General Chat

At school, what did you make in needlework (Domestic Science)?
At primary school I remember making pot holders, handkerchief case, pyjama case and various little things in felt plus cross stitch samplers.
At High school in needlework I half made a pair of shorts, made a waist slip with some sort of fancy twisty hem, and an apron. We also learnt to darn, do several types of hemming and seams, and to patch, and also to smock. I only did DS for three years and I seem to remember that it was alternate weeks for needlework and cookery.

Cookery is a bit of a blur but I remember veg soup, queen of puddings, cheese straws, Christmas cake (not iced but marzipanned) and not much else.

I hated needlework at school but did do quite a bit of dressmaking after leaving school at home.

Apron & cap (hair band) in the first term at secondary school. We weren’t allowed to cook without one. It taught us how to use a sewing machine & attach bias binding.
A stuffed & dressed doll - still have that! There must have been other things, lost in the mists of time.

Domestic science - the usual sponge cakes, Swiss rolls & yeast based products. We did make a Christmas Cake but probably only on the GCE course. The Royal icing was rock hard. Potato salad, pancakes, stuffed hearts (yuk!). For some reason, I can remember grilling sausages. Perhaps we had to cook vegetables to go with that? Poached eggs, omelettes & scrambled.

I remember having to cook some sort of fish. We had to slice open the fish and inside mine were slimy white things. I threw up in the sink & never did cook fish. I later found out they were the roe.

For needlework we made our netball skirts, baby doll pyjamas & for our exam we made a dress & the right leg of a pair of shirts. I scorched the dress down the front and so failed miserably .

Never liked needlework since and am not that keen on cooking but it has to be done!

We had to make an apron first to be worn for domestic science

Then we did a cross stitch sampler type thing which was on a cotton type open gauge square .it was then frindged by pulling out rows around the outside .we had to do various embroidery stiches on it to our own design

We were then allowed to design our own dirndle skirt and had to buy the material from outside the school

Most of it had to be hand stiched with only the side seams and waist band being attached by machining

Got really fed up being made to undo hems and machine sticking and redo time and time again
I didn't want the skirt by the time it was finished :-|

At one primary school, we had to knit a hairband, using garter stitch.
We were told to bring in wool - weren't told what it was for, so my hairband was an awful dirty yellow.
I only did one year of domestic science and sewing at Secondary school.
I remember making an Irish stew - that's it! :-)
In Sewing, we had to choose some material - yet again, weren't told what for - so I ended up with a 'baby doll' (very short) nightie and matching pants, covered in brown spots. :-\

Primary - embroidered a square and used a loom to make a scarf. We were taught to knit but I already knew how to.

Senior school - a cross stitch dressing table set. A cap and apron for D.Sc. Knit squares to make a blanket for a charity. Make an appalling blouse size 10 (the smallest pattern size) when I was about 4 ft 8 and 5 stone :-(. I told the teacher I shouldn't make it but she insisted. The square neck showed all my bra and it billowed, I got terrible marks as it didn't fit me :-S.

D.Sc. well I learned how to clean a house, wash up and stock a fridge also to clean an oven. We made little sponge cakes, bread rolls, macaroni cheese, jam tarts and mince pies, scrambled eggs on toast. We only cooked about once a month in the 2 years I took D.Sc, we only had 80 minutes (a double lesson) per week. We also had to learn about digestion and what to feed an invalid also how the food breaks down and how we use it.

Infant and junior school . Cross stitch bookmarks, mats and comb case.
Grammar School, Domestic Science cap and apron with name embroidered on them, Felt toy, pair of pyjamas, permission to make a pram quilt and pillow as my sister was expecting my nephew. Knitted a full baby layette again for my sister. I was taught to knit, sew, crochet and rug make at a very early age.


Cooking was sausage rolls, sponge cake, biscuits, choux pastries and many forgotten things all at senior school. :-D

In primary school we knitted 2 squares, which were sewn back to back by the teacher, who attached a curtain ring at one corner to hang up our kettle holder.
Our next project was chairbacks, - I remember that I embroidered mine in autumnal colours to match our living room.
Next we covered a coat hanger with wadding, then drew round an old penny to make an inter-linking pattern which we embroidered in chain stitch. Mine was cream thread on red flannel. Once we had stitched the finished covering onto the hanger, we had to cover the wire handle with threaded yarn.
In the next class we made an embroidered and lined handkerchief holder..
Our first garment was a 4 gore skirt. As this was red and white gingham, the effect was not good and took an age to hand sew.

At grammar school we were introduced to sewing machines to make a shoe bag. This was a requirement, as we had to change from outdoor to indoor shoes each day, except when we were given special permission not to during dry summer weeks. Before we could make the bag, it had to be embroidered with our initial and surname. I rather envied the girl who only had 4 letters in total before she could get onto the machines. We had electric and hand machines to try.
We next made an art overall. All identical with material bought by the school. and we later made a cookery apron and cap, which had to both be embroidered with our first name, so the teacher could get to know us.
Eventually I made a nightdress, but remember long lessons spent unpicking because my tacking stitches weren't as equal or even as the teacher wanted. That rather killed any enjoyment and sense of achievement. Needlework lessons became rather a chore and it was ages before the nightdress was completed.

Yeah, I learned to use a sewing machine at (boy's) school. I got pretty nifty at it, a skill that has saved me lots of money. Reed Heavy Duty sewing machine mostly used for sail making and repair :-)

Other uses included repairing original Levi denim jeans (holes were not then in fashion), tents, sports car textile roofs and so on.

I also have on the wall a sampler made in Leicester 1870s by my GGF sister full of homilies she did not believe in.

I have somewhere the little waffle type thing with fringes around the edges with different rows of stitches.That would have been made when I was about 6 or so.
As for needlework (I don't go there ) I hated it and everything I made was a disaster.Aprons,nighties,skirts .It gives me nightmares now even thinking about all that .My old Primary school teacher is still alive and aged I think 98. She still remembers a skirt I made !!!. It must have made a huge impression and not in a good way :-D :-D
I can sew on a button and maybe sew a hem that has come down . That's the best I can do these days :-D

Amokavid, Grammar schools were more academically focused rather than the Secondary Modern/Technical High Schools. The latter taught more of the practical subjects.

We had this discussion at a recent 'old girls' reunion. One person said they should have encouraged more girls to go to University. She's forgotten that we went to a Technical High School where the emphasis was different. That's not to say that the academically gift weren't encouraged into further education. She'd opted for the Secretarial stream after GCEs rather than straight A levels.

I went to a grammar school and learnt very little about sewing or cooking. However I did buy a sewing machine and made clothes for myself and my children, curtains etc. I have always knitted from the age of 7.

My sister spent many hours sewing and cooking at her secondary modern school. She worked all her life stitching leather so is far better than I am at sewing BUT come to cooking - I've had to teach her basics like Yorkshire pudd. All those hours didn't teach her much at all. Since leaving school she has never attempted to bake a cake or make pastry. She buys in pies and cakes. I love baking and seeing my cakes disappear.

I found you can teach yourself the basics of both. :-D

Nottingham Girls High School
"The following year, in 1922, alumna, Mary Browning, became the first woman in England to obtain a Doctorate in Physics at London University ."

My mother was a student at this school pre ww2. At that time it was located in Arboretum Street. Her aunt lived nearby which was v handy. The school focus was academic rather than vocational.

Nevertheless my mother was very handy with a sewing machine and making up Vogue patterns. She was never asked to do any embroidery which was a very good thing.

I was taught to darn by my mum. Very useful in the army when the QM stores wouldn't issue a new pair of socks until the darns had holes in them.

I went to Grammar School, and there was cookery/sewing up until the 4th year, I believe, but I 'opted out' in year 2, to do voluntary work.

Like Pat, I got a sewing machine when I left school - actually, it was a birthday present on my 18th birthday from my then boyfriend.
I went on to make many sets of curtains, removable covers for two setees, clothes, for both me and the children - sometime with, sometimes without, patterns.
I even made a pair of jeans and shirts for my boyfriend.
My favourite 'make' was a lovely red gingham dress with smocking for my 3 year old.
I also made quite a few toys!

The sewing machine was a semi-industrial Vigorelli. I say 'was' - but I still have it, and it still works!! :-D :-D

I even 'refound' knitting needles, and knitted a Shetand jumper while we were living in a tent near Clickimin Broch, and, once we were in a croft house, went on to knit quite a few Icelandic jumpers on circular needles, using 'Lopi' wool.
I still have an Icelandic cardigan I knitted 40 years ago :-S

How dare people say that Secondary schools didn't concentrate on Core subjects.

In primary school we had to embroider table cloths,make shoe bags with our name embroidered on them.hairbands,
As I could already knit I made scarves and gloves,pot holders.knitted slippers and started a cardigan for the teacher.
Must admit I loved embroidery and sewing.

In secondary school we had to make our own cookery apron and hair band.mine was red and white checked.

We did concentrate on all the subjects ,science,.maths geography.French,German.History.algebra.

And I loved school.

Grandma taught me to knit a doll's scarf before I went to school......mine ended up being the dropped stitch lacey pattern we all must remember! Then at primary school I knitted a pale blue scarf for me. We then stitched together our own plimsole bags and wove coloured thread through the stitches. Next we made pinafores with the bib up the front and crossover straps at the back. Mine was red and white gingham. At Grammar school domestic science was compulsory in the first year and I dropped it after that. We had bought white aprons for that but made our own white headbands. Next we made gathered skirts. Mine was turquoise and I never liked it! Mum made me wear it to my first job interview when I left school.......so humiliating! I also remember my disastrous 'rock' cakes that lived up to their name and were far too big! Pear conde (can't see the french acute sign on this PC) which was a success and was eaten before it got home and some sort of mince in a casserole that was a nightmare to get home without spilling on the bus. I still find cooking an interruption in what I really want to be doing, but have made pork pies, jam, bread etc in the past to make our wages go further. I bought a Jones sewing machine soon after I got married and made skirts, a denim skirt and waistcoat, various tops and a dress or two, curtains and covered cushions for a cane suite. I taught myself to do basic crochet and made table mats and a lemon baby's dress and knitted lots of baby cardies and outfits for work colleagues' babies and a few jumpers and hats for me. I also bought a knitting machine and knitted a lot of jumpers on that.....it was so fast! I wish I still had it now, but downsizing meant parting with some things.