What is sewing?
A: Sewing is the craft of fastening or attaching objects using stitches made
with a sewing needle and
Before the invention of spinning yarn or
weaving
fabric, archaeologists believe Stone Age people across Europe and Asia sewed
what?
A: Fur and leather clothing.
What did they sew with?
A: Bone, antler or ivory sewing-needles and "thread" made of various
animal
body parts including sinew, catgut, and veins.
When was the first known use of the word "sewing"?
A: It was in the 14th century.
Different cultures have developed diverse what?
A: Sewing techniques, from methods of cutting fabric to types of stitches.
Sewing has an ancient history estimated to begin during
what period?
A: The Paleolithic Era.
Sewing was used to stitch together what?
A: Animal hides for clothing and for shelter.
The Inuit, for example, used sinew from caribou for
thread and needles made of what?
A: Bone.
The indigenous peoples of the American Plains and
Canadian Prairies used sophisticated sewing methods to assemble what?
A: Tipi shelters.
Sewing was combined with the weaving of plant leaves in
Africa to create what?
A: Baskets.
Where did the weaving of cloth from natural fibers
originate?
A: In the Middle East around 4000 BC, and perhaps earlier during the
Neolithic Age.
During the Middle Ages, Europeans who could afford it
employed what?
A: Seamstresses and tailors.
The vital importance of sewing was indicated by what?
A: The honorific position of "Lord Sewer" at many European coronations from
the Middle Ages.
An example was Robert Radcliffe, 1st Earl of Sussex who
was appointed Lord Sewer at what?
A: The coronation of Henry VIII of England in 1509.
Sewing for the most part was a what?
A: A woman's occupation, and most sewing before the 19th century was
practical.
Clothing was an expensive investment for most people,
and women had an important role in what?
A: Extending the longevity of items of clothing.
Clothing that was faded would be what?
A: Turned inside-out so that it could continue to be worn, and sometimes had to be taken apart and reassembled to suit this purpose.
Once clothing became worn or torn, it would be what?
A: Taken apart and the reusable cloth sewn together into new items of
clothing, made into quilts, or otherwise put to practical use.
The many steps involved in making clothing from scratch
(weaving, pattern making, cutting, alterations, and so forth) meant that
women often did what?
A: Bartered their expertise in a particular skill with one another.
Decorative needlework such as embroidery was what?
A: A valued skill, and young women with the time and means would practice to
build their skill in this area.
From the Middle Ages to the 17th century, sewing tools
such as needles, pins and pincushions were included in what?
A: The trousseaus of many European brides.
Although most embroidery stitches in the Western
repertoire are traditionally what?
A: British, Irish or Western European in origin, stitches originating in
different cultures are known throughout the world today.
What are some examples?
A: The Cretan Open Filling stitch, Romanian Couching or Oriental Couching,
and the Japanese stitch.
The stitches associated with embroidery spread by way
of what?
A: The trade routes that were active during the Middle Ages.
The Silk Road brought Chinese embroidery techniques to
Western Asia and Eastern Europe, while techniques originating in the Middle
East spread to where?
A: Southern and Western Europe through Morocco and
Spain.
