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Dear #HistoricalSewing -verse, have you ever stumbled on late victorian / early 1900s instructions on how to sew knit fabric at home?

I don't think I have, and all of the references to knit garments I can think of are of things that one would buy ready made, and thus sewn in an industrial setting.

Which is not any kind of proof that people weren't sewing their own knit underwear at home, of course.

#historicalCostuming

#historicalcostuming #HistoricalSewing
in reply to Elena ``of Valhalla''

Simon Lucy
Simon Lucy
• •
Start at the V&A https://www.vam.ac.uk/articles/the-history-of-hand-knitting and then see at archive.org for patterns. https://archive.org/details/victorianknittingmanuals

The history of hand-knitting · V&A

Discover the history of hand-knitting through eleven fascinating objects
Victoria and Albert Museum
in reply to Simon Lucy

Elena ``of Valhalla''
Elena ``of Valhalla''
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@Simon Lucy thanks (and I will read those links — or at least the ones I havent' seen yet :) ), but I was thinking knit fabric, the kind that you buy in a flat length, cut, and sew up, rather than garments that are knit from yarn (and shaped with increases, decreases and similar techniques).
@Simon Lucy
in reply to Elena ``of Valhalla''

Simon Lucy
Simon Lucy
• •
I realised that later :-), I'd still start with the V&A it's their thing. They have an API for searching their data https://developers.vam.ac.uk/ the Research Group might respond to email.

Collections Data

Victoria and Albert Museum
in reply to Elena ``of Valhalla''

EaterOfSnacks
EaterOfSnacks
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@simon_lucy As well as the V&A there's also the Fashion Museum in Bath. Much smaller but you never know...
@Simon Lucy
in reply to Elena ``of Valhalla''

Elena ``of Valhalla''
Elena ``of Valhalla''
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this post brought to you by me making a combination suit in a cotton knit using fully modern techniques (zig zag and 3-step zig zag) because it's underwear and nobody is going to see it, and my mind starting to wander off :D
Unknown parent

Elena ``of Valhalla''
Elena ``of Valhalla''
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@Dr Ms Cat Kat yes, knit fabric, I know of the knitting patterns for making underwear at home.

Or at least, I think that they are knit fabric, later today I'll look for the actual references, but I was thinking of knit underwear mentioned in mail order catalogues and books about healthy clothing.

@Dr Ms Cat Kat
in reply to Elena ``of Valhalla''

Elena ``of Valhalla''
Elena ``of Valhalla''
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@Dr Ms Cat Kat the things I was thinking of are like these: https://archive.org/details/cataloguefallwin00macy/page/68/mode/2up which I'm quite sure would have been made in an industrial setting.

Now that I look at them I'm not so sure that they would have been made from flat fabric and not directly on a knitting machine, but I think some sewing would have been involved (the front plackets, and the sleeves also look sewn in the drawings).

Anyway, this wouldn't really be relevant to making these things at home, except possibly for the availability (or not) of flat knit fabric (which may not have been a thing, if these things were knit directly?)

@Dr Ms Cat Kat
in reply to Elena ``of Valhalla''

Elena ``of Valhalla''
Elena ``of Valhalla''
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@Dr Ms Cat Kat the internet also provided me with https://www.kristinholt.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Union-Under-Flannel-Womens-1878-September-Catalogue-of-Novelties-and-Specialties-in-Ladies-and-Childrens-Underwear.png (ad for an union suit, based on patents from 1868 and 1878)

attributed as September 1878 Catalog of Novelties and Specialties in Ladies and Children’s Underwear on https://www.kristinholt.com/archives/5331 (which I didn't read, I only looked at the pictures and captions), which does mention “the vest and drawers are in one, being knitted together in the process of manufacture, forming a continuous garment from the neck to the wrists and ankles”, but also has a cheaper variant that is “cut and seamed”

@Dr Ms Cat Kat
Unknown parent

Elena ``of Valhalla''
Elena ``of Valhalla''
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@David de Groot I have used herringbone stitch on knits (to sew binding) and I can confirm that it works, and @Dr Ms Cat Kat reports that backstitch and overcasting work.

I don't think that sewing with a straight stitch sewing machine would work (or at least it wouldn't be durable), however (I don't know about the earlier chainstitch machines, but afaik they weren't that common late in the 1800s).

@Dr Ms Cat Kat @David de Groot
Unknown parent

Elena ``of Valhalla''
Elena ``of Valhalla''
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@Dr Ms Cat Kat I know what I'm reading after I've finished the current book-on-the-phone :)
@Dr Ms Cat Kat
in reply to Elena ``of Valhalla''

Faith Caton
Faith Caton
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I have only come across knit fabrics within lists of materials used in an object. For example https://collections.museumoflondon.org.uk/online/object/287369.html I imagine the wonderful dress and textiles people at The Museum of London might have information (in case you haven't already contacted them)

Museum of London | Free museum in London

Discover the history of London at the Museum of London, near St Paul's and Barbican. The greatest stories from the greatest city in nine galleries.
collections.museumoflondon.org.uk
in reply to Faith Caton

Faith Caton
Faith Caton
• •
my focus is earlier so I don't have much first hand experience, and I realise my link was not the right one! Still, lots of textiles for personal making in London in the early 1900s so MofL might still be a good place to find stuff out.
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