The Lady Mayoress of London, Mrs Fanshawe's Spitalfields Silk Dress

In the Museum of London is a splendid court dress of Spitalfields silk traditionally thought to have been worn by Mrs. Ann Fanshawe when her father, Crisp Gascoyne, was Lord Mayor of London in 1752-53. Mrs. Fanshawe acted as her father's Lady Mayoress as her mother had died in 1740.

The dress made from a Spitalfields woven white silk and silver was made for canlelight with its brocaded alternating motifs of silver cornucopia from which spill polychrome flowers, barley and hops, and silver merchant's packs, the ground covered with silver strip. The merchant's packs, barley and hops incorporated in the design of the silk allude to Crisp Gascoyne's profession as a London merchant and member and Master of the Brewers' Company. It was usual for silks to be woven in lengths sufficient to make several dresses, but on this occasion the design was likely made for just this one dress. The lead time for weaving the cloth was six months and the time for making up the garment was little more than a week. There is a wonderful account of this garment and its making together with how it would have been worn in this fabulous book, which I recommend unreservedly for your enjoyment - hours of enjoyment! And don't forget the authoritative books on silk and silk designs by Natalie Rothstein.

Fantasic Find * Nearly 3,000 Medieval Textile Fragments From Austria

Archaeologists began investigating Lengberg Castle, East Tyrol, Austria in 2008. During the work the packing of a vault filled with waste was found. The fill consisted of dry material in different layers, among them organic material such as twigs and straw, but also worked wood, leather – mainly shoes – and textiles. And what a find! There were more than 2,700 individual textile fragments, including a number of almost completely preserved pieces of clothing as well as fragments of linen lining of garments with remnants of the former colourful woollen outer layer. Fragments of several linen shirts show pleats on collar and sleeves. The sleeves of these shirts with preserved textile buttons and corresponding button holes with small cuff circumference suggest that they were constituents of female clothing, or perhaps children. One pair of completely preserved linen underpants, the fragment of a second one and a textile fragment of red and blue wool which turned out to be the codpiece of a pair of trousers belong to male clothing. But what has taken textile historians by surprise is the discovery of four bras resemble modern bras of today. They display distinct cut cupsand end below the breast but have additional cloth above the cups to cover the décolleté, and no sleeves. There is a satirical poem of the 15th century which may refer to this construction: Ir manche macht zwen tuttenseck Damit so snurt sie umb die eck, Das sie anschau ein ieder knab, Wie sie hübsche tütlein hab; Aber welcher sie zu groß sein, Die macht enge secklein, Das man icht sag in der stat, Das sie so groß tutten hab. Many a woman makes two bags for the breasts with it she roams the streets, so that all the men look at her, and see what beautiful breasts she has got; But those whose breasts are too large, makes tight pouches, so it is not told in the city, that she has such enormous breasts. (translation: Beatrix Nutz) Austrian National Library Cod. 2880, fol. 130v to 141r.

Stitched Treasures in Ennigerloh Distillery, Germany

About 40 miles north-east of Dortmund in Ennigerloh is a wonderful collection of stitched treasures housed in the lovely old distillery. This collection of historical needlework comes from the collection of Monika Schmillenkamp who you can see in the picture below.

Girls from the lower social classes learnt practical needlework and typical of their classroom exercises are cross stitch patterns and samplers. Meanwhile, girls from the upper classes received a formal training in private boarding schools - Pensionaten and later in Töchterschulen (literally Daughter schools) where they learnt fine needlework - satin stitch and whitework. Items employing these techniques were used for clothing, typically for themselves and their children, and household linen - dowry-ware.

Numerous examples can be found in the museum - click here for more details.

Caitlin's Stunning Sarah Harris Finish

Caitlin from Canada has recently finished her Sarah Harris Sampler and the result is superb. Catlin writes: I just wanted to show you my completed Sarah Harris sampler, which I finished in June. This was only my second project and I am so proud of it! Thank you for all the hard work you do making these beautiful samplers available to those of us who cannot afford to buy the wonderful originals, but are happy to stitch reproductions. Sarah Harris was a lot of fun to work on. I found that the variety of motifs and colours kept me interested for the seven months of work it took to complete the whole piece. You certainly should be proud of yourself, Caitlin, many congratulations and I hope you and your family enjoy your wonderful heirloom piece for generations to come. Sarah Harris' sampler is such a special Quaker sampler, which with the discover of the early Elizabeth Pim sampler seems to owe its design source to the Quaker community in Ireland. If you would like to see more of the Sarah Harris Sampler and its motifs, click here. And for the Elizabeth Pim sampler, click here.