I've been invited to join a group of volunteer docents at a
local museum who dress up in historical outfits and perform tasks appropriate
to the people they would have been around the time of the Civil War.
Most people don't know the history of textiles, but I've got
a good understanding of the history of spinning, weaving, natural dyeing, and
sewing of textiles. I also have a good
understanding of both knitting and crocheting.
The friend who works at the museum wants me to demonstrate spindle
spinning, which was a common skill that everyone, male and female, learned from
an early age. "No idle hands"
was a phrase I've heard was often told.
That being said, while I don't have the time to volunteer, I
can contribute for the sake of my friend--small handmade purses have been
popular for centuries, but there are certain restrictions for the period of
time I'm looking at. Purses of the
Civil War era were called "reticules", and were not nearly as
substantial as they are today. They
were made of plain cotton or linen fabric, silk, satin, or velvet, and they
could be plain, embellished with intricate embroidery, crocheted Irish lace, or
even an all over beaded pattern that may have only randomly placed beads, regularly
placed loops of beads, or an all over pattern that makes a picture--there are
many surviving patterns and samples from that time.
However, if you want a piece that's historically accurate,
you need to know a few things. Most
patterns called for "bunches of beads", "purse twist", and
if a needle or hook size was indicated, it's nothing like the needles we have
today. Most crochet patterns only say
to use an appropriate size hook, which is no problem. I'm experienced enough and have enough hooks that I can look at
thread or yarn and make a fairly educated guess as to which size I'll
need. However, obtaining "purse
twist" and "bunches of beads" and figuring out knitting needle
size is needed took more research.
Purse twist was made of silk.
Some people are selling old stock of "purse twist" online, and
in order to find the right size of silk thread, you have to know that
"purse twist", a tightly spun and plied thread, was made of three plies
and came 150 yards to a half-ounce spool.
Gudebrod sold silk beading thread for many years, but they stopped making
it in recent years, though some spools are still available at some sellers, but
there is at least one other supplier who sells silk thread on spools. Theirs also comes in different sizes, and I
picked the one that most closely matched my need, 140 yards to a half-ounce
spool. I also found a bead seller
selling old stock of "bunches of beads" that listed one bunch of
beads as containing 1200 beads. I found
an old conversion chart for knitting needles and found that size 20 steel
needles are 0.875 mm in diameter, which is smaller than today's 5-0/1.0 mm
steel needles and larger than the 6-0/0.75 mm and 8-0/0.5 mm. However, since the thread I'm planning on
using is slightly thicker than what was historically available, I figure 5-0
needles should work fine for a knitted project. Knowing all this, I can now make a fairly accurate reproduction
from an old pattern.
Meanwhile, until I find the time to start such an ambitious
project as an all over beaded purse, I'm working on a much simpler Irish lace
pattern using a 0.75 mm hook and very fine thread.
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