1870s Projects
Embroidered Boot and Shoe-bag.
This ornamental shoe-bag is made of paste-board and grey linen, ornamented with a braiding of twine sewn on with blue wool in overcast stitches according to Fig. 2.
The edges are trimmed with a crochet fringe of blue wool and grey thread. The bag is supported by a thick cane across the top, to which are attached the
cords and rings by which the bag is hung up. The ends of the cane are ornamented with dark blue worsted balls, and worsted tassels are attached to the
suspending cords.
Begin with the back of the bag, which consists of stiff pasteboard twenty-four inches long and fourteen inches wide, sloped off towards the bottom, where
it is only sixteen inches long. Cover it on both sides with grey linen cut on the cross, leaving the linen eleven inches longer than the
pasteboard at the top to form the flap. Stitch the linen together just above the pasteboard, and work eyelet-holes with blue wool along
the top. Then embroider the pattern with string and wool on the upper layer of linen according to Fig. 2.
Now cut a double piece of crossway gray linen, forty-eight inches long and twelve inches deep, sloping it off at the ends to the length
of forty-four inches, and towards the middle to a depth of eleven inches. Arrange the bottom in five double plaits of equal size for the five
pockets or divisions, stitch the bottom and the sides to the back, and separate the pockets by stitching the linen between the plaits to the
pasteboard back.
Pass four cords, about thirty inches long, doubled in half, through the eyelet-holes in the linen, leaving a loop to receive the stitch,
and fastening them underneath the flap, where they are carried down between the pockets, and the ends secured at the bottom. Sew
on a fringe, and then proceed to arrange the cords and rings. First take a brass ring an inch and three-quarters in diameter,
work it over with thick blue cord, leaving loops eight inches long for tassels. Over this thick cord, which connects the
smaller rings, work with thinner blue cord around the rings, keeping one end of the thick cord on one side, the other end
on the opposite side of the rings as you proceed. Place the rings about an inch and a half apart according Fig. 1, and tie the ends
of the cords to the cane, which is covered with linen, passed through the loops of cord along the top of the bag, and
furnished with worsted balls at the ends. Sew on the tassels of grey thread with blue worsted balls according to the illustration.
Day dress usually had long sleeves,
fairly fitted to the arm. For day wear one-piece dresses in silk or cotton (lingerie dresses with lots of lace trim),
blouses and skirts, jackets with matching jumpers or skirts were all popular.
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