Petticoats and Ribboned Slippers: a Selection of Knitting Patterns from 1900-1909

When I wrote a post on Mad Men-inspired knitting projects back in May, my original intent was to proceed to write similar posts about my two of my other favourite period dramas: Boardwalk Empire and Downton Abbey. But when I began to research those posts the results proved so discouraging that I soon gave up the effort. There just aren't that many knitted items in Boardwalk Empire that anyone would even want to copy. Aside from a few sweaters that Margaret Schroeder Thompson wears, it's mostly very drab menswear. There are some supposedly Downton Abbey projects out there, but honestly, despite the designers' claims that they are "Downton Abbey-inspired", they're mostly quite contemporary-looking items that bear no resemblance to anything any of the characters have actually worn on the show.

However, that research wasn't entirely fruitless, because during the course of it I did get inspired with a concept for a series of posts that I'm very much looking forward to researching and writing and that I hope you'll all enjoy. I'm going to do a series of ten posts, each of which will feature a selection of ten authentic (or at least accurately rewritten) patterns from each decade of the twentieth century. This post is the first in the Twentieth Century Series and covers the years from 1900 to 1909 (yeah, yeah I know there was no "zero year" and it should be 1901 to 1910, but whatever, get over it).

I'm predicting this post will prove the hardest to write of the ten. My criteria for selecting these historical knitting patterns is that a) the patterns must date from the decade I'm writing about, b) the patterns must be readily accessible to my readers, and c) the patterns must be attractive and usable and at least somewhat distinctive by modern standards. As it happens, authentic and accessible Edwardian knitting patterns are pretty thin on the ground, or at least on the net. I could find only a few web sources, and some of those were mislabelled as being from 1900 when they were really from, say, the 1920s. For that matter sometimes patterns were labelled as Victorian patterns when they were actually Edwardian. (A number of antique pattern web curators don't seem to understand that the Victorian era ended in 1901 with the death of Queen Victoria.) There are a number of genuine Edwardian knitting pamphlets available on eBay, but I don't consider those readily procurable for my readers as they are are always in very limited supply and I can't count on any specific item still being listed in even a month's time, although individuals who are interested in authentic Edwardian patterns may have some success with shopping on eBay.

Then, many of the Edwardian patterns that do exist are unwearable or useless for today's knitters — I mean, I'm assuming you don't want leading reins for your toddlers or a frilly bonnet for yourself. There are quite a number of patterns available for plain and practical items, but I don't see why any contemporary knitter would want to struggle with the vagaries of an antique pattern only to wind up with a very basic pair of ribbed socks or gloves that are indistinguishable from something that could be made with a run-of-the-mill modern pattern. And there were some unforeseen difficulties. I had hoped to find some sharp knitted waistcoat patterns for men since those could perfectly well be worn by today's men, but it seems the common practice for knitters of men's waistcoats in Edwardian times was to knit only a patterned square and then to take the piece to a tailor to be made up into a waistcoat.

However, now that my excuses are made, here are my best findings, which I hope you at least find interesting to look at. The posts will get better as I go through the 20th century, because there will be a much better selection of patterns available. At least until I get to the 1980's, when everything was ugly.

This is a "Baby's Openwork Jacket", which can be found at page 28 (on the sidebar; actual booklet page number 23) in The Book of "Hows": or what may be done with wools in every home, published in 1900 and "edited by Miss Loch, needlework examiner to the London School Board" (which, by the way, sounds like an awesome job for a woman to have in 1900). The Book of "Hows" is a part of the Richard Rutt Collection, and may be viewed and printed off for free. I've written about the Richard Rutt Collection before. This baby's jacket looks pretty standard by today's terms. Baby clothing can have a very antique look without it looking odd, because things like cape collar dresses and lace jackets with ribbons never really went out of style for babies.

This is the "Oxford Puzzle Jacket or Hug-Me-Tight", which can be found on page 26 of The Second Book of "Hows", also published in 1900 and edited again by Miss Loch, and which is also available for free in the Richard Rutt Collection. I thought this design was very similar to the spencer jackets that are in again now. They're not the easiest thing to wear, but can work on a small-breasted woman and over a empire-waisted dress.

"Lady's slippers", found on page 38 of The Second Book of "Hows", published in 1900. It seems to have been very typical of slipper styles of the era to have ribbons run in around the top of one's slippers. It's a pretty look and it makes it possible to tighten the slippers to a snug fit.

This is a child's knitted petticoat pattern, which appeared in John Paton Son & Co.'s Knitting and Crocheting Book, 3rd edition, published in 1903. You can't buy this pattern by itself but will need to purchase the whole 286-page book from for $21.95 from Iva Rose Vintage Reproductions (obviously you get a lot of other patterns in the book for that price — you can view them all at the link provided). In Edwardian times this was a petticoat, but now of course it would be a little girl's knitted dress. I love the beautifully textured stitchwork, and can imagine in it a gorgeous hand-dyed wool. I'm tempted to make this one for my little grand-niece.

Child's cape-collared coat, which, like the petticoat/dress above, appears in John Paton Son & Co.'s Knitting and Crocheting Book, 3rd edition, published in 1903 and available from Iva Rose Vintage Reproductions for $21.95. I love the quaint look of this jacket, though it would only be worth making for some little princess who tends to dress up a lot!

This pattern is for a woman's petticoat, and it appeared in The Columbia Book of the Use of Yarns, Fifth Edition, which was published in 1904 and is available from Iva Rose Vintage Reproductions for $21.95. Some of the best and most usable Edwardian patterns are for what was then considered underwear. Edwardian petticoats and chemises make pretty contemporary skirts and tops (and can make a woman feel pleasantly risqué). In making this one I'd alter the top of the skirt a little to make sure there was no bulky gathering at the waist, but the texture and the scalloped hem will need no tweaking to look lovely.

This baby jacket appeared in The Columbia Book of the Use of Yarns, Fifth Edition, which was published in 1904 and is available from Iva Rose Vintage Reproductions for $21.95. It's a cute jacket but I suspect the pom-poms may be considered a choking hazard in an our era of significantly lowered infant mortality.

This feather-stitch flounce petticoat appeared in Weldon's Practical Knitter, No. 253, Vol. 22, published in 1906. The book is $9.95 on the Iva Rose Vintage Reproductions site, but in this case you also have the option of purchasing just this one pattern for $4.95. This is another petticoat that would make a beautiful skirt. In this case I'd think one would have to do a little more reshaping to make sure the skirt fit well around the waist and hips and the lower pleated part of the skirt wasn't too full.

A baby's silk knitted vest, appearing at page 110 of Pearsall's Illustrated Handbook for Knitting in Silks, published in 1906, also from the Richard Rutt Collection. Again, this is underwear that qualifies as modern outerwear. I love the detail and can picture it on a baby girl with a pretty skirt. Alternatively, if it were made longer and shaped to flare somewhat at the bottom, it could be a pretty cotton dress for summer.

Silk bag purse with snap, appearing at page 199 of Pearsall's Illustrated Handbook for Knitting in Silks, published in 1906, and also from the Richard Rutt Collection. This would need no tweaking or repurposing to be usable in exactly the same way as an Edwardian woman would have used it: as an evening bag. Though the contents would be different: a cellphone and lipstick rather than smelling salts and a point lace handkerchief.

Look for the next post in the Twentieth Century Series within the next two weeks or so. Next time, of course, we'll be covering the tail end of the Edwardian era and the First World War years.

Hitting the Beach With and In Your Knitting

Almost a month ago, I traumatized followers of the Facebook page for this blog by sharing this 1922 photo of a dripping wet Winston Churchill in a knitted bathing suit. I'm including it in this post to make sure all my readers see it, because that's the kind of blogger I am. Now that you've seen it (and can't unsee it), you know how it was that Churchill could vow so stirringly and memorably to "fight them on the beaches". The man knew whereof he spoke.

Slightly more seriously, the sight of this picture got me interested in knitted bathing suits, and after a little research to decide to do a post on knitted swimwear, which of course had to lead with that picture of Churchill. In this post I'm going to stick to the knitted bathing suits of the 1900-1960 period rather than include the more contemporary ones. Although there are plenty of knitted and crocheted bathing suit and bikini and monokini (don't ask) patterns available, believe it or not I found the Google results for "knitted swimsuits" more scarring than the sight of our Winston fighting them on the beaches. Too many of them look like they should be accompanied by a coordinating pattern for a stripper pole cosy, is what I'm saying. Although admittedly there are some really cute ones out there. I might do a post on contemporary knitted swimwear at some later date. But for now, let's delve into the evolution of knitted swimwear during the first half of the twentieth century.

Swimsuits were generally made from wool until the mid-1930s, because wool will keep a swimmer warm even when wet. When swimwear companies began manufacturing some suits out of the then newly invented elastic materials that were the predecessors of lycra and spandex in the thirties, swimwear manufacturers continued to incorporate some form of elastic into wool bathing suits, but the use of wool in commercially made swimwear steadily declined to nearly nil over the next two decades. The Vintage Fashion Guild has a pretty good, brief run down of the history of swimwear if you're interested in the topic.

Let's look at the typical swimwear by decade.





These are typical swimsuits from 1900, or as they would have been called, "bathing costumes". Neither are hand-knitted but both are wool. At the turn of the 20th century, women swam in not only dresses and bloomers but in wool stockings and canvas-soled shoes and also some kind of head covering: a scarf, a mobcap, or a hat. Though today we'd never dream of trying to swim in all that clothing, much less in shoes, these costumes probably seemed freeing and even daring to people used to wearing much more fabric in their daily costumes. At least until they were soaking wet.





A man and two young girls in their swimsuits in 1915. As you can see, bathing costumes haven't changed a lot in 15 years, though the man's pant legs are now past his knees, and for the women, sleeves may be shorter and the skirt is now optional. The black stockings are still required for women.





In 1910 a company named the Portland Knitting Company began producing knitted swimwear on sweater cuff machines and daringly offering them in their catalogues. In 1918 the Portland Knitting Company became the Jantzen Knitting Mills. These Jantzen swimsuits, which likely date from about 1920, look much more practical than any of their predecessors, though even so they could weigh as much as nine pounds when wet. Men's and women's bathing suits looked very similar all through the twenties, with the exception that women were still wearing stockings with their bathing suits well into the twenties, though they were no longer full length but could show the knee. The police patrolled the beaches and measured women's suits to be sure they weren't more than nine inches above the kneecap. Even men could be charged with public obscenity for baring their chests.





Three women's bathing suits from the early 1920s. The swimsuits of the twenties weren't all in black by any means. How cute is that navy and yellow number? I'd wear that now in a slightly longer version, as a dress. All three of these designs could easily be worn today over a swimsuit, as beach cover-ups.

As the twenties wore on, the top of the bathing suit became skimpier and more fitted overall, with lower necklines and thinner straps. The upper part of the suit became cut-away or racer back for the men, and manufacturers began to attach the trunk to the top part of women's suits.

This picture is of Marlene Dietrich and her daughter Maria Reiner on the beach in 1928, with Dietrich sporting the typical 1920s bathing suit. She's carrying it off much better than Winston Churchill, but then she's accessorized her look like the consummate performing artist she was, she isn't soaking wet, and oh yeah, she's Marlene fucking Dietrich.





This is a knitted swimsuit pattern from the 1930s. The skirt has become a "modesty panel" over the legs, and the stockings are finally gone. This pattern is available for free on Ravelry.





During the 1930s, it very gradually became acceptable for men to go bare-chested on beaches. This is a swimsuit from this transitional phase, made with a "topper" that was fastened to the trunks with a zipper, giving the wearer the option of taking it off.





These three patterns are for authentic thirties-era women's bathing suits, republished in A Stitch in Time: v. 1: Vintage Knitting & Crochet Patterns 1920-1949, by Jane Waller and Susan Crawford. You can get a better look at and more details about these patterns on their respective pattern pages on Ravelry.





In the 1940s, men's swim trunks became standard. In women's swimwear, the modesty panel was removed from their suits (though of course it's still possible to buy a panelled or skirted bathing suit even today), and the two-piece bathing suit was introduced. The pattern for the blue and white striped one-piece is available for free on Ravelry. The man's swimming trunk pattern can be bought here in the event that you really want it, but I trust that you don't want it. Knitted swimwear for men just isn't a good idea. I can't be thankful enough that at least that pattern is belted and would have stayed up when wet.





Swimwear in the 1950s didn't look all that different from that of the 1940s, as the one-piece suit had more or less reached the form it still has today. The two-piece suit did gain some ground and become a little smaller, though it wouldn't become the bikini until the sixties. These swimsuits are from the June 1957 issue of Everywoman's magazine which offered the patterns in its pages, and I would totally wear them if I could be sure they wouldn't sag to my knees once they got wet.

If you'd like to try creating your own vintage swimwear, you might like to check out The Retro Knitting Company or Vintage Visage for patterns. There also do seem to be a number of vintage bathing suits, such as those made by Jantzen, on eBay.

I don't believe I'll be knitting anything for the beach but a cover-up or beach dress myself. There's a reason why swimsuits aren't made with wool any more, and as much as I love vintage styles, I expect my vintage-style creations to have the comfort, practicality, and convenience of contemporary clothing design. If you decide to try knitting your own swimwear, please feel free to tell us about us in the comments, though I must ask you to please use some discretion when it comes to linking to pictures of you modelling your creations, fabulous as I am sure you look in them.

The Richard Rutt Collection

If you love vintage patterns, do I have vintage patterns for you. The University of Southampton's Winchester School of Art has put the Richard Rutt collection of antique knitting books online. Who was Richard Rutt? Well, he was one of those people who can't get interested in anything without pursuing it to some esoteric height of knowledge and landmark level of accomplishment. When he was an Anglican missionary to South Korea for twenty years, he became a founder of what is now considered Korean studies, authoring a number of books on Korea and its culture, among them the co-authored encyclopedia Korea: A Historical and Cultural Dictionary. He became fascinated by classical Chinese and published a translation of a challenging ancient Chinese work, The Book of Changes. When spending some of the later years of his life in Cornwall he learned the Cornish language in order to celebrate weddings in Cornish. He rose within the Anglican church to become a bishop. Late in life Rutt converted to Roman Catholicism, and was soon ordained as a priest, then a Prelate of Honour, with the title of Monsignor, and also an honorary canon of Plymouth Cathedral. I won't list all his accomplishments here, but the Wikipedia entry for Richard Rutt makes for an interesting read.





Richard Rutt also had a passionate interest in knitting, and true to form he couldn't just, you know, make a scarf while he was watching TV like the rest of us. He authored a history of the craft entitled A History of Hand Knitting, published in 1987, which is still in print. Rutt was involved with the Knitting & Crochet Guild from the time of its founding in 1978 and was its president at the time of his death in 2011. He also collected antique knitting books and booklets. And now you can see the Richard Rutt Collection collection of 66 antique knitting books dating from 1838 to 1914, which might just make your rumpled collection of Vogue Knitting back issues look much less impressive than you thought.





All sixty-six volumes are online in their entirety and may be viewed in high quality PDFs and printed off for use as you like. You may find them more interesting from a historical and knitting geek perspective than from a practical one. As I discussed during a recent post on Victorian knitting patterns, a lot of nineteenth century patterns can be difficult to follow because they don't include information such as stitch gauge or yardage amounts. Some of the books, such as the 1838 second edition of The Ladies Knitting & Netting Book, by Mrs. Annesley "the Compiler", the cover of which is pictured above, don't have a single illustration in them, which means the end result of your work may surprise you, and not pleasantly.





Moreover many of the patterns won't be wearable by modern standards. You probably aren't going to want to wear the ladies' silk opera cloak above even if you are a woman who regularly attends the opera. But other patterns are useable still. Baby clothing hasn't changed much in the last century or two, and neither have scarves, gloves, hats, shawls, drawstring purses, men's waistcoats (the ladies' equivalent will require either a substantial rewrite or a corset), or socks. At any rate the collection promises the knitting history and vintage knitting pattern lover many a happy hour of browsing. Vintage knitting patterns don't get much more vintage than this.

Knitting in the Victorian Style

When it came time to write a post for Victoria Day, I kicked myself for having released a post about Queen Victoria and her knitting back in April. I wish I'd thought of saving it for today. However, what's posted is posted, so today's post will consist of my presenting a selection of some authentic Victorian-era knitting patterns that are attractive and useable by today's standards to you for your enjoyment and possible future projects.

Please be aware that these historical patterns, although they often are available on the web for free thanks to the wonderful concept that is public domain, probably aren't for the beginning or even intermediate knitter. Patterns have become much more user-friendly and standardized in the past century, and these antique patterns often don't provide basic information such as required yardage amounts or stitch gauge, and can be generally really confusing. The sizing will also tend to run really small and have to be altered. You'll need to have significant knitting experience and a certain tolerance level required for the frustrating and time-consuming process of figuring out the patterns.

If nothing I've featured here works for you, there are lots of Victorian-era patterns available online. Project Gutenberg has a number of Victorian knitting instruction books and the Antique Pattern Library has an extensive selection of patterns available, all for free. Iva Rose has quite a good selection of restored reproductions for sale. Your local library might also be helpful. And one thing to be aware of when trying to find authentic Victorian patterns is that Ravelry patterns tagged with "Victorian" are usually so.... not.





This beaded purse is from Isabella Beeton's Beeton's Book of Needlework, and was originally published in 1870. The pattern is available for free and would make a lovely evening bag.






This baby bootie pattern is available for free over on Doodles.







This knitted neckerchief is another Isabella Beeton original and is also a free pattern.





This lovely little baby's knitted frock was originally published in Weldon's Practical Needlework: Practical Knitter, Second Series in 1886, but has been re-released by Interweave.





This little vest is for a child of three, and was originally published in Weldon's Practical Needlework: Practical Knitter, Tenth Series in 1888. Again, it's been released in a new edition by Interweave. I'd be inclined to make it in my size.





This design was originally known as "Gent's Knickerbocker Hose" and was published in Weldon's Practical Needlework: Practical Knitter, Twenty-Eighth Series in 1895. Now of course, they're going to be called men's socks and will be worn with, and mostly under, trousers.





This acorn-shaped pattern for an emery cushion was originally published in Weldon's Practical Needlework: Practical Knitter, Thirty-First Series in 1896, which again was republished by Interweave Press.





This reticule is another pattern from Weldon's Practical Needlework: Practical Knitter, Thirty-First Series in 1896. It's 10" x 6" and could easily be enlarged or downsized as the knitter wishes.

Happy Victoria Day!

Mad Knitted Style

If you watch Mad Men, you've almost certainly admired the costuming. Have you ever wondered if you could knit a replica of a Mad Men costume piece? If you have, get in line. There are loads of knitters making Mad Men-inspired projects. It's no surprise, of course. Mad Men is a show as much admired for its fantastically detailed and period accurate costuming and set design as it is for its excellent writing and acting. So many of those costumes look so damn good that the show has been a huge and pervasive fashion influence, with Banana Republic even partnering with Mad Men's costume design Janie Bryant to introduce entire Mad Men-esque clothing lines. A sewing pattern for a blouse I was making last fall referenced the show in its instructions.

I am finding as the sixties wear on in the world of the show that the costumes and set designs are becoming, though no less historically correct and impeccably rendered, less visually appealing. My theory is that this has less to do with changing and less classic fashions of the late sixties than with Janie Bryant's efforts to depict the ever-growing complexity, moral compromises, tension, and pain of some of the main characters' lives. Janie Bryant's work is setting a whole new standard for costume design — not only do her costumes recreate the look of an era and the very specific socio-economic status of each character while remaining grounded in realism (i.e., the characters don't get whole new wardrobes each season), but they also point up the show's narrative and themes and even add poetic layers to them. Fashion bloggers Tom and Lorenzo are doing a wonderful series of Mad Style posts in which they analyze the costumes; if you are a fan who hasn't read these posts, I can't recommend them enough. Tom and Lorenzo were actually one of my sources of inspiration for launching this blog; I wanted to write about knitting and knitting-related matters in the kind of smart, insightful, and entertaining way that they do about style.

But I digress. If you'd like to plan a Mad Men knitting project, there are a couple of approaches to take. The first way is to recreate a Mad Men knitwear item exactly. It won't be too hard to do. Sweaters such as these, worn by Don and Megan Draper, are classics and will look perfectly appropriate in 2013. There will be a lot of really similar patterns available on Ravelry or in the public library or in your own pattern collection that are very much like these and can be adapted into a near-pefect replica.





Sweaters such as those above are less elegant but have their own appeal, especially if you like a little hipster kitsch in your wardrobe. Love that "dorky but loveable" stepdad thing you're working there, Henry Francis.





If you like Peter Campbell's secretary Hildy's mittens from the season three episode "The Grown Ups", the blogger at Very Pink has recreated them nearly exactly and generously shared the pattern with us all. She even went to the trouble of recreating the "waking up Pete" shot, which made my day. I find the shot with the dog much more appealing the the one with Peter. That dog probably has a better understanding of the concept of fidelity and more self-control than Peter Campbell ever will.




Another route to creating a Mad Men style project is to make a knitted replica of a Mad Men costume that's not knitted. The blogger at Skiff Vintage Knitting Patterns did an excellent job of recreating Peggy Olsen's fantastic little office dress as a sweater, and says she may go all the way for a future project and knit an entire dress like it.

These are some wonderful Mad Men looks I'd love to see rendered in yarn.





...and here's a look I have seen rendered in yarn, and wish I hadn't. I keep imagining Jessica Paré's expression when she was shown this and told she was going to be wearing it in this episode.





The other route to Mad Men knitted style is to consider the Mad Men look a starting point and proceed from there to create a version that is updated and/or customized to the individual looks and style of the wearer.

Best of luck with your Mad Men-inspired knitting endeavours, and feel free to post about or link to your efforts in the comments!