By Ileana Gonzalez

The thread and the needle are elements that date back many centuries. Thanks to them, mankind was able to join two or more planes that allowed, among many things, to dress the human being. Although we do not have a direct approach to sewing, we have always been surrounded by it, not only because we have the little emergency box with thread and needle that gets us out of trouble, but also through the most vivid image: our grandmothers. 

Surely, when you relate sewing with grandmothers you think of the mythical cookie tin, the most Latin symbol that, for some reason, housed buttons of different shapes and colors, lace, threads of countless colors, zippers, thimble, threader, as well as the mini scissors and any object that they thought could be useful in the future. However, in addition to the cans, there was another object that united Latin America: Singer sewing machines, forming part of the memories of children and grandchildren from different countries. 

In my case, my two grandmothers, one lived in the countryside and in the village and the other in the city; both knew how to sew and had sewing machines. Fortunately, I inherited my grandmother Ana's sewing machine, a wonderful Singer that was a very important tool for the family's monetary contribution, sewing countless canvases for deckchairs and numerous garments for the family. Likewise, my father's memory with my grandmother Antonia was to see her darning, sewing and making garments copied from magazines that dressed the whole family, being also the family's livelihood in difficult times. 

Singer sewing machine, inherited from my grandmother Ana. Source: Own.

 

Then, why did most of the women of the last century know how to sew and had sewing machines?

Between the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, Singer sewing machines appeared in Latin America, a creation exported from the United States. As the Pilot Public Library of Medellin points out, "although the first Singer machines were created for industrial use, they were quickly adapted for domestic tasks and became an essential accessory in homes." On the other hand, having a sewing machine not only gave women greater social mobility, but also physical mobility and a connection rooted in the family culture. These women moved their sewing machines from one home to another, passing them down from generation to generation, becoming an essential household appliance in the female household (de la Cruz-Fernandez).

Mrs. Angélica L. de Linares, seamstress, with her Singer sewing machine. Buenos Aires, 1938. Source: General Archive of the Nation.

Prior to this event, as Mitidieri explains, sewing was a practice that was not only transmitted from mothers to daughters but was part of public and private schools as a subject, which included the making of buttonholes, hems, various stitches, notions of darning and embroidery, as a necessary part of women's education. Although by the end of the 19th century, pattern making and tailoring were the exclusive skills of the dressmaker, the arrival of magazines that included sections of the step by step to elaborate a garment and the design patterns were very important at that moment, this allowed women to tailor their own clothing and their family’s. According to de la Cruz-Fernandez, Singer also contributed to this, since its sales strategy was focused on promoting women to build their small business and tailor their own clothes at home, selling its sewing machines through an installment plan of payment. In addition, Singer offered machine embroidery, dressmaking, and tailoring courses, sending didactic material through mail. 

Carvajal, Perez, Gabriel (1950). A lady teaches another woman to sew with a sewing machine. Source: Piloto de Medellin Public Library.

 

Although sewing has been considered as Mitidieri said: “socially as a border activity between craft and work, between activities considered “idle” and feminine and… between women's knowledge and industrious function.” Art, magazines, newspapers, and archive photos show us the search for democratized knowledge and the accessibility to a sewing machine regardless of social level.This allowed many women to contribute to their household economy by repairing family garments and extending its lifetime, inheriting garments from the oldest brother to the younger, as well as, repairing someone else’s clothes to earn money.

The Dressmaker, California (1942-45). The Dressmaker is a painting made by the Mexican painter Agustin Lazo—source: Andres Blaisten Collection.

 

Darning, sewing, basting, adjusting hems, replicating patterns, and, above all, the ingenuity to transform, restore, and make garments and household items with their limited resources. These crafts that during generations in our culture have been daily and invisible. Currently, all our grandmothers and the rest of the women deserve huge recognition because, from their corner with their sewing machines and sewing boxes, have left a priceless legacy and a memory that has marked, and still does, the lives of many children and grandchildren.

 

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