The little seamstresses

Even when I was little, under the guidance of my grandmother, I made miniature models of the clothes I saw or drew.

For this reason, my first customers were the dolls of my playmates, we were 6/7 years old.

They seem few today but 60 years ago it was still normal if we think that until the beginning of 1900 the tailors were full of little girl seamstresses of that age. They worked 12 hours a day and even more and on the weekend they brought home the work to be finished, with the help of their younger sisters and brothers. My grandmother herself learned from my great-grandmother's sister, still as a child, we were in 1920, this art that she then passed down to me.

I learned from this method to sew and create tailor-made garments.

Mine is an ancient tailoring technique that is based on different criteria compared to contemporary ones, both in the management of fabrics, cutting and packaging, and in the relationship with the customer.

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A rare Irish needlework book from 1833. It is a “manual of instructions” dedicated to the work of needlework, with examples of the latter, embroidery, mending and knitting, and was consulted at the girls’ sewing school in Kildare Place, Dublin.

The book is entitled “A Concise Account of the Mode of Teaching Needlework” and was printed by Thomas White.

As can be seen in the photo, the students have attached their work to the pages.

The book was sold at auction by Freeman’s

Hindman of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, for $5,000.