The WORK BAG swap

Dear Ladies,

This is a repeat swap that Anna and I set in our beginning days. We have had many requests to rerun the swap, we thought this would be the perfect time to make a work bag reprisal.

THE SWAP

Needlework was an integral part of a ladies time, whether it was plain sewing for everyday necessities like infant diapers, under caps, dishcloths, nightgowns and pillowcases or more ornate work, referred to as "fancy" sewing, or fancy work, for decoration on more important items. These would include linen embroidery, a ball gown hem, an handworked fan or infants cap and layette. In the late 17th century when styles changed and pockets were less elaborate and not for show, a necessity arose for a sizable work bag to carry stitchery and sewing notions. Every lady had a work bag which she carried with her and while chatting with friends and family her fingers would be busy creating lovely embroidered patterns for her handkerchiefs and other personal items.

For this swap we will be creating our own work bag for ourselves. We will each have one partner to whom we EMAIL send an IMAGE of our completed bag. When the swap is finished we shall ask you to send Anna an image to put up on our blog so that we may share your lovely completed work bags on our gallery.

To be clear, we will be making a bag for ourselves since this is a personal item. Bags of this era are generally an ample medium to large sized with a drawstring closure. A shoe bag is a good size to base your work bag sizing. The bag itself should have the capacity to hold those basic sewing notions like thread, needles, scissors (the Georgian lady would have knitting needles and netting equipment etc.) so you will have the latitude to decide for yourself just what size work bag is convenient for your use. A work bag is the plain cousin of the reticule and is usually made of muslin (strong cotton) with some decorative work to it. Not much is written about the humble work bag and many, have mistaken it for the delicate silk reticule. We'll explore the more ornate reticule in another swap.

This swap is open to all methods of making a bag so that we may all participate. If handsewing is not your strong point, please feel free to use your sewing machine, or feel free to embellish a purchased bag or to use fabric glue to make your bag. Do try to give it the look of an 18th century bag, in whichever way you choose to embellish it.

In later swaps we shall endeavour to create some of the necessities to keep in our bags such as a needle case and a case for our scissors but for now we will concentrate on our bags. I’ve given two months for this swap as choosing fabric and trims can take time and of course assembling and decorating the bag will also need time.

Please feel free to comment below if you have any questions and let me know if more time is needed so I can extend the swap dates.

Kindly Anna and Jane