Rickrack

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Red and cream rickrack trim on a calico half-apron Red and Cream Rickrack.jpg
Red and cream rickrack trim on a calico half-apron

Rickrack is a flat piece of braided trim, shaped like a zigzag. It is used as a decorative element in clothes or curtains. [2] Before the prevalence of sewing machines and overlockers, rickrack was used to provide a finished edge to fabric, [3] and its popularity was in part due to its sturdiness and ability to stand up to harsh washing conditions. [4] Rickrack is produced using a variety of fibers, including cotton, polyester, wool, and metallic fibers, and is sold in a variety of sizes and colors. [4]

Invented in the mid-19th century, it took its modern form and current name around 1880. [5] Rickrack's popularity peaked in the 1970s and is associated with the Little House on the Prairie . Several designs of formal and up-market girls' dresses with it on as a decoration became popular in the 1950s and 1960s.[ citation needed ]

History

1861 pattern for a woman's lace collar using Hutton's waved lacet braid Rickrack lace collar pattern.png
1861 pattern for a woman's lace collar using Hutton's waved lacet braid
19th-century industrial braiding machine creating rickrack and the Museum of Crafts and Industry, St. Etienne, France Ricrac industrial loom.jpg
19th-century industrial braiding machine creating rickrack and the Museum of Crafts and Industry, St. Etienne, France

In the 1860s, rickrack was known as waved crochet braid or waved lacet braid. [6]

During the 1890s, American home sewists used imported European rickrack as decorative edgings for dresses, aprons, and lingerie. Rickrack was also stitched into lace elements, which were then used to decorate bedding and other home linens. Between the 1890s and 1910s, rickrack experienced a decrease in popularity. [7]

During the 1910s, rickrack experienced a resurgence in popularity, and American manufacturers began producing rickrack to supply to the domestic market. Among other uses, this rickrack was incorporated into crocheted lace. Books of designs, such as Nufashond Rick Rack Book, helped to popularize the craft. [7]

In rural America in the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s, rickrack was used to decorate feed sack dresses. These dresses were worn as everyday attire, and were constructed from the large cotton bags that flour, chicken feed, and other goods were shipped in. [8] Since the food had to be shipped in fabric bags anyway, the flour mills competed with each other by using attractive, colorful fabrics that the buyer could either resell or upcycle into dresses, aprons, nightgowns, dishtowels, and other clothing and household items. [9] Adding trim like rickrack was a way to reduce the stigma around needing to use whatever fabric was available, rather than buying it from a store. [9]

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Needlework</span> Craft of creating or decorating objects using needle

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Apron</span> Outer protective garment

An apron is a garment that is worn over other clothing to cover the front of the body. They may have several purposes, typically as a functional accessory that protects clothes and skin from stains and marks. However, other types of aprons may be worn as a decoration, for hygienic reasons, as part of a uniform, or as protection from certain dangers such as acid, allergens or excessive heat. It can also be used at work stations to hold extra tools and pieces or protect from dust and unwanted materials.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Textile arts</span> Form of arts and crafts using fibers

Textile arts are arts and crafts that use plant, animal, or synthetic fibers to construct practical or decorative objects.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Appliqué</span> Piece of textile ornament, or work created by applying such ornaments to a ground fabric

Appliqué is ornamental needlework in which pieces or patches of fabric in different shapes and patterns are sewn or stuck onto a larger piece to form a picture or pattern. It is commonly used as decoration, especially on garments. The technique is accomplished either by hand stitching or machine. Appliqué is commonly practised with textiles, but the term may be applied to similar techniques used on different materials. In the context of ceramics, for example, an appliqué is a separate piece of clay added to the primary work, generally for the purpose of decoration.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1860s in Western fashion</span> Costume and fashion of the 1860s

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">1850s in Western fashion</span> Costume and fashion of the 1850s

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trim (sewing)</span> Ornaments in sewing

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Novelty yarns</span> Any yarn with special effects introduced in spinning or plying

Novelty yarns include a wide variety of yarns made with unusual features, structure or fiber composition such as slubs, inclusions, metallic or synthetic fibers, laddering and varying thickness introduced during production. Some linens, wools to be woven into tweed, and the uneven filaments of some types of silk are allowed to retain their normal irregularities, producing the characteristic uneven surface of the finished fabric. Man-made fibres, which can be modified during production, are especially adaptable for special effects such as crimping and texturizing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Soutache</span> Decorative braid used in the trimming of drapery or clothing

Soutache, also known as Russia braid, is a narrow flat decorative braid, a type of galloon, used in the trimming of drapery or clothing. Soutache is created by weaving a decorative thread around and between two parallel cords and completely covering the cores; this produces a piece of trim with a braided or herringbone pattern. Often woven of metallic bullion thread, silk, or a blend of silk and wool, soutache began to be made of rayon and other synthetic fibers in the 20th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pot-holder</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Croatian national costume</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Feed sack dress</span> Womens dress made from cotton sacks

Feed sack dresses, flour sack dresses, or feedsack dresses were a common article of clothing in rural US and Canadian communities from the late 19th century through the mid 20th century. They were made at home, usually by women, using the cotton sacks in which flour, sugar, animal feed, seeds, and other commodities were packaged, shipped, and sold. They became an iconic part of rural life from the 1920s through the Great Depression, World War II, and post-World War II years.

References

  1. "Handmade Aprons, photo page 2". Love To Sew Studio.
  2. Pickett, Joseph P.; et al., eds. (2000). "rickrack" . The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (Fourth ed.). Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company. p.  1498. ISBN   0-395-82517-2 . Retrieved 2019-09-14.
  3. Lee, Linda (2000). Sewing Edges and Corners: Decorative Techniques for Your Home and Wardrobe. Taunton. p. 121. ISBN   978-1-56158-418-5.
  4. 1 2 "Rickrack Trims". Better Homes & Gardens. Meredith Corporation. 2015-08-26. Retrieved 2019-03-05.
  5. "rickrack". Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary .
  6. "Waved Crochet Braid (aka ric-rac)". Genesee Country Village & Museum. 2012-07-14. Archived from the original on 2016-06-24. Retrieved 2019-03-05.
  7. 1 2 "Brisk Movement in Art Embroidery Field". Notions and Fancy Goods. Vol. 50, no. 4. New York: McCreedy Publishing Company. April 1916. pp. 40–41. Retrieved 2019-01-16.
  8. Buckel, Natalya Rachael (May 2010). Feed-sack fashion in rural Appalachia: a social history of women's experiences in Ashe County, North Carolina (1929–1956) (PDF) (Thesis). Appalachian State University. Retrieved 16 January 2019.
  9. 1 2 Onion, Rebecca (2017-07-21). "How Depression-Era Women Made Dresses Out of Chicken Feed". Slate Magazine. Retrieved 2020-03-20.