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"Make It Yourself": Home Sewing, Gender, and Culture, 1890-1930
Contributor(s): Gordon, Sarah (Author)

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ISBN: 0231142447     ISBN-13: 9780231142441
Publisher: Columbia University Press
OUR PRICE: $78.75  

Binding Type: Hardcover - See All Available Formats & Editions
Published: January 2009
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Annotation: Sarah A. Gordon uses home sewing to examine domestic labor, market practices, changing standards of femininity, and understandings of class, gender, and race. Though industrialization increased the availability of ready-made garments, many women, either by necessity or by choice, continued to make their own clothing at home. In doing so, women used a customary female skill both as a means of supporting traditional ideas and as a way of preserving personal agency. Sewing became a contested space where businesses promoted sewing machines as tools for maintaining domestic harmony; women interpreted patterns to suit--or flout--conventions defining appropriate appearances, and girls learned to sew in ways that reflected class, race, and region. Gordon draws on established as well as obscure sources, including workbooks and paper dolls, to argue that home sewing is a unique vantage point for viewing the larger picture of American culture.

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Additional Information
BISAC Categories:
- Social Science | Women's Studies
- Family & Relationships
- History | United States - General
Dewey: 646.400
LCCN: 2008043642
Age Level: 22-UP
Grade Level: 17-UP
Series: Gutenberg-e
Physical Information: 0.56" H x 6" W x 9" L (1.00 lbs) 188 pages
Themes:
- Sex & Gender - Feminine
- Topical - Family
Features: Bibliography, Dust Cover, Glossary
Review Citations: Chronicle of Higher Education 03/13/2009 pg. 19
 
Descriptions, Reviews, Etc.
Publisher Description:
Through home sewing, Sarah A. Gordon examines domestic labor, marketing practices, changing standards of femininity, and understandings of class, gender, and race from 1890 to 1930. As ready-made garments became increasingly available due to industrialization, many women, out of necessity or choice, continued to make their own clothing. In doing so, women used a customary female skill both as a means of supporting traditional ideas and as a tool of personal agency.

The shifting meanings of sewing formed a contested space in which businesses promoted sewing machines as tools for maintaining domestic harmony, women interpreted patterns to suit-or flout-definitions of appropriate appearances, and girls were taught to sew in ways that reflected beliefs about class, race, and region. Unlike studies of clothing that focus on changes in fashion, "Make it Yourself" looks at the social and cultural processes surrounding home production. Gordon examines sewing clothing as work, whether resented or enjoyed, and the function of that work for families and individuals from a range of backgrounds.

Another unique element is Gordon's use of an unusually wide variety of source materials, from diaries, photographs, and government pamphlets to tissue paper patterns, dresses, sewing workbooks, and paper dolls. This "hands on" approach, combined with an accessible writing style, connects the reader to the women and girls who are at the heart of her study. Altogether, "Make it Yourself" provides a new perspective on a widespread yet often neglected form of women's work.

 
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