Dressmaking. More home ec textbooks. These appear to be the same inside, just reprinted in different years (1943 and 1945). The books are all pattern drafting, no how-to-sew, although there are orders of construction and fabric theory. I’m impressed with the level of difficulty. The course included drafting a blazer with a 2-piece sleeve, princess slip, bra, fitted and sacque coats, various sleeves, cowl necklines and shirts & blouses. The pattern drafts are based on the individual’s own measurements. Claire Neylon confidently maintains that if the person’s measurements are taken correctly and the pattern made accurately, there will be no need to make any alterations when the garment is “fitted”.One of the books has newspaper clippings tucked into it. As well as this one, there are some on how to make a home-made dressmaker’s form.There’s a draft for trousers, known as slacks. On the previous page is a draft for a divided skirt (culottes).The Complete Book of Sewing – dressmaking and sewing for the home made easy by Constance Talbot is an American book which I bought online. The original owner, Mrs Helen S Spencer, wrote her name and address inside. The book is mainly dressmaking for women and families, but it’s also a fashion guide and incorporates mending/remaking/clothes care. It also devotes considerable space (1/3 of the book) to home decor sewing.It’s heavily illustrated with mostly drawings but some photographs.One of the few pages with pattern drafting. The book assumes the reader will use paper patterns and has notes on how to fit and adjust them.
1930s
Neither of these books has a publishing date in them, but the inclusion of the word “Modern” in the title is very 1930s, and the illustrations of people in the books are also very 1930s. Both were published in London – maybe they arrived in Australia via immigrant’s luggage? I bought both of them at local garage sales.
Modern Needlework has a severely damaged cover, but the interior is fine. It’s published by the Daily Express Newspaper. The Pictorial Guide to Modern Home Needlecraft is in better condition, but the (cloth) back cover is mildewed.A sample of Modern Needlework. The book is more of a collection of sewing techniques rather than “here’s how you make a dress”. At the back is a knitting and crochet section.More Modern Needlework. The drawings are very 1930s.This is The Pictorial Guide, which also has very 1930s looking illustrations.More Pictorial Guide, underwear section. The book has some pattern drafting amongst the sewing how-to. Several pages on from this, there are patterns to draft men and children’s sleepwear, including a “child’s sleeping suit” which looks exactly like a modern baby onesie with built-in feet.Pictorial Guide. Liberty bodices are kind of an alternative to a corset, and were worn for decades in the UK, up until the 1970s.
1920s
There’s only one book from this decade. Feels strange to think there’s a 99 year old book sitting on the bookshelf.
The Cutter’s Guide is a pattern drafting book published in 1925 by Angus and Robertson in Sydney. This book was in print for some decades – mine is the 7th edition, revised and enlarged. A 1907 edition of this book can be viewed online for free via the National Library of Australia. I’ve also seen a 1935 (revised) edition on Ebay. Mary Ellen Roberts was a lecturer at Sydney Technical College (now the Ultimo campus of TAFE NSW).
This copy was owned by Miss Marjorie Roach of Kadina, South Australia, a town not far from here.The fashions haven’t been updated from the 1907 edition – they’re still Edwardian style. The author explains in the preface that people frequently ask that old-fashioned garments be left out when a new edition is printed, and her reply is essentially that “drafting is drafting” – students need to be trained to cut any garment as the fashion changes. (There’s a lesson here: the garments in patternmaking books aren’t necessarily what people are wearing.)More Edwardian goodness: this lacy tea jacket has flounced sleeves and a full collar.The back of the book has a fold-out pattern for a French curve.Marjorie’s handwritten notes are at the back of the book.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this browse through my home library’s Museum Section.
I love technical books from the early part of the 20th Century. Technical books from the WWII era are especially valuable!
Although I don’t do much sewing, looking through well illustrated books on pattern design and making teach much about working with various cloths and materials. Encyclopedic books on sewing are fun and instructive.
Your articles, Liz, are well written and easy to follow.
Love me a technical book! Interesting: the WW2 ones have much bigger sections on clothes refashioning, mending, clothes care, etc which got dropped from books 20+ years later.
Oh, how jolly to riffle through the pages of your books with you!
Even home economic textbooks from before 1900 can reveal useful knowledge about how to approach drafting, sewing, and fitting garments. Perhaps that knowledge is more practical to a theatrical costumer than to an everyday-stitcher. Still, it’s fun to look at the old photos and diagrams.
Thanks for these two articles, I really enjoyed them! I also have a Museum Section, but it’s almost completely dedicated to embroidery, with one book about lace given by my teacher when I was 6 (it’s at my parent’s place, I should check how old it is because it definitely LOOKS old)!
There are some who say a Museum Section is an essential part of every craft library:) An embroidery one sounds great, as those techniques are always relevant.
Thanks for sharing these books. I was curious, so I thought I’d see if there were copies available from the library at archive.org. Looks like there are copies of Talbot’s A Complete Book of Sewing available to borrow, and also 3 copies of The Pictorial Guide to Modern Home Needlecraft available to borrow. https://archive.org/details/texts?tab=collection&query=pictorial+guide+to+modern+home+needlecraft
I couldn’t find any dates as I looked through the copies of the Pictorial Guide, but the data entries for the archive give dates of 1900, 1938, and 1946 – there’s no indication of where these dates come from. A little more googling found an amazon listing with a photo of the title page that says “reprinted 1946”. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Pictorial-Guide-Modern-Home-Needlecraft/dp/B000KC4RKC
I wonder if the 1900 date is an error and the 1938 date is the 1st edition?
I also thought it was interesting that one of the archive.org copies was published by “The Times of India Bombay and Calcutta” rather than Odhams of London. A well travelled book?
Flipping through the book, a lot of the info seems familiar. I guess styles may change, but drafting (and fit and sewing techniques) do indeed stay the same.
Just thought I’d share what I found!
Thanks for sharing these links – I didn’t think to delve further for online copies, as I came across the 1920s book by chance just before I hit publish. The Pictorial Guide online looks like updated versions of the one I have – I would say 1900 is a typo.
Lovely. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for reading, Marjorie 🙂
I love technical books from the early part of the 20th Century. Technical books from the WWII era are especially valuable!
Although I don’t do much sewing, looking through well illustrated books on pattern design and making teach much about working with various cloths and materials. Encyclopedic books on sewing are fun and instructive.
Your articles, Liz, are well written and easy to follow.
Love me a technical book! Interesting: the WW2 ones have much bigger sections on clothes refashioning, mending, clothes care, etc which got dropped from books 20+ years later.
Oh, how jolly to riffle through the pages of your books with you!
Even home economic textbooks from before 1900 can reveal useful knowledge about how to approach drafting, sewing, and fitting garments. Perhaps that knowledge is more practical to a theatrical costumer than to an everyday-stitcher. Still, it’s fun to look at the old photos and diagrams.
I can tell you I had a very jolly time going through them! All contained knowledge that is still useful, even the oldest ones.
Thanks for these two articles, I really enjoyed them! I also have a Museum Section, but it’s almost completely dedicated to embroidery, with one book about lace given by my teacher when I was 6 (it’s at my parent’s place, I should check how old it is because it definitely LOOKS old)!
There are some who say a Museum Section is an essential part of every craft library:) An embroidery one sounds great, as those techniques are always relevant.
Thanks for sharing these books. I was curious, so I thought I’d see if there were copies available from the library at archive.org. Looks like there are copies of Talbot’s A Complete Book of Sewing available to borrow, and also 3 copies of The Pictorial Guide to Modern Home Needlecraft available to borrow.
https://archive.org/details/texts?tab=collection&query=pictorial+guide+to+modern+home+needlecraft
I couldn’t find any dates as I looked through the copies of the Pictorial Guide, but the data entries for the archive give dates of 1900, 1938, and 1946 – there’s no indication of where these dates come from. A little more googling found an amazon listing with a photo of the title page that says “reprinted 1946”.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Pictorial-Guide-Modern-Home-Needlecraft/dp/B000KC4RKC
I wonder if the 1900 date is an error and the 1938 date is the 1st edition?
I also thought it was interesting that one of the archive.org copies was published by “The Times of India Bombay and Calcutta” rather than Odhams of London. A well travelled book?
Flipping through the book, a lot of the info seems familiar. I guess styles may change, but drafting (and fit and sewing techniques) do indeed stay the same.
Just thought I’d share what I found!
Thanks for sharing these links – I didn’t think to delve further for online copies, as I came across the 1920s book by chance just before I hit publish. The Pictorial Guide online looks like updated versions of the one I have – I would say 1900 is a typo.