"Make it yourself" : home sewing, gender, and culture, 1890-1930

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Gordon, Sarah A., Author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Sewing--History--19th century--United States.

Sewing.

Sewing--History--20th century--United States.

Home economics--History--19th century--United States.

Home economics.

Home economics--History--20th Century--United States.

Sex role--United States--History--19th century.

Sex role.

United States--Social life and customs.

United States.

Other Title:

"Make It Yourself"

Place of Publication:

[Place of publication not identified] Columbia University Press 2009

Language Note:

English

Contents:

Introduction

[Intro]

Historiography

Sources

Chapter Overview

Chapter One: “Sewed Considerable”: Home Sewing and the Meanings of Women's Domestic Work

“Women Just Sewed”

Economy

Meeting Standards

Farm Culture

Good Wives

Caring Mothers

Helpful Neighbors and Citizens

Conclusion

Chapter Two: “Boundless Possibilities”

More than Pin Money

Pleasure in Sewing

“Clothes that are mine”

Making Over

Challenging and Asserting Respectability

Masking – or Highlighting – Ethnic and Class Distinctions

Chapter Three: “When Mother Lets Us Sew”: Girls, Sewing, and Femininity

Learning at Home

Schools, Race, and Class

Settlement Houses, Scouting, and Clubs

Know How To…

“How I hate sewing!”

Chapter Four: Commodifying “Domestic Virtues”: Business and Home Sewing

Sewing and the U.S. Economy

Textiles

Sewing Machines

Tissue Paper Patterns

Magazines and Books

Facing the Changes in Home Sewing

New Business Strategies

Chapter Five: Clothing for Sport: Home Sewing as a Laboratory for New Standards

Changing Views of Women and Sport

What to Wear?

Emancipation and Trepidation

“Any Desired Length”

Changing Definitions of Modesty

Epilogue

Interviews

Susan Sews a Skirt

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph