Needlepoint in the Fifties – A Look Back
Yesterday I had an occasion to look at the oldest needlepoint book I own, Needlepoint Made Easy, published in 1955.
It gave me pause, because I was also looking at The Needlepoint Book, first published 21 years later.
Since most of us started stitching after the needlepoint “revolution” of the early 70’s we probably don’t think about it much, but the needlepoint of the 50’s was very different.
In the 50’s almost all needlepoint was pre-worked and very traditional in style. Furnishings inspired by the American colonies was popular and these designs fitted well in those decors.
Wool ruled to the exclusion of almost anything else. Original design was not encouraged, in the 50’s book only a short chapter near the end covers it.
Half-cross was the default stitch. Although Basketweave and Continental are covered, every picture of the back of stitching is half-cross. Only one non-tent stitch is even mentioned, Bargello, and no Bargello pieces are shown, so you can’t do a project in Bargello from this book.
Then look at The Needlepoint Book. You are encouraged to design your own projects and the author’s original designs are throughout the book. There are many, many stitches, both pictured and diagrammed.
You learn advanced techniques, in the 50’s book the only advanced technique covered is how to repair or splice canvas. You learn about color and design. All this was before the revolution in threads.
Even so, The Needlepoint Book from the 70’s looks contemporary and is still useful. The book from the 50’s looks quaint.
Think how far we have come!
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This was particularly interesting to me since I marvel at my mom’s needlepoint on a daily basis. She stitched pre-worked (mostly florals) on Penelope canvas, and did them in hand. She started each vertical row at the bottom by weaving the wool through a few holes in the canvas and then she used the sewing method to stitch half-cross stitches straight up the row!
From what I can tell now, this completely defies all proper technique and her pieces should have been warped and a mess, but each and every piece that my sister and I have is absolutely perfect and a wonderful treasure to us!
I often wonder if Mom were here today…what kind of needlepointer would she be? Would she still prefer florals with tent/basketweave/half-cross stitch, or would she be an embellisher extraoidenaire?
That’s exactly what was pictured in the book. I did my needlepoint in hand for years and lots of the machine-made needlepoint you see is half-cross on penelope.
It’s not out of shape.
How did they do it?