Thursday, August 2, 2012

Sewing in the Machine Age Exhibit at SFO

Warning: image-heavy post!

As I mentioned, I just got back from a lovely trip to Seattle with my best friends from high school. Before the trip even started, though, things were looking up when I discovered that there was a sewing machine history exhibit in our terminal at SFO! I think I may have even told Elaine that if the trip ended right then and there, I would still be happy. Anyway, I took a whole bunch of pictures and Elaine graciously waited for me to finish exclaiming over everything.

I would have loved to be gifted with a treadle machine upon my marriage. [picture]
I remember what a big deal it was in Little Town on the Prairie when Pa bought a sewing machine for Ma, and how it made light work of Laura's wedding trousseau.

I remember learning about John Henry vs. the steam engine, but somehow missed out on seamstresses vs. the sewing machine.

These early machines don't look anything like what I'm used to seeing.
Ahhh, that's more like it.
Early sewing patterns.
Apologies about the blurriness...I was excited.

This sounds like a fascinating system.
An ad for Simplicity patterns. I love these looks, especially the braid on the sheath dress and the raglan sleeve casual dress.
This display wasn't that interesting, except that I actually have a copy of that textbook!
Speaking of sewing and books, this absolutely ridiculous poem? list of vocabulary words? mystic chant? is from an old children's book. I am dubious about the wisdom of teaching children words like "PenCil" and "MaChine" with such odd capitalization.

Even back then, there was an association between cats and sewing. This pleases me.

They also had an assortment of displays of sewing-related objects.

Beautiful portable sewing kits.
Less portable, but still awesome egg-shaped etui.
Besides eggs, there are also bird-shaped sewing implement holders.
The fact that the scissors are all stabbed through the birds' heads tickles my fancy. Does that make me a horrible person?

Actual sewing birds! Meant to grip fabric so that you can hand-roll hems and such.
I wish I had one of these cool things! Instead, I just use my machine's lowered presser foot.

I'm glad they acknowledge that irons are essential to good sewing.

Besides all the actual items on display, there were so many pretty posters showing vintage styles!

These are much like the fashion plates in my Harper's Bazaar Victorian fashions book.
I am loving the nautical look on the left. It's like, let me hit you on the head with how many places I can put stripes.
 

I will never get tired of looking at 30s styles.

Apparently I was so excited about this poster of Downton Abbey-era dresses, I couldn't stand still.

They also had two extant gowns on display! It was difficult to get good pictures of them, though, due to an unfortunate combination of the lighting there, the glass, and my camera.

A classic Victorian dress. I love the black velvet and how it stands out even on a black background.

A hand-sewn dress from the pre-machine age. This could be Jane Eyre's wedding dress!
Absolutely gorgeous!

Unfortunately, this exhibit is after you go through security, so you won't be able to just waltz into SFO and check it out. However, if you should be so fortunate as to be flying out of or into Terminal 3, plan on at least twenty extra minutes there for drooling.

29 comments:

  1. Ah! I thought I'd seen that book page before! It's not a book of letters, it's a book of sewing!! A cute book, where a girl has adventures among the Thimble People, one of whom is named Ma Chine and is a matronly sewing machine. Pun definitely intended.

    I remembered the book from a blog post: http://the-panopticon.blogspot.com/2012/04/i-sew-like-girl.html . Ironically, it was the Ma Chine pun that made me think of it. So go check it out so you can see it in context! :)

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    1. Oh my goodness, that makes so much more sense! Thank you so much for the information and the link. At least I was right about guessing that it was a children's book?

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  2. Wow! Thanks for sharing. I'm going to scroll back and study your pictures again. And the Downton-esque photo--again---wow!

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    1. I figured people might be excited to see these pictures...I know I was beyond giddy when I saw the display at the airport!

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  3. Gadzooks I want that drafting system (and the black dress....)! I'm gonna use your post as a post for my blog!

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    1. I know, that drafting system is awfully intriguing, isn't it? And yes, that black dress was indeed amazing!

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  4. oooo...ahh...ohhh! So many wonderful things! Thank you so much for sharing that with us who can't go see it! (It's kind of sad that it is for such a limited audience!)

    I want one of the McDowell drafting systems! And now I think I need to add a bird to a C-clamp just because. btw, I use my lowered machine presser foot for a third hand too. =)

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    1. I really wish they would've at least put it in the general waiting area so that you didn't have to pass through security to see it. Ah well.

      I just looked it up and that drafting system starts on eBay for $100...and the sewing birds are quite expensive too :(

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  5. i cannot BELIEVE this is in an airport terminal. i'm with you on the birds (so yes, that probably does make you horrible).

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    1. If I get to be horrible with you, that's fine! :)

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  6. ooohhh! so exciting! Hope it stays there for awhile!!! :)

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    1. It's been there since March and will only be running for another month, so unfortunately it won't be there when/if you come in October...boo.

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  7. What an amazing find! Aaaaand you are SO cute. :)

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  8. OHOHOHOHOHOH!! OMG. I would have been so EXCITED, too! What a fabulous exhibit, especially all of those lovely dresses!

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    1. I'm pretty sure "OHOHOHOHOHOH!! OMG." were the first words out of my mouth too!

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  9. How cool is that! Too bad I'm not flying in or out of SFO anytime soon. Thanks for sharing!

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    1. You're so welcome! I thought it was too cool not to share.

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  10. Oh wow. I wish I was going to SFO now.... big American trip is far on the horizon though, by which time this exhibit will probably be finished :(
    Absolutely adore the birds, the ones with scissors through their heads and for rolling seams!

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    1. Those birds are pretty awesome, aren't they? The exhibit's finished at the end of this month (August), so yeah, looks like you'll miss it :(

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  11. Thank you for sharing the pictures! I wish more airports would have exhibitions. You can still find sewing bird clamps on ebay, they seem to be going at around $180 a piece, but now I know what to look out for at antique stores.

    Mona

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    1. Oh dear, that's a sewing antique that I'm not going to have anytime soon!

      I guess I'm spoiled because SFO always has excellent exhibitions; I always took it for granted that there would be displays from the Asian art museum or MOMA or what have you.

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  12. Gees, I think our local airport is still showing an exhibit of drunken surly commuters in the lounge- no fair! Yours is way cooler!

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    1. Heh, we've got those, too! But we are definitely fortunate to have distractions from them as well...

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  13. Isn't the exhibit so fun?! I took pictures my first time through to post on my blog, but then never got around to it. I'm glad you weren't as lazy and put them up for all to enjoy! Oh, and I'm excited to hear you'll be able to make the Canada College event. It will be nice to finally meet you in person!

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    1. I am so excited about the blogger meetup too! And I think you should still put your photos up if you get the chance, because mine are all iPhone snaps and therefore not the best quality.

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  14. That is SO cool---far and away the coolest airport exhibit I've heard of. (And I thought it was cool to find a Fluevog shoes exhibit in the Vancouver airport... pfft!) That pattern-drafting adjustable thingy is NIFTY.

    Also, reading about sewing machines got me into such a state of sewing-brain that when I reached for the keyboard to type this comment, my foot was twitching looking for the machine pedal. No, Tanit, your computer does *not* have a foot pedal...

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    1. Oh, but Fluevog shoes are SO droolworthy. The first time I discovered it, I showed my husband and strongly hinted to him how awesome I thought they were. And you know, I have totally done the same thing with the imaginary foot pedal, so it makes me feel better that I'm not the only one!

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  15. Dang, dang, dang, dang, dang! I was supposed to go to SF this summer! Instead I did stupid stuff and fluffed around and it's not going to happen :-( What an amazing exhibition! I wish I could see it in person, but until then, thank you for sharing it!

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  16. That looks like such a good exhibit. I'll have to see how long it goes. I'd love to take a trip north.

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