Victorian Tips

Question: How were patchwork techniques first developed in the victorian era?

(Posted by: princess on 2007-07-18 02:44:00)

I need this URGENT sources please!!!

Posted by: ukquilter on 2007-07-18, 04:54:16

Try the books by Averil Colby or Linda Seward for the history of British and American patchwork techniques. I think the American block might have developed during this time, and middle-class Victorian ladies both sides of the Atlantic loved complicated shapes like hexagons and octagons in precious materials such as silk or velvet. Poor women didn't have the time!

Posted by: stitcherkf on 2007-07-18, 11:14:25

I'm pretty sure that the patchwork which developed in the victorian era was "Crazy patchwork ". This involved starting with a small piece of irregular fabric and adding pieces on to each side one at a time. When you had enough you could trim it to the shape you wanted. They also used very sumptuous fabrics for this e.g. velvets and some of the pieces look very rich. Victorians were also into embroidery and the seams on this patchwork were embroidered over using all sorts of fancy stitches. caron-net.com/ featurefiles/ featmay.html is a link which will give you the history of this type of patchwork. Other quilting developed before that, e.g. English patchwork over papers.