Sewing circle

Giacomo Ceruti, Women Working on Pillow Lace (1720s)
The Junior Sewing Circle of the North Lima Mennonite Congregation, North Lima, Ohio, 1952
Group working on the Mekong quilts project in Vietnam (2009)

A sewing circle is group of people, usually women, who meet regularly for the purpose of sewing, often for charitable causes. For example, in ante-bellum America, local anti-slavery or missionary "sewing circles were complementary, not competing, organisations that allowed [women] to act on their concern for creating a more just and moral society".[1]

Examples of sewing circles include the Fragment Society, and the Mennonite Sewing Circle.

Apart from charitable purposes, contemporary sewing circles may be formed into organisations on a national level, such as the Guilds in Australia and America "for people who regard sewing as a creative and rewarding activity".[2][3]

It has been speculated that the phrase "chew the rag", is related to gossiping while working in a sewing circle.

Other uses

Sewing circle is also a phrase used (by Marlene Dietrich, for instance[4]) to describe the underground, closeted lesbian and bisexual film actresses and their relationships in Hollywood, United States, particularly during Hollywood's golden age from the 1910s to the 1950s.[5] This usage was coined by the actress Alla Nazimova.[6][7]

See also

References

  1. Carolyn J. Lawes, ed. (2000). Women and Reform in a New England Community, 1815-1860. Kentucky, US: The University Press of Kentucky. p. 78. ISBN 0-8131-2131-0.
  2. "Australian Sewing Guild". Retrieved 3 June 2013.
  3. "The American Sewing Guild". Retrieved 3 June 2013.
  4. Freeman, David (7 January 2001). "Closet Hollywood: A gossip columnist discloses some secrets about movie idols". The New York Times. Retrieved 18 April 2011.
  5. Madsen, Axel (2002). The Sewing Circle: Sappho's Leading Ladies. New York: Kensington Books. p. 3. ISBN 978-0-7582-0101-0.
  6. Film Actors: Lesbian, glbtq.com. Retrieved: 2014-01-12.
  7. Harbin, Billy J.; Marra, Kim; Schanke, Robert A., eds. (2005). The Gay & Lesbian Theatrical Legacy. University of Michigan. p. 297. ISBN 0-472-09858-6. Munson was a member of 'the sewing circle,' a term originated by Alla Nazimova for a clique of lesbians and bisexuals who socialized in Hollywood.

Further reading

Look up sewing circle in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.