Page 5 - Workbasket

Introduction

T

he desire to create something beautiful—whether for oneself, one’s home, as a gift, or
as an act of worship—is timeless. The Victorian period was no exception! If a lady
from Victorian times could walk into a Michael’s or a Hobby Lobby today, she’d
probably find herself right at home. She’d be thrilled by the scrapbooking section, but it
would probably be the needlecrafts section where she’d linger the longest and fill up her
shopping basket.
What sets the Victorian period apart from earlier times is that, for the first time, books
and magazines could be published easily and were available to all, or nearly all. With that
explosion of publishing came a comparable explosion of articles on one of Victorian ladies’
favorite topics: needlecrafts and fancy work. Just about every publication for ladies and girls
contained instructions and designs for knitting projects, crochet, embroidery, and more.
The Girl’s Own Paper was no exception. This delightful magazine for “women and
girls” was founded in 1880 as a 16-page weekly, available for a penny. It survived well into
the 1950’s, becoming a monthly under the editorial tenure of Flora Klickmann in the 1930’s.
(Klickmann, by the way, was an avid needlewoman and published several books on knitting,
crochet, and other crafts.)
One of the most lavishly illustrated series in the early years of GOP was the column “My
Workbasket.” This column, which ran from 1880 to 1883 (and occasionally appeared in later
years) offered instructions for a host of classic Victorian projects, such as sewing and work-
baskets, antimacassars, pen-wipers, mats and doilies, baby clothes and more. Though some
(such as a crocheted basket to hold eggs) may look impossibly frilly today, many others offer
patterns and designs that could easily be applied to any number of elegant modern projects.
Embroidery patterns included a detailed picture or pattern, while knitting and crochet patterns
offered full instructions.
Most of these columns were anonymous. Some were bylined “M.L.,” who was
undoubtedly Mary Laybourn. Others were contributed by artist and designer Fred Miller,
whose initials appear on the patterns if not the column itself. Interestingly, some of the
projects appear in later editions of the American Peterson’s Magazine under the byline of
Mrs. Jane Weaver. (The knitted egg basket, for example, that appeared in The Girl’s Own
Paper in 1882 surfaces in Peterson’s in 1883.) Since that byline also appears on projects that
were clearly designed by Fred Miller, I do not attach much credence to Mrs. Weaver’s claim
of authorship!
Today, these projects offer just as much inspiration to crafters as they did more than 100
years ago. And those of us who delight in crafts know that there are few things as precious as
finding—or making—time to create something of beauty with our hands. So grab your
needle and silk, your crochet hook, or your knitting needles, and settle in for an afternoon of
creativity!

—Moira Allen
Columbia, MD 2014