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FROM the remotest antiquity
ladies have delighted in ornamenting articles of dress by means of the
needle. The Egyptians acquired great celebrity in the art of embroidering
the linen coverings of their bodies and of the furniture in their houses.
Herodotus speaks in the highest terms of the delicacy and beauty of the fine
linen and embroidery of Egypt, and describes a linen corselet presented by
Amasis, King of Egypt, to the King of the Lacedmonians. The corselet was
ornamented with numerous figures of animals worked in gold and cotton. The
Egyptians, indeed, would appear to have had a passion for embroidering, for
it is stated that even the sails of their pleasure-boats were elaborately
decorated with work of that kind. The vestments used in the Greek Church
have from an early period been gorgeously embroidered, and in the
Anglo-Saxon Church the same fashion prevailed. The talent displayed. by the
Anglo-Saxon ladies, and their devotion to the ornamentation of their
churches and ministers, were inherited by the Normans, by whom some
remarkable pieces of work were produced. The Queen of William the Conquerer
sewed the famous Bayeux Tapestry, which is one of the most interesting
historic works of the kind. It became customary for persons to give proof of
their piety by executing needle-work for the service of the Church; and the
quantity of such gifts possessed by the cathedrals and churches of England
prior to the Reformation was enormous. In Lincoln Cathedral alone there were
upwards of 600 vestments of costly cloth, ornamented with divers kinds of
needlework, jewellery, and gold. Some of these were worth about L.400 each.
In Eastern countries embroidering in the rich style referred to is still
practised; but in Europe, except in the case of the gorgeous vestments still
in use for the services of the Roman Catholic Church, only a few simple
forms of the art are practised, and these are almost entirely limited to the
clothing of ladies and children, and to certain articles of furniture.
In the end of last century
the embroidering of muslin was adopted as a fashionable recreation by ladies
in this country. The sewed muslin was a cheap and beautiful substitute for
lace, and there was practically no limit to the variety of designs. At first
the patterns generally were crude and inartistic; but as taste improved the
beauty of the stitching was enhanced by the elegance of the designs. In
course of time the embroidering of muslin became a favourite occupation for
spare hours with all classes. In the early years of this century it was made
a branch of manufacture by some enterprising men in Glasgow, and it is in
that connection that it claims notice here. The pioneers of the trade began
operations at a time when many women who had depended on the spinning wheel
for a living were thrown out of work by the introduction of spinning
machinery. There was, consequently, an abundance of willing hands ready to
accept the new employment. The manufacturers had to proceed with caution,
however, and make certain of a market before they embarked to any great
extent in the venture; and it was, therefore, some years before the trade
assumed much importance. Up till 1825 only two or three firms were engaged
in it, but these gave employment to many hands. The work was given out to
the women to be executed in their own homes. The lasses of Ayrshire showed
great aptitude for embroidering, and soon made a name for the excellence of
their work—indeed, for a long time the embroidered muslins were sold in the
home and foreign markets as "Ayrshire needle-work." In various parts of the
county schools for teaching muslin-sewing were established. Three months
were considered a fair period for training a girl; and when that term
expired the pupil usually began to receive payment for her work, remaining
in the school, however, for some time until she attained a certain degree of
proficiency. When she began to receive payment for her work, a charge of 2d.
or 3d. a-week was made for school-rent, or, as it was called, "stool-room."
Among the earliest firms in
the trade were Messrs John Mair & Co., of Glasgow, and Messrs Brown, Sharp,
& Co., of Paisley, whose representatives still hold a high position for the
excellence of their productions. The founders of these firms did much to
establish muslin sewing as a permanent branch of industry in the country. It
was their custom to visit their workers, who resided chiefly in Ayrshire,
once a-year, in order to ascertain how they were getting on, and to
encourage the young people, by kind words and gifts, to strive to attain
excellence in the use of their needles. This system had a most beneficial
effect, and did much to maintain the celebrity of the Ayrshire muslin
sewers. When flax-spinning ceased to be a domestic occupation female labour
became very cheap in Ireland, and some of the Glasgow sewed muslin
manufacturers took advantage of that circumstance, and sent agents into the
north of Ireland in order to test the possibility of having the work done as
well and at a cheaper rate than was being paid to the Scotch sewers. The
experiment proved successful, and about the year 1830 the Irish work began
to compete successfully with .the Scotch. In order to ameliorate to some
extent the condition of the female population in the north of Ireland,
philanthropists of all religions aided in establishing training-schools to
teach the poor girls how to sew, and a number of Scotch women were employed
as teachers. A firm in Donaghadee—Messrs Cochrane & Browns—became known as
the best and cheapest makers of sowed muslins in the United Kingdom; and
when they removed their head-quarters to Glasgow about thirty- eight years
ago, they were the most extensive in the trade. It was a member of this firm
who in 1837 adapted the lithographic press to printing the outlines of the
designs on the muslin. Formerly the patterns were impressed by blocks worked
by hand. The blocks were necessarily of small size, and the process of
printing large articles, such as ladies' dresses and babies' robes, was a
slow one; and as the engraving of the blocks was expensive, the variety of
designs was limited. All that was changed by the lithographic process, and a
great impetus was given to the trade. The cost of production being reduced,
the goods were sold at a cheaper rate, and an enormous demand was created
for them not only at home, but in Europe and America. The United States
merchants took large quantities, and have all along been the most extensive
purchasers. Those of France, Russia, and Germany have also been buyers for
many years past. Between the years 1845 and 1857 the trade extended rapidly,
and in the last-named year reached the summit of its prosperity. By that
time no town in the north of Ireland, from Derry to Dublin on one hand, and
from Belfast to Sligo on the other, was without its sewing-agent, and in
some towns five or six agents were required.
The sewed muslin trade went
on increasing steadily from the outset till the year 1857. There were
periods of depression, it is true, arising from changes of fashion and other
causes, but they were brief, and when they passed the trade went on with
renewed vigour. The profits were sufficient to induce a large number of
persons to embark in the business, and keen competition prevailed. After the
potato blight in Ireland, labour became cheaper than ever in that country,
and the Glasgow manufacturers gave employment to many thousands of the
people. The demand for the sewed muslins kept pace with the supply for a
time; but at length stocks began to accumulate, and it became apparent that
a crisis was inevitable. A recent writer on the subject says:—"Public
opinion said some of the houses could not afford to stop, and when the old
markets were filled to repletion, consignments to new markets became common;
and although it may be doubtful whether those consignments ever brought a
profit to the consignees, they nevertheless created a taste for the goods
where it did not before exist, and that had a beneficial effect which
endures to this day." Messrs D. & J. M'Donald shot far ahead of all
competitors in the extent of their business. They built a palatial warehouse
in one of the principal streets of Glasgow; and when at the height of their
prosperity they employed in that establishment 1500 men and 500 women, while
between 20,000 and 30,000 needlewomen in the west of Scotland and north of
Ireland were engaged in sewing for them. It was no unusual thing for the
firm to pay L.15,000 a-month to their Irish agents and sewers alone. The
value of the sewed muslin sent into the market by Messrs M`Donald was
estimated at not less than L.500,000 a-year. The commercial crisis which
began in America in the autumn of 1857 extended with crushing effect to the
sewed muslin trade in this country, and some of the firms, including Messrs
M‘Donald, succumbed. The trade continued stagnant for a considerable time
after that disastrous year. Manufacturers who withstood the shock found
themselves with vast stocks on hand, for which no purchasers could be got,
as the retailers were waiting until the stocks of the bankrupt firms were
brought into the market. When the sales came, the prices were exceedingly
low, and the retailers were enabled to sell the goods at little more than
half the price that could have been obtained before the crisis. Sewed muslin
was thus placed within the reach of purchasers of the poorest class; and the
result was that the article ceased to be fashionable in the upper and middle
classes of society. A prosperous trade had thus been ruined by the
injudicious operations of some of those engaged in it; and though some
improvement has taken place recently, the value of the sewed muslin goods
produced in Scotland and Ireland is not one-half of what it was in 1857 and
a few preceding years. As might have been expected, the sudden withdrawal of
such a large amount of work caused much hardship among the Irish girls who
had been engaged in it, many thousands of whom were thrown idle. In
Ayrshire, also, the effects of the disaster were keenly felt.
The mode in which the trade
is conducted is this :—The muslin is prepared for the sewers at the
headquarters of the manufacturer. It is received in an unbleached state, and
is cut up into certain lengths, on each of which is printed the design for
one or several articles according to their size. The artist who supplies the
designs draws them out carefully in full detail. The drawings are then
passed to copiers to take off the outlines on transfer paper, and from that
an impression is taken on a stone for the lithographic press. Most of the
designers have been trained at the School of Arts, and their productions
show a great advance on some of the early work. There is considerable scope
for variety of designs, and many of those produced are remarkable both for
their intricacy and for their exquisite beauty. The largest pieces at
present in vogue are baby robes, for which the sewed muslins and cambrics
are admirably adapted. The cloth for insertions and trimmings has the design
printed on it by means of a small engraved cylinder of wood, fixed in a hand
machine bearing a self-inking apparatus. This machine is called a "monkey,"
and is worked by a girl, who, after stretching on a table a piece of cloth
about three yards in length, passes the "monkey" over it from end to end,
leaving a certain space between each impression. On every piece of cloth is
printed the number of the pattern, the number of days allowed for sewing it,
and the price to be paid provided the work be well done. The cloth is
divided into portions suitable for distribution among the sewers, and is
then made up into parcels, along with the thread required to sew it, for
transmission to the agents, who are stationed in convenient localities. At
first the Scotch manufacturers sent over men to Ireland to act as agents,
but latterly most of the agency work has been done by natives. In some cases
the agents are paid fixed salaries, and in others receive a commission of
about 7i per cent. on the amount of money which they pay to the workers.
Their duty is to receive the prepared cloth from headquarters and find women
to sew it, taking care to select the best hands for the finest work. They
are responsible to a certain extent for the quality of the work, and the
sewers are punished for faults by being paid less than the promised price
when they do not exercise sufficient care. On the other hand, should the
work be done in a superior way, something more than the ordinary price is
paid. There is a slight difference between the modes in which the Scotch and
Irish agents act. The Scotch agent is usually within a convenient distance
of headquarters, and before the sewers receive payment their work is sent
thither, and the price fixed. In Ireland such a system would be
inconvenient, and there the agent judges of the merit of the work, and pays
accordingly. When the sewing is completed, the agent returns the cloth to
head-quarters. On opening the parcels, it is found that almost every piece
of cloth is besmudged with smoke and grease, and that the whole is odorous
of a compound of "peat-reek" and bacon. This insanitary condition of the
goods is explained by the fact that most of the women who sew are the home
workers of their respective households, and have to relinquish the needle
whenever there is cooking or cleaning to do, and snatch it up again when the
interrupting job is completed. Their hands are thus frequently soiled as
well as their clothing; and when to that is added the palpable atmosphere of
an Irish cabin, the state in which the goods arrive is easily accounted for.
In the warehouse the separate pieces of work are stitched together in webs
and sent to the bleach-field, whence they return as pure as snow. The
various articles are then cut out, finished, and dressed, when they are
ready for the market.
About fifty firms in Glasgow
are engaged in the trade. The census return for 1861 showed that there were
in Scotland at that time 7224 women engaged in embroidering muslin; and as
that return was made at a time when the trade was still suffering from the
effects of the crisis of 1857, it is probable that the number at present
employed will not be under 10,000. The occupation is a sedentary one; and in
order to make good wages, the sewers have to apply themselves closely to it.
About thirty years ago it required from fourteen to sixteen hours' work a
day to make 12s. a week; and the writers of the " Statistical Account of
Aryshire " at that time refer to the occupation as being tedious and
unhealthy. One describes it as "an employment which, in most instances,
unfits women for other occupations, and, besides, it frequently injures
their health, and leaves them very helpless, when they get houses of their
own, as to the management of their domestic concerns." It was said to have a
prejudicial effect upon the chest and the eyes. The scale of payments is
lower than it was prior to 1857; but many women who are not robust enough
for factory work find muslin sewing to be a light and convenient, if not
very remunerative occupation.
Many ingenious attempts have been made to supersede hand-sewing in the
flowering, sprigging, and pointing of muslin, but as yet no thoroughly
efficient piece of mechanism has been produced. The most successful attempt
was made by M. Heflmann, of Mulhausen, whose embroidering machine, though
limited to a particular kind of work, effects a great saving of labour. It
is chiefly adapted to figuring muslin window-curtains, and similar work. The
machine is thus described in "Chambers's Encyclopaedia:"—"Although the
details of the construction of this machine are rather complex, the
principle of its action may be easily understood. The needles have their
eyes in the middle, and are pointed at each end, so that they may pass
through from one side of the work to the other without being turned. Each
needle is worked by two pair of artificial fingers or pincers, one on each
side of the work; they grasp and push the needle through from one side to
the other. A carriage or frame connected with each series of fingers does
the work of the arm, by carrying the fingers to a distance corresponding to
the whole length of the thread, as soon as the needle has passed completely
through the work. The frame then returns to exactly its original place, and
the needles are again passed through to the opposite set of fingers, which
act in like manner. If the work were to remain stationary, the needles would
thus pass merely backwards and forwards through the same hole, and make no
stitch; but by moving the work as this action proceeds, stitches will be
made, their length and direction varying with the velocity and the direction
in which the work moves. If 140 needles were working, and the fabric was
moved in a straight line, 140 rows of stitching would be made; if the work
made a circular movement, 140 circles would be embroidered; and so on. In
order, then, to produce repetitions of any given design, it is only
necessary to move the fabric in directions corresponding to the lines of the
design. This is done by connecting the frame on which the work is fixed to
an apparatus similar to a common pantagraph, or instrument so constructed
that one end repeats on a smaller scale exactly the movements which are
given to the other. The free end of this is moved over an enlarged copy of
the design, the movement being a succession of steps, made after each set of
needles has passed through; and thus the work is moved into the position
required to receive the next stitch of the pattern." |
