This bolster sham is one of several linen and clothing items that were made and belonged to Mrs. Eliza Towns and donated to Flagstaff Hill Maritime Museum and Village. Eliza was born Eliza Gould in 1857 in South Melbourne (Emerald Hill) and in 1879 married Charles Towns. In the early 1880's they moved to Nhill in western Victoria and remained there for the rest of their married life. Charles was a jeweller and later became an accountant and for many years was involved with the Shire Council, the local show committee (A & P Society), the Hospital Committee and the Board of the local newspaper (the Nhill Free Press). They had three children and lived a life that would be regarded as comfortably "middle class". Eliza probably had a treadle sewing machine and would have made many of her own clothes and household linens - adding her own handmade embroidered or crocheted decorative trim. Most beds during the late 19th and early 20th century had a feather, hair or spring mattress covered by a blanket and topped with an under sheet, an upper sheet, several blankets and a bedspread. A flat bolster could be placed either under the pillows or on top of the pillows with a decorative sham. Washing pillows and quilts by hand would have been a very onerous task (involving heating water and handwashing in a tub or using a copper) and so it became the practise of many housewives to cover the pillows and bolsters with an outer slip (or sham) of washable material which could be easily removed and washed when needed. If the bolster was kept under the pillows it wouldn't need to be very decorative but many shams or slips that were "on show" were often highly decorated with embroidery, pintucks, ribbons or lace. This bolster sham is machine made and quite plain with the exception of some pintucking and eyelet lace on each end which suggests that it would mostly be hidden under the top pillows with just the decorative edges on display.This item is an example of the needlework skills of women in the early 20th century - combining machine stitching with hand embroidery to personalise and embellish a practical domestic object. It is also significant as an example of an early 20th century innovation that helped make the working lives of housewives a little bit easier.A long white cotton rectangular bolster sham, machine sewn, with seven ties and two buttons (plus one missing button) to enable it to be folded over lengthwise and closed. It has two pull string ties near each end to enclose a bolster and is finished with a decorative edge of pintucks and handmade eyelet lace and embroidery.flagstaff hill maritime museum and village, eliza towns, sham, bedding, great ocean road, shipwreck coast, warrnambool, household textiles, sewing, bolster sham, housework, pillow sham, charles towns, nhill, haberdashery, needlework, manchester, handmade, household linen

A "Plain Sewing Sampler" or "Darning Sampler" was intended to showcase the wide range of sewing techniques and skills a girl or woman had. These skills might include hand sewing techniques such as darning, patching, hemming, mending, structural sewing (making pleats, inserting gussets, joining fabric with seams) making buttonholes and embroidery. Samplers could also be intended for practicing a particular technique. There were several articles printed in Australian newspapers around 1889 referring to the "Plain Sewing Movement". In 1889 a Melbourne branch of the "London Institute for the Advancement of Plain Needlework" was formed by a group of ladies led by Lady Loch and Lady Clarke with the purpose of teaching "plain needlework' to women and girls. "Plain Sewing" included fundamental stitches and techniques that were essential for practical clothing construction and maintenance. Several years later in 1891, another meeting was held at Clivedon (the residence of Lady Clarke) to look into the possibility of improving the teaching of sewing in the state schools. This meeting was attended by several school inspectors and the committee of "the Melbourne Institute for the Advancement of Plain Needlework". This "Plain Sewing Sampler" was donated from the estate of Susan Henry OAM nee Vedmore (1944 - 2021). Susan's family (Harold and Gladys Vedmore) immigrated to Australia from Wales in 1955 and settled in Warrnambool. Susan was well known in the Warrnambool community for her work supporting children and families across the district - particular those with disabilities, or those who were homeless, unemployed or isolated. Susan was the founding trustee of the "Vedmore Foundation" - a Warrnambool philanthropic trust set up to support a range of charitable and not-for-profit causes by providing grant assistance. In 2021, she was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia for services to the community. It has not been possible to identify the lady (with the initials L. L.) who made this item in 1897 but it was thought to possibly be a female relation in her maternal (or possibly, paternal) grandmother's family. It has many of the same elements and techniques that were taught by the "Plain Sewing Movement" that originated in England at the end of the nineteenth century.This item is a rare example of the handcraft skills learnt by women and girls in the late 1890's to construct and maintain practical clothing for their families.A cream cotton sampler made from three smaller rectangular shapes, displaying a wide variety of plain sewing techniques including hand stitched seams (french, bound and herringboned), inserted patch, buttonhole, button, gathering, a gusset, frills, pintucks, a placket, cross stitch initials and date (L L and 1897) and decorative embroidery.L L/1897flagstaff hill maritime museum and village, warrnambool, shipwreck coast, needlework, textiles, plain sewing sampler, darning sampler, handwork, sewing, great ocean road, susan henry oam, vedmore trust, hand sewing, sewing techniques

These items were made as samplers either at school or most likely college. They are samples of embroidery stitches, seam types and sewing and knitting techniques.Nos 1-16 are group of samplers made from cotton lawn, cotton with sateen weave and flannel and made by Ruth McGannon. No 17 is a pair of gloves made by Margaret Russell. .1) A small square of yellow lawn with three horizontal rows in blue thread and three vertical rows in red thread of running stitch each 3.5 centimeters apart. The edges are frayed to 1.2 centimeters. .2) A larger rectangle of yellow lawn with three horizontal rows 7.8 centimeters apart and three vertical rows 10 centimeters apart of long stitch, stitched in blue thread. The edges are frayed to 2 centimeters. .3) A small square of yellow lawn with three horizontal rows and three vertical rows of blue thread of running stitch, each 1.9 centimeters apart. The edges are frayed to 1.5 centimeters. .4) A larger rectangle of yellow lawn with three horizontal rows 9 centimeters apart and three vertical rows 11.2 centimeters apart of running stitch, stitched in red thread. The edges are hemmed with two rows of long stitch .5 centimeter apart with a loose blue thread of laced running stitch weaving in and out of the red long stitch. .5) A rectangle of hemmed yellow lawn with a pocket formed at each end. Two rows of long stitch in red thread hem the edges with a blue thread stitched between each red stitch. The pockets are formed by turning back the edges and stitching them down in brown thread. R.M. is embroidered in brown chain stitch on the right side. .6) A rectangle of hemmed blue lawn the same as the previous piece but with five rows of back stitch in yellow and orange thread creating a pattern. .7) A rectangle of blue lawn with the top and bottom edges hemmed with two rows of long stitch close together in yellow and orange. The other two edge are frayed to 2.5 centimeters and has four rows of long stitch .7 centimeter apart in yellow and orange thread. .8) A blue lawn bag with two packets was made by hemming a rectangle of fabric on three sides in long stitch with orange thread, then yellow thread between the stitches. The fourth side is hemmed in hemming stitch in yellow thread with blanket stitch in yellow thread along the edge. This edge is folded up by one third to create a pocket. The edges on either side are stitched together. A row of chain stitch in orange thread is stitched down the middle to create two pockets. A tape is stitched to either side at the top and this is folded over the pocket. .9) A cream cotton with sateen weave rectangle is hemmed with a double row of orange thread in long stitch. On both sides is embroidery in orange and yellow thread. .10) A yellow cotton with sateen weave baby's bib is made from a rectangle of fabric with a semi circle cut out of the top. The edges are turned and hemmed with a narrower turning on the neck. A tape is stitched at either side of the neck. On the front is embroidered a train in blue and yellow threads. .11) A yellow lawn embroidery sampler using blue and brown thread shows long stitch, stem stitch, herringbone stitch, chain stitch, fly stitch, lazy daisy stitch, cross stitch and satin stitch. It is hemmed using drawn thread work and the bottom is scalloped and finished in blanket stitch. .12) A pink lawn embroidery sampler with green thread shows herringbone stitch, stem stitch, running stitch, chain stitch, cross stitch, lazy daisy stitch, fly stitch, feather stitch, satin stitch and back stitch. The bottom is scalloped and finished in buttonhole stitched. The other three edges are hemmed using drawn thread work. .13) A small cream flannel square with two smaller squares are stitched together down the middle in decreasing sizes using chain stitch. The largest piece is hemmed using both herringbone and a decorative blanket stitch. It also has a run and fell seam on the opposite side using both running and herringbone stitches. A row of feather stitch is on either side of the seam. The two smaller squares are frayed on the edges. .14) A cream rectangular flannel sampler has two seams along the length. One is a run and fell seam using running and herringbone stitches and the other is an open seam using running stitch and both edges are stitched down with herringbone stitch. The two shorter edges are bound and the longer edges have a tape which is stitched down to neaten the edges. On the right side are two rows of feather stitch. .15) This blue lawn apron has a rectangular gathered skirt which is attached to a waistband and in turn attached to a bib front which goes over the head. The bib and skirt sides are hemmed using decorative blanket stitch in pink and dark blue thread. The skirt hem and both sides of the waistband are stitched in two rows of herringbone in pink and dark blue thread. .16) This pale pink lawn child's shirt has french seam side seams, a waist band to which the shirt is attached using slight gathering. The sleeves have cuffs. There is a front facing and a collar and there is a small pocket in the left hand breast. .17) These yellow knitted gloves are made using plain stitch for the hand and rib for the wrist.Written on paper and stitched on to a couple of items - Ruth McGannon V.3 - 312 Written on paper and stitched to the gloves - Margaret Russell x No2embroidery, sampler, gloves, stitches, sewing, knitting, apron, costume, needlework, dressmaking, textiles

Ballarat Technical Art School was a division of the Ballarat School of Mines.373 certificates in 2 boxes. Most appear to be related to subjects undertaken at the Ballarat Technical Art School. Director of education stamped signature Frank Tate.Stamped Ballarat School of Mines No.10 Stamped signature "Frank Tate"ann duke, plain needlework, victor greenhalgh, frank tate, ballarat technical art school, arnold j. allen, florence allen, m.a. ansen, dressmaking, modelling human figure from cast, ruby e. allison, drawing fro memory, nancy b. angwin, maude arberry, douglas w. arch, muriel j. arch, eileen bailey, annie c. baker, percy j. baker, general design, light metal work, bessie m. barbery, commerical arithmetic, decorative needlework, bert bernaldo, drawing from a flat example, lorna m. mccallum, brush drawing, stanley g.a. barnett, millinery, mavis g. beacham, theodore k. beckwith, isabel j. bell, kelva e. bellingham, leslie bennett, olive van berkel, elizabeth e. berry, beatrice m. blake, thomas g. blake, catherine m. bowers, nancy w. bowe, clarice v. branagh, harold r. brown, architecture, modelling the head from life, henry bull, light metalwork, ivan d. brown, thyra j. brown, henry j. bull, leila m. burford, embossed leathwork, lettering, drawing fro dressmakers, irene m. burke, josephine m. callery, modelling, mona r. callow, herbert cameron, lillias cameron, william e. carlyon, doris l. carter, ruth e. catt, hiram e. chamberlain, stephen chambers, jack d. chand, jack d. chard, clara v. clegg, beryl e. coad, john c. collins, keith m. collins, robert g. collins, kathleen m. conway, athol b. cornish, ballantyne cottier, douglas s. cotton, lilith s. christmas, perspective, doreen coughlan, ivy g. crompton, phyllis culliver, joan m. cuthbertson, alan r. cutter, john l. daniel, arthur dansey, katherine d'arcy, dorothy f. darling, myrtle f. darling, reginal a. davey, gwladys h. davies, annie dellaca, henry a. deller, ivy f. denovan, joyce doepel, bessie donacaster, charles o. dowie, horace b. dowsing, walter dunstan, mary dwyer, allan r. egglestone, melville g. ellingsen, hugh o. elliott, beryl r. ellis, cecil f. engish, allan e. evans, matson l. eves, olive j. fairlie, robert j. falla, mavis felstead, lena featherston, albert c. ferguson, alma ferguson, hilda m. ferguson, john f. ferguson, beatrice m. field, clarice f. fisher, philip h. fleischer, building construction, olive p. francis, agnes fraser, essie gale, gilbert foster, pearle fricke, effie gascoigne, enid m. gates, clarice gear, james a. geary, sylvia f. greenhalgh, evelyn f. geddes, thomas j. gibson, wavie b. gilbert, edna m. gilmer, nancy govan, eula h. gower, doris e. gray, lesley j. gower, henry n. graham, victor e. greenhalgh, melva e. gribble, human anatomy, roy k. griggs, jack gullan, robert gullan, alma m. gunn, dorothy j. hallan, lucy hamilton, james hammer, dorothy e. hamond, christopher j. hanlon, catherin hardess, lily haymes, gladys hedges, irene h. hewitt, john hill, victor j. hill, olive hillings, john a. hobill, frances k. holmes, gertrude m. hopkins, alice horan, marjorie hudson, linda m. hughes, lydia hughes, winifred humphreys, commercial english, agnes a. humphries, colin hunt, kathleen hutchinson, francis n. king, jean king, hilda knox, john kopke, isabel a. kopke, hazel jackson, freda jacobi, agnes james, william r. james, alexander johnson, edward j. jones, eleanor w.h. jones, nellie kau, thomas kean, francis kelly, roy k. kelly, thomas g. kierce, theo e. leonard, esther f. leviston, bessie lockett, norman h. long, ena mackay, gwenda e. mann, robert v. maddison, herbert w. malin, dorothy m. marriott, john c. mcarthur, james p. mcculloch, doris mcdougall, cyril mcgibbony, thelma mcgibbony, jean mcgregor, kenneth mciver, constance m. mckenzie, elsie j. mckissock, alexander k.mcleod, grace b. mclean, john f.w. mclean, rebecca mcphan, vera meeny, edna merritt, dougald miller, florence h. mingst, agnes m. monteith, doreen j. montgomery, jean e. montgomery, robert w.p. montgomery, margaret b. moore, harry e. morrish, james mow, gwendoline r. neagle, gerald r. newson, robert j. nicol, helen f. nicholl, george m. norton, edward s. oliver, mavis e. oliver, hector h, osborne, henry parker, norma e. parr, doris m. patterson, elsie pearce, celia pearlman, leslie pearlman, edna pearson, william j. perriman, eulalie perry, ernest b. pinney, charles e. peverill, clarence r. pittock, raymond b. pitts, phyllis polson, cynthia b. power, bessie puzey, john m. punshon, evelyn a.v. ramsay, robert i ramsay, william a. rattray, drawing for builders and artisans, george h. reed, fred reeves, mavis i. regelhuth, george r. renkin, annie e. reynolds, lizzie rice, eileen l. richards, henry c. riegelhuth, gladys m. riley, charles a. rimmington, amy robson, ernest w. robson, florence a. rogers, dorothy rppney, kathleen rooney, hugh n. ross, stella m. rowe, agnes w. ryan, rosaling e. sage, cora sandberg, eric c. sanders, douglas f. scott, sylvia e. selkirk, dorine a. shearer, gladys sheldon, emily e. simper, veri slattery, florence c. smith, hilda m. spencer, rose spiers, mopna g. spiller, alma m. stapleton, joyce w. stark, marcus m. stone, commercial correspondence, beatrice m. stuart, ena v. sullivan, margaret a. sydes, rita tainsh, norman b. tamlyn, arthur w. thane, alma m. thomas, david e. thomas, william h. thompson, william m. thomas, edgatr j.t. tippett, sidnet tippett, gladys tongway, mavis toop, hugh d. trainor, annie e. treloar, john h. treloar, eilleen trumain, linda f. treewk, percival a. trompf, percy trompf, jean tunbridge, ruth e. tunbridge, allan j. twaits, irene m. utting, elizabeth van beek, william a. wade, agnes a. walker, james a. walker, vera v. aller, john walsh, marjorie walters, rex warrillow, edith watson, bernice e. webb, constance i weeks, ina m. westcott, pearl whan, violet wheeler, myrtle d. whitfield, annie whitl, richard l. whitla, charles f. whitla, grace a. wilcock, murray a. wilkie, andrew w. william, arthur williams, baden p. williams, david d. williams, grace f. williams, maude h. williams, mavis m. williams, james williamson, ivy wilson, hector g wilson, frederick w.r. wilson, david s. wood

These baby's silk socks x2 were made by a member of Gladys Reed's family c1930 in Moorabbin Shire and show the needlework skills .of residents . Gladys Reed was a member of the Ormond Choral Society c 1950 that performed plays and musicals in the the City of Moorabbin These baby's silk socks x2 were made by a member of Gladys Reed's family c1930 in Moorabbin Shire and show the needlework skills .of residents 1 pair x Finely hand knitted cream silk baby socks . Sole of foot is plain with decorative stitches on upper foot and leg. clothing, craftwork, silk, baby wear, early settlers, moorabbin shire, mechanics institute cheltenham, ormond choral society, postworld war 11 settlers, housing estates moorabbin 1950, bentleigh, ormond, moorabbin, cheltenham, drama societies, musical society cheltenham, clark judy, reed gladys, reed george

The First Australian Exhibition of Women's Work was held at the Exhibition Building, Melbourne, from 23 October to 30 November 1907. It was opened by Lady Northcote (the wife of Australia’s Governor General) and Pattie Deakin (wife of the Prime Minister), who also ran a model creche during the exhibition. The five week exhibition showcased the work of women musicians, artists and craftswomen with over 16,000 exhibits in all fields of artistic endeavour. It was attended by approximately 250,000 people. Exhibits were divided into Classes, including Fine Arts; Applied Arts; Photography; Plain Needlework; Cookery, Preserves and Laundry Work; Horticulture; and Medical and Nursing. This item was owned by Mrs. Mary Burrowes, aunt of Mrs. Jean Raper.This item is from Raper Collection donated to the Wodonga Historical Society by Mrs. Jean Raper. A small ruby glass and crystal jug which was produced as a souvenir of the Australian Exhibition of Women's Work held at the Exhibition Building in Melbourne in 1907. It has been inscribed in gold coloured paint. "Mary Women's Exhibition 1907"vase, glassware, decorative items

The First Australian Exhibition of Women's Work was held at the Exhibition Building, Melbourne, from 23 October to 30 November 1907. It was opened by Lady Northcote (the wife of Australia’s Governor General) and Pattie Deakin (wife of the Prime Minister), who also ran a model creche during the exhibition. The five week exhibition showcased the work of women musicians, artists and craftswomen with over 16,000 exhibits in all fields of artistic endeavour. It was attended by approximately 250,000 people. Exhibits were divided into Classes, including Fine Arts; Applied Arts; Photography; Plain Needlework; Cookery, Preserves and Laundry Work; Horticulture; and Medical and Nursing. This item was owned by Mrs. Alice Yardy nee Dinsmore, grandmother of Mrs. Jean Raper.This item is from Raper Collection donated to the Wodonga Historical Society by Mrs. Jean Raper. A small green glass vase with gilt edge which was produced as a souvenir of the Australian Exhibition of Women's Work held at the Exhibition Building in Melbourne in 1907. It has been inscribed in gold lettering. "Alice Women's Exhibition 1907"vase, glassware, decorative items