Home Sewn: Thread, Cloth, Needles and Yarn

Description

Do you have cherished home sewn items crafted by your great-grandmother, grandmother, mother, or relative? Such objects, passed down through generations, connect you to memories of the crafter and to history. They call to mind the fashion and household trends unique to their time period.

The Northwest Montana History Museum’s new exhibit Home Sewn: Thread, Cloth, Needles, and Yarn showcases a variety of crafts: sewing, crocheting, knitting, embroidery, quilting, and needlepoint. Many of the articles on display were handed down through families and then gifted to the museum.

Visitors will see an extensive variety of handsewn articles representing the skill of the crafter. Featured pieces include a 1910 wedding gown (right, with photo of bride Minnie Larson wearing the gown on her wedding day), 1950s children’s clothing, and practical items such as 1950s embroidered kitchen towels and an 1897 log cabin silk quilt.

Enhancing the exhibit is an 1895 Montgomery Ward cabinet model treadle sewing machine. This machine is unique in that the back of the cabinet bears vent holes in the shape of two hearts to provide ventilation—something a machine with open cast iron supports did not need.

A display showing a child’s bedroom, replete with a brass headboard and embroidered quilt, features a handmade, braided rug. A doll’s bed with a quilt and a display case filled with handmade children’s clothing and doll clothes completes the room. And, as always, the exhibit includes a hands-on corner with activities for children.

The exhibit will run through August 2025.  The Museum is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays.

Northwest Montana History Museum, 124 Second Ave. E., Kalispell; 406-756-8381; nwmthistory.org