Sewed muslin
Sewed muslin was a fashion imported from Paris in the late 18th century. Related to tambour lace, it was worked on very fine muslin, and used a variety of stitches to create motifs, usually depicting flowers and plants (hence its other name, flowered muslin).
Sewed muslin industry in Scotland
A notable developer of the industry in Scotland was
In 1791, the industry provided (often part-time) employment to as many as 105,000 women and children in Scotland, or approximately 86% of the entire workforce.[2] The impact of the industry on the local population was noted by the minister of Houston, Renfrewshire in the 1790s, when he wrote that it allowed many young women "not only [to] maintain themselves, but [to] buy fineries."[3]
The muslins used in this industry came largely from local mills: the first cotton mills had been built in west Scotland in the 1770s, and by the 1780s the quality was high enough to supply the demand for fine white muslins, which became de rigueur to achieve the neo-classical style of dress.[4]
The Ayrshire whitework industry was a victim of its own success, starting to decline from the 1830s onwards, after the patenting of the first
Sewed muslin from the wider Glasgow area came to be known as Ayrshire whitework, and is extremely similar to French whitework.[6] The main difference between them is that French whitework is usually worked on cambric rather than muslin.[7]
References
- ^ Margaret Swain, Ayrshire and Other Whitework (Shire Publications, 2001), p. 15.
- ^ Anthony Cooke, The Rise and Fall of the Scottish Cotton Industry, 1778-1914 (Manchester University Press, 2010), p. 42-3.
- ^ Margaret Swain, Scottish Embroidery: Medieval to Modern (BT Batsford, 1986), p. 97.
- ^ Heather Toomer, Embroidered With White (Heather Toomer Antique Lace, 2008), p. 106.
- ^ Margaret Swain, Scottish Embroidery: Medieval to Modern (BT Batsford, 1986), p. 21.
- ^ "Ayrshire whitework". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 28 March 2017.
- ^ Margaret Swain, Scottish Embroidery: Medieval to Modern (BT Batsford, 1986), p. 21.