Sew Sew (yawn) Sewing Susan
I apologize right from the start if you think this post is monotonous. I would totally agree with you. I have umpteen kazillions of these among my collection of needlebooks.
I apologize right from the start if you think this post is monotonous. I would totally agree with you. I have umpteen kazillions of these among my collection of needlebooks.
I am sure that these are nothing new to just about all of you. However, I felt it was one of those posts that was necessary. I would say "seen one, seen them all". But on closer inspection, they are not all the same. I will invite you to spot the differences. (And be thankful that I didn't put every book in with different "types and amounts" of needles!)
(Don't forget to click on picture for larger image)
Below - inside one of the "Sewing Susans"
Below - We move on to the next group of sewing ladies.
These are the newest needlebooks of the group.
Below - Sewing Circle and Sewing Club
I welcome all readers who are able to date any of these books for me. We know that they are Made in Japan going by the covers and the needle threaders.
Still more needlebooks to come!
5 comments:
Now I'll have to go check which one I have.
You have to wonder why they bothered making such tiny changes to the artwork. Hardly seems worth the effort really.
Remember that the one I gave you is a mint condition needlebook.
I suppose that they wanted to keep up with the times - was it cheaper to make small changes than to create a whole new look?...there is no logic in that either, when there are those similar sets anyway!!??
I didn't put up all of the sewing susans - there are others with different amounts of needles as well as different types ie: gold eye or silver eye or both!
I'm fascinated at the huge variety, as well as the amount of thought and care that went into the pictures on these needlebooks. Seriously, they could have made them all unbleached cardboard. And the handmade ones you displayed in earlier posts could have just been a folded bit of old cloth, stuck with needles and tied up with string. And yet people took time in lives filled with many more time-consuming chores to make things pretty!
There has always been a bit of discussion about whether fibre arts count as art or not. I see things like needlebooks, and handmade things for the home in general, as showing a longing for beauty in everyday life. Somehow that seems to have gone missing in a lot of modern Western culture, with its emphasis on streamlining and efficiency.
Oops, that was a bit of a rant, but other posts in the blogosphere have had me thinking about these things lately :)
I would say that anything that is created is an art...and we have shows to display the work, competitions and awards, work displayed in museums, work that is going up in value, artist-created bears, dolls, garments, and now I have noticed artist-created pincushions. As far as I am concerned, artists, painters, and needleworkers are all in the same league.
I did have one of these in the late 1950s, early 1960s. Will look again at them (mine is long gone), to see if I can pick it - think it would be the most modern.
And, have just found you lurking on the State Library page. I thought "I know her!". Featured collection, too. Congratulations!
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