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Redwork
A pillowcase wishes us Guten Nacht in bright red embroidery. Flea markets offer doilies embroidered with butterflies or linen envelopes stitched with the shapes of a brush and comb. These images, sometimes fanciful (sleeping kittens or children’s nursery rhymes), sometimes serious (the Capitol or presidents’ faces), are called Turkey work or redwork—very unimpressive names for a craft craze that swept America between 1860 and 1930.
Named for a dye developed in the Middle East for use in Turkish carpets, Turkey red was bright, colorfast, and fade-proof. In the mid 19th century, groups of Germans immigrated to Pennsylvania—and their red embroidery came with them. The clean, spare look of this work, combined with its colorfast properties, brought instant popularity.
Whether in embroidery thread or piece goods (packaged dyes for home use came later), Turkey red held up to the rigors of 19th-century laundering, which involved strong lye soap and direct sunlight. It performed so well that housewives would not accept a substitute, even though Turkey-red thread cost three times as much as less-stable red threads. There are even jokes, circa 1880, of husbands being sent back to town to make an exchange because they had not purchased “genuine Turkey red.”
The 1876 Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition raised the profile of redwork (as it came to be known) even further. Work shown from the Royal School of Art Needlework in South Kensington, England, was so inspirational that ads for “Kensington School Designs” soon began to appear. Images included Kate Greenaway designs, Japanese fans, old blue china designs, and florals. Other patterns offered during that period were images from The Mikado and The Pirates of Penzance, operettas then at the height of their popularity in Europe.
Inspiration was as near as the local dry-goods store. A crafter selected a design from a folder or catalog containing hundreds of images. The clerk would transfer the design, using a perforated pattern and stamping ink, onto a piece of muslin or linen of a suitable size. These designs cost only a penny or two, thus generating another favorite name for this embroidery—penny squares. Originally, the embroidery was done on utilitarian items—towels, comb cases, shoe bags, pillows, doilies, splashers (used behind a sink or washbasin), and other home furnishings. The 1897 Sears, Roebuck & Co. catalog offered shoe pockets, laundry bags, pillow shams, and bibs ready for embroidering.
About 1880, penny squares became available in uniform sizes. This allowed for easy piecing into patchwork quilts. Inventive needleworkers transferred patterns from other sources as well, and created their own quilt patches. There are quilts that include images from Cuticura advertisements, Imperial Granum cereal, even the fish from a cod-liver oil ad. Pictures were as varied as the maker’s skill and imagination.
Some quilts included original images representing the maker’s own life or that of someone close. Personal imagery was often mixed with commercially available squares. This makes dating early redwork quilts easier. No image was beyond the embroiderer’s needle. At the 1901 Pan-American Exposition, penny squares commemorating several of the exhibits were offered for sale. There are thousands of images available, from topics as specific as the fall of Babylon, a model dairy, an infant incubator, Cleopatra’s temple, and portraits of William McKinley to more mundane subjects like dogs, baskets of flowers, children playing, nursery rhyme or sunbonnet characters, days of the week, and state birds and flowers.
By about 1920, colorfast threads in all colors were available and the insistence on Turkey-red dye appears to have run its course. Patterns continued to be produced and sold into the 1930s, but demand for them was on the wane. By that time, manufactured blankets and feed-sack calicoes had become the bedding fabrics of choice. And with the introduction of sewing machines and mass-produced clothing, it became less important for children to learn needleworking skills.
Named for a dye developed in the Middle East for use in Turkish carpets, Turkey red was bright, colorfast, and fade-proof. In the mid 19th century, groups of Germans immigrated to Pennsylvania—and their red embroidery came with them. The clean, spare look of this work, combined with its colorfast properties, brought instant popularity.
Whether in embroidery thread or piece goods (packaged dyes for home use came later), Turkey red held up to the rigors of 19th-century laundering, which involved strong lye soap and direct sunlight. It performed so well that housewives would not accept a substitute, even though Turkey-red thread cost three times as much as less-stable red threads. There are even jokes, circa 1880, of husbands being sent back to town to make an exchange because they had not purchased “genuine Turkey red.”
The 1876 Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition raised the profile of redwork (as it came to be known) even further. Work shown from the Royal School of Art Needlework in South Kensington, England, was so inspirational that ads for “Kensington School Designs” soon began to appear. Images included Kate Greenaway designs, Japanese fans, old blue china designs, and florals. Other patterns offered during that period were images from The Mikado and The Pirates of Penzance, operettas then at the height of their popularity in Europe.
Inspiration was as near as the local dry-goods store. A crafter selected a design from a folder or catalog containing hundreds of images. The clerk would transfer the design, using a perforated pattern and stamping ink, onto a piece of muslin or linen of a suitable size. These designs cost only a penny or two, thus generating another favorite name for this embroidery—penny squares. Originally, the embroidery was done on utilitarian items—towels, comb cases, shoe bags, pillows, doilies, splashers (used behind a sink or washbasin), and other home furnishings. The 1897 Sears, Roebuck & Co. catalog offered shoe pockets, laundry bags, pillow shams, and bibs ready for embroidering.
About 1880, penny squares became available in uniform sizes. This allowed for easy piecing into patchwork quilts. Inventive needleworkers transferred patterns from other sources as well, and created their own quilt patches. There are quilts that include images from Cuticura advertisements, Imperial Granum cereal, even the fish from a cod-liver oil ad. Pictures were as varied as the maker’s skill and imagination.
Some quilts included original images representing the maker’s own life or that of someone close. Personal imagery was often mixed with commercially available squares. This makes dating early redwork quilts easier. No image was beyond the embroiderer’s needle. At the 1901 Pan-American Exposition, penny squares commemorating several of the exhibits were offered for sale. There are thousands of images available, from topics as specific as the fall of Babylon, a model dairy, an infant incubator, Cleopatra’s temple, and portraits of William McKinley to more mundane subjects like dogs, baskets of flowers, children playing, nursery rhyme or sunbonnet characters, days of the week, and state birds and flowers.
By about 1920, colorfast threads in all colors were available and the insistence on Turkey-red dye appears to have run its course. Patterns continued to be produced and sold into the 1930s, but demand for them was on the wane. By that time, manufactured blankets and feed-sack calicoes had become the bedding fabrics of choice. And with the introduction of sewing machines and mass-produced clothing, it became less important for children to learn needleworking skills.
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, Jun 19 2007, 12:11 PM EDT
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