Silk purse

“ The man that is satisfied with a leathern purse is not easily a spendthrift, but one that, as the saying goes, knows how to keep his purse-strings tight;—now your transparent purses of silk or gold twist are never out of the fingers of your prodigals ”

“ An artisan affords his child a veil of German silk, a net to match, a string of amber, a purse and girdle, the whole expense coming to £1 6s., or about five guineas of our currency. A servant on one of Bonis’ farms buys for his wife a silk wimple; gloves, hair-ribbons, and ornamented hair-nets are common fairings. ”

“ X 1 silk, 1 gold, 2 silk, 1 gold, 1 white, 2 gold, 7 white, 2 gold, 2 white, 1 gold, 2 white, 2 gold, 7 white, 2 gold, 1 white, 1 gold, 2 silk, 1 gold, 2 silk, X repeat.
Contents
HANDSOME PURSE.
MATERIALS..—1 reel of ombré; crimson silk, in short shades; 1 of grey ditto; 3 skeins of rich brown purse twist, 1 skein of white ditto, 2 hanks of steel beads, No. 5; 12 rows of transparent white seed beads, 2 handsome steel slides, and a few steel bugles. The silk must all be of the finest size, and the work is to be done very tightly. ”

“ As trade grew up, she brought these fine silken textiles to our markets, and articles of dress were made of silk for men’s as well as women’s wear among the wealthy. At what period the raw material came to be imported here, not so much for embroidery as to be wrought in the loom, we do not exactly know; but from several sides we learn that our countrywomen of all degrees busied themselves in weaving. ”

“ This Table exhibits an alarming decline in the importation of all the materials for our staple manufactures, except raw silk, which has considerably increased. That increase has not arisen from any increased sale of articles of clothing, viewed as a whole, in the nation since 1845, but solely from the great extent to which, since that time, the fashion of ladies' dress has run in favour of silk attire. ”

“ In consequence shopkeepers, who studied the market as if it were a thermometer, refused to cumber their counters with expensive goods which must only be shelved after their color or design was out of date. Such conditions had created an American market for cheap silks such as was unknown in Europe where quality was a far greater factor in the sale of silk materials. In the United States these flimsy dress goods could be turned out with little expense on American power-looms by unskilled workmen, whereas in other countries experienced men were needed to make them. ”

“ Because although silk is necessary in the manufacture of certain indispensable articles it is for the most part a luxury, and the demand for it fluctuates. When times are hard people go without silk gowns and silk stockings; nor do they expend their money in silk, satin, brocade, or velvet hangings. [166] The fashion, too, has much to do with the demand. Some seasons women wear only satins and that throws back on the manufacturers the silks they have on hand; or velvets are worn and the satins have to be shelved. The vogue of certain colors also often causes loss. ”

“ The feeble, the aged, the lame, and almost any person, no matter how weakly, might be employed at this business; and silk always fetches such a price that it would pay us for sending it abroad, in addition to the amount we might use. ”

“ Or if silk were preferred, the silks of past centuries were at once thick, firm, soft and pure, quite free from the dress or artificial thickening, by whose aid a silk nowadays tries to look rich when it is not. The oatmeal cloth, diagonal cloth, cotton-backed satin, velveteen and plush, so much used now, are very inferior materials as grounds for needlework to the hand-loom linens and silks on which so large a part of the old embroidery remaining to us was worked. ”

“ If there be any part of silk in a dress not suitable for any of these purposes it is wasted, or what is accounted wasted, although it may have been in wear for years. It is somewhat remarkable, that while woollen and even cotton goods can be “shoddied”—and if they are too rotten for that, they are made available for manure, or in the manufacture of paper—no use is made of the refuse of silk. Though one of the most beautiful and costly of textile fabrics, its “remains” are thrown aside, when a beggar’s rags are preserved and made profitable. ”

“ Silk was so valuable that it was then sold for an equal weight of gold. Indeed, a law was passed that no man should disgrace himself by wearing a silken garment. The Emperor Heliogabalus despised the law, and wore a dress composed wholly of silk. The example thus set was followed by wealthy citizens. A demand for silk from the East soon became general. ”

“ The silk market has its fluctuations, its panics, and its daily quotations by cable; but raw silk has so inherent a value that it is a good collateral security at any bank, and the silk-broker is as well established and important a personage in the mercantile world of the Orient as the stock-broker in the Occident. Next to specie or gems, silk is the most valuable of commodities in proportion to its bulk, the cargo of a single steamer often representing a value of two million dollars in gold. ”

“ Pure silk will instantly crisp, leaving only a pure charcoal; heavily dyed silk will smolder, leaving a yellow, greasy ash." One of our most sanguine manufacturers declares his belief that within ten years the dress-silks of this country will bear a higher reputation than those made anywhere else in the world.
In figured dress-silk goods, raw material bears a greater proportion to labor. Our designs are original, changing in color and pattern with the seasons. They are mostly made on power-looms, are firm, serviceable, and very cheap. ”

“ They are at present in a very flourishing state, and are more numerous and varied than ever.... There are 524 looms of silk stuffs, and 2700 of ribbons and silk galloon. The silk works consist of taffetas, twilled and common silks, satins, and velvets of every kind and colour. These are mixed with gold and silver. Gold cloths and brocades are also made there. [25] [99] The manufactures are not carried on by companies, but dispersed among the workmen themselves, by which perhaps the qualities may in some degree be injured. ”

“ Silk should look fluffy in a garment, and therefore does not require much pressing. Great care must be taken when cleaning, pressing, and repairing dress suits, Tuxedos, Prince Alberts, and any garment that is silk lined. The price to charge for such work may only be figured by the amount of silk, and time required to do the work. ”

“ The store may wish to clear out a collection of remnants or to get rid of a line of goods which are no longer to be carried; but aside from this, there is usually some defect in the goods themselves or else they have failed to please the fashionable whim of the moment. Silk is always silk, and if you want it, you must pay for it. ”

“ And yet perhaps the Americans, who are none too anxious to wear out their old clothes, are quite as well satisfied," chuckled Pierre.
"In what an endless number of ways silk is used!" reflected Madame Bretton.
"Yes. And when you have done with the ribbons, and trimmings, and braids, and silks, and upholstery brocades, and satins, think of the velvets and plushes that can now be made in this country in all sorts of fancy designs on power-looms instead of on hand-looms as formerly. Of course it is still cheaper to import certain kinds of velvets and plushes ”

“ The inherent delicacy of many of the processes, and the fact that silk as a luxury trade is especially susceptible to changes of fashion, have retarded the use of machinery and preserved the finer fabrics as an artistic handicraft. ”

“ So, in general, it may be said, as we think, that all goods made substantially of silk will be treated as silk commercially, unless it directly appears that commerce has given another name to the admixture. ”

“ Like other silken textiles, satin seems to have been, in some few instances, interwoven with flat gold thread, so as to make it a tissue: for example, Lincoln had of the gift of one of its bishops, eighteen copes of red tinsel sattin with orphreys of gold. [131]
Though not often, yet sometimes do we read of a silken stuff called, cadas, carda, carduus, and used for inferior purposes. The outside silk on the cocoon is of a poor quality compared with the inner filaments, from which it is kept quite apart in reeling, and set aside for other uses ”

“ When we buy a heavy dress for a small sum of money we are paying for dye-stuff, and the dye-stuff we buy very soon destroys the silk. But costly as the article is with which we love to decorate ourselves, it is within the reach of every industrious single woman in the country. It is worn as every-day apparel by the fashionable women of Washington. When a dress becomes too well known, or has lost its freshness, it is taken for every-day wear. This is a great mistake for more than one reason. By making silk so common it detracts from its elegance and beauty. ”

“ In the later times the finer grades of linen for handkerchiefs, table-cloths, napkins, bedding, and suits were all imported. Cotton and cotton fabrics were introduced from the far East into Greece and thence into Rome. Silk began to be used by the women toward the end of the republic and by men under the empire.
The color of clothing was originally white, which was prescribed by law for the toga. Poor people, slaves, and freedmen had their clothing of the natural brown or black color of the wool. The mourning garments of the upper classes were of dark color—black or dark blue. ”

“ If we depended for this upon European mills, the color desired would be out of fashion before the thread arrived.
As to the weaving of silk, it is said that we are obliged to import the very best raw silk, owing to the high price of labor here—poor silk requiring great cost in labor. "It costs five times as much to tic a knot here as in France." In the best silk, the thread is not lumpy; but, in weaving the lumpy thread of poor silk, the weaver is constantly busy picking off the imperfections. ”

“ Galloons, laces, and gold and silver fringes, are likewise made here; but these are of no great importance. Silk, gold, and silver embroideries are very common, and the embroiderers are so numerous that they are to be found in every street.
“Silk Stuffs.—These are manufactured at Manresa, Cardona, and Mataró, which has forty-eight looms; but principally at Barcelona, where there are five hundred and twenty-four. There they make velvets, satins, damasks, silks, taffetas, and gold and silver stuffs. The town of Barcelona alone uses annually 300,000 pounds of raw silk. ”

“ Remember wool is an expensive fiber. Do not expect to get all wool for little money.
3. Remember the weave affects wearing quality. A close twill weave is often more durable than a basket weave.
Do you remember your lessons about silk; how it is grown and made by the little worm, and how it is manufactured or spun into thread or woven into silk cloth? In buying silk one must remember about its manufacture.
1. Silk is seldom pure. It is apt to be weighted. If the silk feels heavy in the hand, it does not always mean that it is a good piece of material and will wear ”

“ Those who objected to a duty on steel have found they were biting something more than a file. Silks in 1860, hardly unwound from the cocoon, were creeping along with only a small showing of sewing-silk and a few trimmings, but now this industry rises to national importance, furnishing apt employment to many thousand women as well as to men; and the annual products, sharply competing with even the Bonnét silks of Lyons, amount to the round sum of $34,500,000. Notwithstanding the exceptionally heavy duties, I am assured that silk goods in general are sold for 25 per cent. ”

“ Out of the several specimens here from Tartary and India, during our mediæval period, we pick one or two which show well the meaning of those words uttered by that great Venetian traveller, while speaking about the textiles he saw in those countries. The dark purple piece of silk, figured in gold with birds and beasts, of the thirteenth century, No. 7086, p. 137, is good; but better still for our purpose is the shred, No. 7087, p. 138, of blue damask, with its birds, its animals, and flowers wrought in gold, and different coloured silks. ”

“ But a great part of all the different branches of our woollen manufacture, of our tanned leather, and of our hardware, are annually exported to other European countries without any bounty, and these are the manufactures which employ the greatest number of hands. The silk, perhaps, is the manufacture which would suffer the most by this freedom of trade, and after it the linen, though the latter much less than the former. ”

“ Turkey polts for their dinner; and their perfumes, washes, and clean linen, equip them for the Parade.'
We get a glimpse at the prices of silk dresses in the following advertisement: 'The Silk Gowns formerly sold in Exchange Alley, are removed to the sign of the Hood and Scarf, directly over against Will's Coffee House in Cornhill, where any Gentleman or Lady may be furnished with any Size or Price, there being all Sorts of Silks, from rich Brocades of 7 Guineas Price to Thread Sattin Gowns of 37s.,' etc. ”

“ The price of three or four pairs of silk stockings would give you a dozen pairs of fine cotton. Yes, I know there are cheaper silk ones to be had, but their quality is poor. We should scarcely want you to wear coarse, poorly made ones. ”

“ The patterns are, in general, points or scallops, enriched with eyelets or dots in rows, stars or diamonds; sprays, light wreaths, and even the elaborate work to be found at Bradbrook's, where a single garment, with an embroidered [90] yoke, is valued at $13, are also in use. Worsted embroidery is chiefly used for flannels, sacques, and skirts, or blankets for infants. Silk is also chiefly fashionable in the wardrobes of children, their dresses, tunics, sacques, and cloaks. For older persons, it is nearly superseded by the use of broad braids, ribbons, and galoons as trimmings. ”