Miss Prim starts the Redwork Embroidery Lesson

Miss Prim has been hard at work preparing the lesson on Redwork Embroidery, the history and how it ties in with Schoenhut Miss Dolly & Friends.

A SHORT HISTORY TO INTRODUCE STUDENTS TO THE TECHNIQUE

For hundreds of years red was a popular colour, but because it was expensive to make, it was only worn and used for decoration by wealthy people. In 1829 a better process for dyeing red was created and it didn’t fade when washed and was cheaper to make. People who were not wealthy could now afford fabrics and threads in beautiful red shades.

Gradually embroidery became more and more popular and women decorated many household items with embroidery, including bed and table linens, quilts, dish towels, children’s and doll’s clothes, pillows and chair cushions, aprons, and small bags and purses. Magazines sold patterns for these designs inexpensively and large companies had catalogues with thousands of patterns to buy. It was natural for the trendy new red thread to be made up into such decorative objects, and as it became more and more fashionable, more and more patterns were published and sold.

By 1880 another man-made red dye was developed and that made this colour even cheaper to make and more popular and available for needlework designs. The contrast of bright red against a white background using plain lines and basic embroidery could be used for any picture and subject. Nursery rhymes, and figures from books like Alice in Wonderland and books by Kate Greenaway were very popular for children’s items and quilts, as were motifs of pets, flowers, and insects or animals from the natural world. 

At the same time as redwork was enjoying popularity, the Schoenhut company was making wooden toys from 1872 to 1935. In 1911 they made and sold their first wooden Schoenhut doll. By 1915 they had acquired many designs for different child and baby dolls, which sold well for a time. They did not make dolls after 1924 and the company’s heyday for doll sales matches the time that redwork was such a fad in needlework. It is quite possible that little girls learning to sew and embroider between 1911 and 1924 would have made clothes and accessories decorated with redwork for their dolls, and maybe even small quilts and pillows for Miss Dolly’s bed.

She gives them a list of materials needed:

MATERIALS LIST

- 1 skein DMC Cotton Embroidery Floss in red colour #304 or #321
- Embroidery needle #8 or similar sharp needle
- Cotton fabric (quilting cotton works well) – a scrap about 7 inches square in a solid light colour or very light print
- Round wooden embroidery hoop measuring 4 to 6 inches across.
- Line art approximately 2.5 inches to use an an embroidery motif. Printed on paper. Colouring book pictures work well as they are fairly simple and don’t have too many details.
- Template of cardboard 3.5” square or 3” square depending on what size cushion you are making.
- 2H pencil for tracing
- Masking tape

She shows them an embroidery hoop and floss.

Miss Prim explains in great detail the various vocabulary and terms.

The girls all being quite young are a little bit confused, but they have all been given notes as reminders.

(A copy of the Vocabulary and Terms will be on the Redwork Embroidery Lesson Plan page.)

Miss Prim is very thorough in everything she does.

She shows them some more examples...

Miss Prim shows the girls how the strand can be divided into six parts.

To be continued....