On the Margins: Theorizing the History and Significance of Making and Designing Clothes at Home

‘The work of masculine fingers’: the Disabled Soldiers’ Embroidery Industry, 1918–1955

“…105 During the first few decades of the twentieth century the Disabled Soldiers' Embroidery Industry seemed to be in the ferment of British design and surely '[i]t is this interconnectedness which places a responsibility on us to construct historical accounts which address the gaps, the silences and the margins of our disciplines.' 106 NOTES…”

Women’s motivations to sew clothing for themselves

“…The sentiments expressed by the women of this study echoed that of third-wave feminists who reclaimed fiber-related handcraft as a leisure activity (Chansky, 2010;Rowe-Finkbeiner, 2004;Stalp, 2015). The decision these women made to use their leisure time to sew was a deliberately made choice (Chansky, 2010) with no economic or societal pressures evident, as in previous generations (Buckley, 1999;Burman, 1999;Gordon, 2004Gordon, , 2009Hackney, 1999;McLean, 2005). Although none of the women in the study identified themselves as feminists, they held views similar to third-wave feminists as they used their sewing as a creative outlet and an opportunity to express their individuality.…”

“…The limited qualitative research on home sewing has focused on retrospective understandings of the impacts and meanings of women's home sewing in the last decades of the 19th and first half of the 20th centuries. Of the studies on home sewing, only four used theories to explain their results; these theories included the theory of patterned participation (Dorhan, 1987), Toffler's thesis and prosumerism (Kean & Levin, 1989), feminist design theory (Buckley, 1999), and feminist theories on identity construction and material culture and identity (McLean, 2005).…”

“…The findings of qualitative studies revealed many of the same economic factors for women sewing: that sewing was a way for women to possess items that they could not afford to purchase and provided a way for them to present themselves and their families in socially acceptable clothing (Buckley, 1999;Burman, 1999Gordon, 2004Hackney, 1999;McLean, 2005). Furthermore, the researchers in these studies looked closer at women's sewing practices; they found that sewing was an opportunity for women to be creative and the findings revealed the role that sewing garments had on the identity construction of women (McLean, 2005).…”

“…These behaviors are comparable to the upscale sewing consumer segment, identified by Kean and Levin (1989), whose interest was in creating unique high quality clothing items as opposed to purchasing them. Previous qualitative researchers who looked at women's sewing in the last decades of the 19th and first half of the 20th century indicated that sewing was used by women as a means of control over self-presentation (Buckley, 1999;Burman, 1999;Gordon, 2004Gordon, , 2009Hackney, 1999;McLean, 2005). Yet those women's sewing practices were undertaken out of economic need to insure their appearance was presented in a socially acceptable manner when they didn't have the option of buying their garments (Buckley, 1999;Burman, 1999;Gordon, 2004Gordon, , 2009Hackney, 1999;McLean, 2005).…”