Child’s purse embroidered by Miss Martha Edlin, c.1670-1680. Embroidered silk, silver thread and sequins, lined with silk and braided.
“Following the usual development of needlework skills in a young educated girl in the mid-17th century, Martha Edlin embroidered a multi-coloured sampler at the age of eight, and a more complicated piece in whitework and cutwork at nine. By 1671, her eleventh year, she had embroidered the panels of an elaborate casket, and two years later a beadwork jewellery case. The needlework skills she demonstrated in these pieces would be important attributes in her adulthood, in the management of her household and in the making, mending and decoration of her own and her family’s clothes.” -Victoria & Albert Museum
Sleeve, English, c.1600-1625. Embroidered & appliqued silk with cord & glass beads.
“During the late 19th century, authentic 17th century pieces of clothing were adapted and altered for wear as fancy dress. It was at this time that this fabric was cut up for sleeves, a process which unfortunately obliterated most of the evidence of their original 17th-century incarnation.”
Moccasins, Huron culture; Quebec, Canada, c.1830. Deerskin(?) embroidered with dyed moose hair, trimmed with silk ribbon.