Friday, September 9, 2011

Sewing Tea Cozies

      Although the history of the tea cozy may begin when tea was introduced to Britain in the 1660s, the first documented use of a tea cozy in Britain was in 1867. It is probably the Duchess of Bedford who, by establishing the activity of afternoon tea in 1840, would have brought the popularity of the tea cozy. Afternoon tea was the time for networking and keeping up to date with aristocracy gossip and topical news. With all the chatter at teatime the teapot would get cold, which would have at times cut short some tea parties. And so, the tea cozy came about. Tea cozies then flourished during the late 19th century, where they appeared in many households across Britain, motivated by the obsession of decorating and covering objects characteristic of the Victorian era.
       Tea cozies started to be used in North America in the same period. Newspapers of the time reveal that tea cozies enjoyed "a sudden and unexpected rise in public favor" among women who hosted tea parties. Newspapers of the time included advice columns on how to make one: "Some very handsome ones are made of remnants of heavy brocade, but linen is generally used, embroidered or not, according to taste, as these covers are washable. Make the covering large enough for your teapot and provide a ring at the top to lift it off with."


Who new tea cozies were sew popular?
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Sewing a Basic Layette

      A layette is a collection of clothing for a newborn child. The term "layette set" is commonly used in the United States to refer to gift sets of baby clothes.
      Traditionally, women would hand-sew their baby's clothes during their pregnancy. Today "layette" is often used to identify a baby clothing section of a store. The term can also be used for bedding, accessories, and baby care items.

Basic layette items include:
  • a going-home-from-the-hospital or birth center outfit
  • legless sleepwear (sleeping gowns / kimonos / sleeping bags / newborn sacques / blanket sleepers) or footed sleepers
  • onesies (short-sleeved, legless bodysuits) / all-in-ones / rompers / coveralls
  • undershirts / T-shirts
  • receiving blankets
  • swaddling blankets
  • hooded towels
  • baby washcloths
  • cloth diapers for diapering
  • socks / booties
  • hats / beanies / sweaters / bunting (depending on the climate)
  • burp cloths (cloth diapers are often recommended)
  • Scratch mits
  • Vests
Layette patterns and ideas:
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    Sewing Handbag or Purse Projects

    A handbag, or purse in American English, is a handled medium-to-large bag that is often fashionably designed, typically used by women, to hold personal items such as wallet/coins, keys, cosmetics, a hairbrush, pepper spray, cigarettes, mobile phone etc.

    Types of Handbags:
    • Clutch, a small, yet long (rectangular), evening bag without a handle
    • Pocketbook
    • Satchel, a soft-sided case usually of leather, used to carry papers or books; usually has a handle and often has a strap
    • Duffle bag, a large bag usually used for travel or sports
    • Tote, a medium to large bag with two straps
    • Messenger bag, a bag with a long strap to be worn across the body
    • Sling bag, a bag with a long strap (similar to a messenger bag), yet smaller
    • Laptop purse, a medium to large bag that contains a padded interior compartment or sleeve for protecting a laptop computer.
    • Camera bag, to carry photographic equipment
    • Cosmetic bag, to hold cosmetics
    • Half moon bag, a bag shaped like a half moon
    • Muff, a winter bag made of real or faux fur, wool or velvet that has zippered compartments and a slip opening for hands
    • Shoulder bag, a bag with a shoulder strap
    Make your own handbags, backpacks, purses and wallets etc... Here are some really terrific ideas for teaching textile design to teens coming soon.
    • Make a handbag from an old book
    • Make a Messenger Bag Out of Trash Bags
    • Make a Wallet Out of Tape
    • Make a T-Shirt Bag
    • Make T-Shirt Tote Bag Tutorial

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      Sewing Skirt Projects

            Beginning around 1915, hemlines for daytime dresses left the floor for good. For the next fifty years fashionable skirts became short (1920s), then long (1930s), then shorter (the War Years with their restrictions on fabric), then long (the "New Look"), then shortest of all from 1967 to 1970, when skirts became as short as possible while avoiding exposure of underwear, which was considered taboo.
            Since the 1970s and the rise of pants for women as an option for all but the most formal of occasions, not one skirt length has dominated fashion for long, with short and ankle-length styles often appearing side-by-side in fashion magazines and catalogs.

      Basic Skirt Types for Women

      • Straight skirt or Pencil skirt, a tailored skirt hanging straight from the hips and fitted from the waist to the hips by means of darts or a yoke; may have a kick-pleat for ease of walking
      • Full skirt, a skirt with fullness gathered into the waistband
      • Short skirt, a skirt with hemline above the knee.
      • Bell-shaped skirt, flared noticeably from the waist but then, unlike a church bell, cylindrical for much of its length.
      • A-line skirt, a skirt with a slight flare, roughly in the shape of a capital letter A
      • Pleated skirt, a skirt with fullness reduced to fit the waist by means of regular pleats ('plaits') or folds, which can be stitched flat to hip-level or free-hanging
      • Circle skirt, a skirt cut in sections to make one or more circles with a hole for the waist, so the skirt is very full but hangs smoothly from the waist without darts, pleats, or gathers
      • Hobble skirt, long and tight skirt with a narrow enough hem to significantly impede the wearer's stride
      Skirt Project Ideas from The Internet:
            There are a number of male garments which fall under the category of "skirt" or "dress." These go by a variety of names and form part of the traditional dress for men from various cultures. Usage varies - the dhoti is part of everyday dress on the Indian subcontinent while the kilt is more usually restricted to occasional wear and the foustanella is used almost exclusively as costume. Robes, which are a type of dress for men, have existed in many cultures, including the Japanese kimono, the Chinese cheongsam, the Arabic thobe, and the African Senegalese kaftan. Robes are also used in some religious orders, such as the cassock in Christianity and various robes and cloaks that may be used in pagan rituals. 

      Examples of men's skirts and skirt like garments from various cultures include:
      • The kilt is a skirt of Gaelic and Celtic history, part of the Scottish national dress in particular, and is worn formally and to a lesser extent informally. Irish and Welsh kilts also exist but are not so much a part of national identity.
      • The foustanella is worn by men in Greece and other parts of the Balkans. By the mid-20th Century, it was relegated to ceremonial use and as period or traditional costume.
      • The gho is a knee-length robe worn by men in Bhutan. They are required to wear it every day as part of national dress in government offices, in schools and on formal occasions.
      • The sarong is a piece of cloth that may be wrapped around the waist to form a skirt-like garment. Sarongs exist in various cultures under various names, including the pareo and lavalava of the Hawaiian islands and Polynesia (Samoa, Tonga, Tahiti, and Fiji), the Indian dhoti and lungi, and the South Indian mundu.
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        Apron Sewing Projects

              The apron was traditionally viewed as an essential garment for anyone doing housework. Cheaper clothes and washing machines made aprons less common beginning in the mid 1960s in some countries such as the United States. However, the practice of wearing aprons remains strong in many places.
               Today, the apron has enjoyed a minor renaissance in terms of both women and men now wearing them when performing household chores. For instance, an article in the Wall Street Journal claimed in 2005 that the apron is "enjoying a renaissance as a retro-chic fashion accessory" in the United States. However, it still is not as prevalent as it was prior to the 1960s.
              Aprons are nowadays considered equally appropriate for both women and men by most people. However, prevailing social norms ensure that women frequently wear more delicate clothing, and may therefore be more likely to want the protection an apron offers. This can also be because the apron is the traditional clothing for cooking and washing dishes, usually done by women.
              When domestic workers are supplied a uniform by their employers, an apron is often included. The aprons are worn for hygienic as well as for identification purposes.
        1. Apron pictures from Country Living
        2. Vintage Aprons from Marcus Fabrics
        3. I Love Aprons
        4. Old fashioned aprons
        5. Kitchen Kouture
        6. Adorable Aprons for kids
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        Thursday, September 1, 2011

        music selections about environmental issues

              The following selections are about environmental issues. If video at youtube is available, I will link to it here for the convenience of review. It is important that teachers actually listen to the lyrics and make educated decisions concerning their own classrooms. Just because the songs have been included here, that does not mean that all of them are "age appropriate" for every student! Be selective and have some fun making your own list for my environmental art lesson.
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        Elie Nadelman Power Point

        Elie Nadelman (February 20, 1882, Warsaw - December 28, 1946) was an American sculptor, draughtsman and collector of Polish birth.
              Nadelman studied briefly in Warsaw and then visited Munich in 1902 where he became interested in Classical antiquities at the Glyptothek. He lived in Paris from 1904 to 1914, closely involved with the avant-guarde, exhibiting at the Société des Artistes Indépendants and at the Salon d'Automne from 1905 to 1908. His first solo exhibition in 1909 at the Galerie Druet, Paris, revealed a large series of plaster and bronze classical female heads and full-length standing nudes and mannered Cubist drawings; the latter purchased by Leo Stein, who had brought Picasso to Nadelman's studio in 1908. For the most detailed and accurate studies of Nadelman's work from 1905–12, which was of crucial importance for early 20th c. modern sculpture, see Athena T. Spear in Bibliography.
              He moved to the United States (becoming an American citizen in 1927) during the outbreak of World War I, married Mrs. Viola Flannery, a wealthy heiress, and assembled a large, museum quality collection of folk sculpture. At the same time, his own style was at times Classical, at times decorative, and at times a new kind of sophisticated urban folk art. He attempted to release large, inexpensive editions of his simple, classical, Tanagra-like small figures.
              From the 1920s, until his death, Nadelman lived and worked in the Riverdale neighborhood of the Bronx. Eventually, as his wealth vanished in the Depression and his work failed to interest the art world, he became more peripheral to the collectors of Modernism, he did not take commissions other than portraits, his folk-art collection was sold to pay the bills. He held his last one-man exhibition in 1930 (Paris, Bernheim-Jeune). In 1935 many of his plaster figures and wood-carvings were destroyed by workmen sent to remodel his studio. Nadelman packed away all his pre-1935 work in the attic and cellar of his home in Riverdale and left it there to disintegrate. After his death on 28, December, 1946, his sculpture "Man in the Open Air", was restored and reintroduced in a retrospective at MOMA, New York. His reputation has grown since his death, and his work is in many major museums and surveys of American art history. (Wikipedia)

        The following slides of Nadelman's sculptures are created for art educators who wish to design a Power Point presentation for an art project that I will include with my collection of lesson plans in the near future. Read the Terms of Use before downloading the jpgs. and click on the thumbnails to download the very largest photo available.






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