Connie Barr, Morrison, IL, award-winning quilter, at left, will be a presenter at the Best of Yesteryear event, sponsored by River Cities Quilt Guild. Sessions take place Saturday, September 19, 2015, from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., and Sunday, September 20, from noon to 4:00 p.m. The event will be held in the Super Wash Training Center, 657 W. Lincolnway, and Family Chef Restaurant, 701 W. Lincolnway, Morrison.
Her interesting and informative talks will be given hourly in the Super Wash Training Center. Guests will be given a coupon for a special lunch deal that weekend at Family Chef Restaurant, directly in front of the show. Admission is only $3 for all activities, with ages 16 and under free.
She owned a quilt shop in Morrison for over 20 years and now has her own studio. Barr will give talks about two popular collectibles: Featherweights, which are older, collectible sewing machines, and feedsacks, which went from holding chicken feed and flour, to dressing the whole family. She has been a longtime collector of the machines and the fabrics.
Neither item is currently sold, but people don’t realize their value. Has your mother or grandmother has left you with household items? You may have these.
Connie will be available for questions after her talks. If you have a machine that looks like the Featherweight below, bring a picture. Connie will let you know and tell you know how to care for it
There are also quilt displays, door prizes, a counting contest, bed turning, area shops with sewing supplies and fabrics, and a whole room full of items handmade by quilters.
Start your holiday shopping. Get inspired. Bring your camera.
Featherweights
The Featherweight sewing machine was made by Singer Company from 1933 to the mid-1960’s. Being very portable at only 11 pounds, it really appealed to women. It is estimated that Singer sold over three million Featherweights. The machine is significant for its continuing popularity, rising value, and current active use by quilters.
Introduced as the model 221 during the 1933 World’s Fair, it featured straight and reverse stitching. It had electric power, aluminum construction, and an attractive “Egyptian Scrollwork” pattern on the faceplate. Most of those made after World War II had a simple, striated pattern of vertical stripes. It was further decorated with gold decals and the Singer name.
During the war, nickel was used for ammunition, so those parts were replaced by other metals. A military Government contract model made during WWII featured a rough, black crinkle, non-glare finish.
Many years later, a free-arm version, model 222, was produced in Great Britain. This model could lower the feed dogs for embroidery and quilting, features that were not available at this time on other machines.
Feedsacks
Initially farm and food products were shipped in barrels. Between 1840 and 1890 cotton sacks gradually replaced barrels as food containers. Cotton prices dropped in the early 1900’s, which spurred its use as packaging.
These bags were plain, unbleached cotton with printed labels. Women removed the labels by soaking in kerosene or rubbing with unsalted lard, then washing with lye soap. Sacks were easily ripped apart, because they were sewn with chain stitching. The string was rolled into balls to use for tying or crocheting.
In spite of these efforts the entire label didn’t always get removed, and when sewing undergarments, that didn’t seem worth the bother. As a result there are some amusing stories. A woman walking with her boyfriend tripped and exposed her underwear–which read “Southern Best.” Another case had a husband wearing the drawers his wife made him, with the words “Self rising” on the cloth.
Manufacturers saw how these feedsacks were being used. They started using colorful prints about 1925, with pasted paper labels. Women picked out flour, sugar, beans, rice, cornmeal, and even the feed and fertilizer based on fabrics. Kids were sent with their fathers to buy feed so they could pick the fabric bags they would like for their clothes. Sacks were sold or traded to get certain colors or prints. Stores then started selling empty feedsacks.
By the 1950’s paper bags cost much less than cotton sacks, so sacks changed over to paper. Women kept using the fabrics. During Morrison’s Centennial in 1955, one family dressed all their girls in a lavender floral print, with white bloomers edged in lavender–all fabricated from feedsacks.
It’s not easy to identify feedsack fabric. The paper labels are easily removed. A coarse weave is not a good indicator, because fabric like this could also be bought off the bolt as well. The best indicator is a line of holes from the chain stitching.