Unraveled: Sewing Then and Now and Then

by Megan Dougherty

It’s easy to forget how far we’ve come as quilters and crafters and to take for granted the advances we enjoy in the modern age. I thought it would be interesting to take a look back at what some of our foremothers and forefathers had to endure in order to create and obtain quilts, clothes, and other sewn items and compare that to the ease of the 21st century sewist.

1850s
Then: “Maisie, go saddle up Old Paint and ride around to all the farms to tell the womenfolk I got a quilt pattern from the mercantile. If everybody rips off some calico from their Sunday frocks we can make a wedding quilt for Reverend Zeke’s new bride before the winter blizzards set in. Take your pa’s gun and we’ll see you in a month or two if the wolves don’t get you.”

Now: “You got an Evite!”

1900s
Then: “Why, yes, this new Singer sewing machine is a marvel, isn’t it? All you have to do is hook up a belt to a team of oxen and feed some coal into this oven here, and then crank this very heavy cast iron handle while one of the children runs the material under the needle. Perhaps with the extra money I make from taking in mending I can finally go to that sanitarium for my consumption!”

Now: “Hey, this new Janome has a cappuccino maker! Sweet!”

1930s
Then: “How did I make this quilt? Well now, let’s see. My sister Janie had a pattern that she saved out of the newspaper. They had a weekly column with a different piece of the pattern each week and she cut out and saved every one. Then, of course the twisters came, and blew away all those little pieces of paper and Janie too, so I had to just try and remember what it looked like. I drew my own pattern on the backs of these foreclosure notices from the bank. “

Now: “So, I can download this PDF pattern on my computer, my iPad, or my Kindle, but not my Android? Lame.”

1960s
Then: “Check out this groovy quilt I bought from that chick out of her VW van in the parking lot of the Dead show last weekend. She wanted fifty bucks for it, but all I had was some weed and a bandana soaked in Jerry Garcia’s sweat. But then I told her I was in second grade with the drummer for Moby Grape and I thought I could get her backstage to meet the band at the Monterey Pop Festival, so we’re going to meet up there after she visits her friend Squeaky at some ranch in Topanga Canyon.”

Now: “Thank you for using PayPal!”

1980s
Then: “Quilting fabric? Sure, we have a new section for quilting fabric right over here in this dimly lit corner. Don’t trip over those rat traps. Now here’s the blue section and here’s the brown section. We’ll probably add a yellow section sometime next year if there’s enough demand for it. Just be sure not to light up your Virginia Slims too close to these babies or you’ll probably die from the toxic gasses after it melts into a tar-like substance that’ll never come out of your carpets. I’m afraid we don’t carry any of those ‘rotary cutters’ you were asking about, but maybe your husband has a radial arm saw you could use?”

Now: “Look! I just got some organic fair trade fabric in the exact shade of the fur under my cat’s nose! Now I’m going to upload this graphic I made of my husband’s elbow to Spoonflower!”

Of course, no look at the past and present would be complete without a glimpse into the future:

Now: “I need to update my Facebook status and tell everyone about the quilt I just finished, then I’m going to tweet about it with the hashtag #sexyquiltersrock and see if I can get Ashton Kutcher to follow me. Then I’m going to have a doughnut.”

2112
Then: “I need to get the mood enhancement module in my iSew repaired, but I can’t do that until the Steve Jobs clone is back online. Instead I guess I’ll plug my 3-D fabric rendering unit into the jack in the back of my skull and create a dream quilt while I sleep. Or maybe I’ll just have a doughnut.”

(Note: Once again, we emphasize that Megan makes all this stuff up. At least she says she does. You can see more stuff she makes up, and a lot she doesn’t, at her not-always-safe-for-work blog, The Bitchy Stitcher.)