Upcoming Craft Night Wednesday July 10 , 2013 at 7:00 pm – Featured Craft: Ribbon Cockades
As early as there is an account of a gallant knight doing great deeds of valor we are told that the lady of his heart tied a “ribbon faire” about his arm or on his shield. Cockades and rosettes have been chosen in odd shapes and colors to represent different factions and wherever the ribbon has appeared one may be sure that women have been ardent supporters of what they believed to be right. So history itself gives to the ribbon a position that is undeniable ~Ladies Home Journal 1889
At our next Craft Night we will be designing and constructing our very own ribbon cockades to wear to our Annual Bastille Day Celebration on Sunday July 14th.
Ribbon cockades or rosettes were often used to show support for a political cause. During the French Revolution the tricolor cockade became a symbol of the new French Republic. A similar red, white and blue design was adopted by supporters of the Union during the American Civil War while the Confederacy was symbolized by a blue ribbon. You can see some period examples of people wearing cockades here.
In the late 19th Century they were mostly used as a fashion element and were often applied to hats, shoes and gowns in a variety of beautiful colors and shapes.
Date: Wednesday July 10 at 7:00 pm
Instructor: Katherine Patterson
Supplies: A spool of ribbon (should be at least 1.5 inches wide), A sewing needle and thread, straight pins, a small ruler, a pencil or fabric marking pen and a button for the center of your cockade.
We will have some supplies on hand including pins, buttons and felt to apply to the back of your finished ribbon cockade.
Even considered as an art of expression – over and above, although of course never dissociated from, its decorative value – the work of the needle within its own limits, and by its own special means and materials, has quite a distinct value; certain textures and surfaces, such as the plumage of birds and the colour and surfaces of flowers, being capable of being rendered by the needle with a beauty and truth beyond the ordinary range of pictorial art. In the retinue of beauty, among her sister crafts of design, Embroidery, then, seems likely to hold her place. ~Embroidery: or the craft of the needle, 1899
At our next Craft night we will be learning an embroidery technique called Candlewicking. It was traditionally white-work embroidery meaning that it was done on white fabric with white thread and was usually practiced on household linens. Designs were outlined in knots of different sizes creating beautiful and often complicated designs.
In 1858, James Clemens began building a magnificent country home on Cass Avenue outside of the central city. Designed by Patrick Walsh, the Clemens House embodied the principles of Palladian villa design while utilizing cast iron for man of its architectural elements, a rarity in St. Louis if not nationally. This grand house has gone through changes over the years, and today sits facing an uncertain future. Abandoned and neglected for the last twenty years, James Clemens’ house is the last antebellum mansion in St. Louis to not be restored or rehabilitated. Architectural historian Michael R. Allen will present the story of the house — past, present and future.This lecture will take place in our carriage house. 
It’s not just a sneak preview of one of the region’s best book sales – it’s a reading from the works of Alexander Demenil (1849-1928). DeMenil edited the literary magazine The Hesperian and wrote poetry; his best known work is his spirited 1921 defense of the virtue of his great-great-grandmother, Marie Therese Bourgeois Chouteau. We may also get into some of the more entertaining letters to the editor…. a literary treat not to be missed! $10 at the door. 
These decorative boxes were traditionally made using pasteboard and covered with wallpaper. Bandboxes were used to store hats and other accessories in order to keep them clean and to prevent them from getting smashed, in fact, manufactured hat boxes that you still see today are very similar in design. They were also very handy while traveling. 
There is an air of tranquility, and a proof of innocent contentment in these domestic accomplishments, that have a beautiful significance in the family circle. It is only in well regulated households that leisure moments are thus gathered up. It is only minds composed and serene in their joy, or submissive in sorrow, that can constrain themselves to the gentle monotony of work like this.
With a crochet-needle in the hand, we join more pleasantly in conversation; the little implement fills up all embarrassing pauses: its use gives a feminine and domestic air, which men may smile at, but cannot condemn.
~The Ladies’ Complete Guide to Crochet, Fancy Knitting and Needlework, 1854
Historically, rag rugs were made simply for utilitarian purposes. Scraps of cloth left over from household projects, old linens and worn out clothing were re-purposed into rugs that were used near the hearth, in the kitchen or even at the back door.
Tatting is rather puzzling to learn at first; but when the stitch has once been acquired the work is of the simplest character. It is well suited for drawing-room occupation, as it needs few tools, and it can be taken up and laid down without injury to the work, and one can always tell exactly where one is in a pattern, as it is not mysterious in progress like knitting, nor does one stitch depend in any way upon another. Tatting is strong work; indeed, when once done it is difficult to undo. The old-fashioned mode of tatting, called English tatting, consisted of a series of knots without purls or picots; these were worked with one thread only, the helping thread not having been introduced. The helping thread strengthens the work very considerably, and assists in forming many variations of pattern.
~The Young Ladies’ Journal Complete guide to the worktable, 1884
