[April Bradford]

Advice from a Singer Sewing Manual from 1949​

Sharing on behalf of member @josephinegriffiths

Advice from a Singer Sewing Manual from 1949

Prepare yourself mentally for sewing. Think about what you are going to do. Never approach sewing with a sigh or lackadaisically. Good results are difficult when indifference predominates.

Never try to sew with a sink full of dirty dishes or beds unmade. When there are urgent housekeeping chores, do these first so your mind is free to enjoy your sewing.

When you sew, make yourself as attractive as possible. Put on a clean dress. Keep a little bag of French chalk near your sewing machine to dust your fingers at intervals. Have your hair in order, powder and lipstick put on. If you are constantly fearful that a visitor will drop in or your husband will come home, and you will not be neatly put together, you will not enjoy your sewing.

The take-home hints from this are that you must never think of doing anything to please yourself until there is no vestige of the house that is not in perfect order because those undone chores will keep you preoccupied!

You should also keep your mind on the possibility that someone may arrive whom you must serve, or at the very least greet looking neat, clean and tidy.

Image Credit: Shutterstock

 

[DLHM]

I love these old manuals of “advice”. There are some out there of how to be a good housewife etc. How times have changed!

 

[Liz]

I'd fail this etiquette rule every time, sewing comes first with me.

 

[Choff5]

Did it really use the word CHORES?

 

[BellaB18]

How things have changed. I don't know any young lady of today who would put up with that. My goodness thank heavens us woman have come so far. I will send this to my very savvy fourteen year old granddaughter. I can't repeat what l know she will say .
Go girls kind regards to all Vicki

 

[PattiB]

I'd fail this etiquette rule every time, sewing comes first with me.

So would I. If I’m sewing the housework waits & if any friends drop in they aren’t surprised, they all know my priorities, reading, sewing, crocheting then housework maybe. They’ve all seen me looking dreadful & so has my husband!

 

[PattiB]

I love these old manuals of “advice”. There are some out there of how to be a good housewife etc. How times have changed!

I recently found a magazine from 1973 & the advice on how to be a good housewife was beyond belief. That was the year I got married so heaven knows how we survived with my “slovenly“ habits. When I wasn’t at work or out somewhere I sewed. Thank goodness times changed. My sister in law found her mother’s good housekeeping book. We still laugh about it.

 

[Phantom55]

So would I. If I’m sewing the housework waits & if any friends drop in they aren’t surprised, they all know my priorities, reading, sewing, crocheting then housework maybe. They’ve all seen me looking dreadful & so has my husband!

spoken just like a bloke...youve made the grade mate ..welcome to being a bloke

 

[Gsr]

I have a few old books from a friends estate that give all sorts of good advice for women, housewives, mothers from the earlier part of the 1900s. It gives me a good laugh when I find time to read a few pages from them. My granddaughters are astounded at what was expected from women back then. I have a few old books on lawnmowers, farm machinery etc as well but there is no advice in them telling men how to dress, behave around their wives or female/ male friends or visitors. Thank goodness times have changed.

 

[DLHM]

I recently found a magazine from 1973 & the advice on how to be a good housewife was beyond belief. That was the year I got married so heaven knows how we survived with my “slovenly“ habits. When I wasn’t at work or out somewhere I sewed. Thank goodness times changed. My sister in law found her mother’s good housekeeping book. We still laugh about it.

That was the year I got married too. I used to sew a lot having learnt it from my mum, then at school.
And I thought we were so modern in 1973!

 

[Clancieblue]

Funny, some of the things I do must have been learnt from that book. I always did the painting in the house when I was younger but could never start until everything was tidy first. Floors vacuumed, dishes washed, beds made.

 

[Jo Piper3]

My mum had one of the sewing machines pictured and my brother has it now and turned it into a table. My mum wanted me to take a sewing course but it was booked out, thankfully. I did a photography course instead, developing and printing. I still don't sew.

 

[Veggiepatch]

Sew what!!

I can't even sew buttons back on shirts! Over 50 years ago, Mum bought a gadget that attached buttons with little plastic thingies. No sewing required! I've been in over 20 haberdashery stores and nobody has ever heard of them! Bugger!

 

[BellaB18]

How things have changed. I don't know any young lady of today who would put up with that. My goodness thank heavens us woman have come so far. I will send this to my very savvy fourteen year old granddaughter. I can't repeat what l know she will say .
Go girls kind regards to all Vicki

My granddaughter, replied we learnt about this in humanities.
That's crazy she said.
I was expecting worse. Haha