Stitches through time

Did you grow up wearing carefully constructed home-made garments? Or know your way around a sewing machine?

Relive the good old days of home haberdashery with a range of activities.

Portrait of Mrs Andrews using a sewing machine at Ashburton.
Woman using a sewing machine, Ashburton, Melbourne, Victoria, 10 Sep 1959.

Playlist

Listen to a selection of sewing and fashion inspired songs from the 1940s to the 1970s.

Image slideshow

Download a slide show of images from Museums Victoria's collection relating to sewing, fashion, caring for garments and other popular handicrafts.

Trivia

Test your general knowledge about fashion, making, mending and caring for clothes.

  


Other activity suggestions

Get crafty

Learn a new skill or revisit an old one. There are lots of YouTube tutorials offering advice and step-by-step instructions on most crafts you can think of if you are looking for inspiration. Some suggestions could include crocheting, embroidery, felt-making, knitting, lace-making, macramé, quilting, tapestry, weaving, smocking and sewing to name a few.

Sorting and organising

If you have a button collection, array of cotton reels or collection of other haberdashery items why not get them out and sort them into size, colour, shape or texture.

Online puzzle

Try our online puzzle of Isabella Spence’s Patchwork Quilt. Isabella brought this quilt with her when she migrated from Scotland to Australia in 1853.

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