Discover the history and many uses of these elaborately embroidered purses.
The French named this soft and fluffy yarn and fabric and are believed to have invented it, as well, sometime during the eighteenth century.
Learn about the University of Connecticut Historic Costume Collection and the efforts underway to organize, refine, and curate the collection.
Buttonhole samplers don’t contain the elegant scenes, alphabets, and pious poetry, but a young woman preparing for a job as a domestic servant or seamstress could use a buttonhole sampler to demonstrate her sewing abilities.
Commonplace, but not common, surviving miser bags and purses demonstrate the amazing variety of techniques in creation and decoration.
Pockets—practical, convenient, and sometimes, so mysterious. Find them hidden inside or boldly stitched to the front of a garment.
Sewing books from the early 20th century illustrate the shift from teaching sewing at home to providing instruction in a school classroom.