Irish Crochet

Postcard of girl in Irish crochet 

The new Rowan magazine (number 55, Spring/Summer 2014)  has an article on the Knitting & Crochet Guild, and another on Irish Crochet by Katy Bevan, illustrated with wonderful photographs of some of the best pieces of Irish crochet from the KCG collection.  (Katy wrote about the photo-shoot on her blog, here.)

I don't crochet much myself, and Irish crochet is so fine and intricate that I am sure it is way beyond my skills.  But I do admire the things in the collection - they are just beautiful.  So since the Rowan magazine article was proposed, I have been keeping a look-out for Irish crochet illustrations in the Guild collection.

Although much Irish crochet was made commercially, there were also many Irish crochet patterns published in needlework magazines in the early part of the 20th century.  But the illustrations with the patterns are usually just the piece of crochet - they are rarely shown being worn. So it's difficult to get a sense of how Irish crochet was worn at the time.  (I don't think the Rowan model looks very much like an Edwardian lady - it's not a modern look.)  

I have recently been looking at the postcards and photographs in the Guild collection - they have all been acquired because they show knitting or crochet, and there are several from around World War I that show Irish crochet.  Here is a selection.  The postcard of a girl wearing an Irish crochet top (cape?  jacket?)  is postmarked March 1912.   (Postcards of pretty girls were popular at the time.)

Miss Julia Neilson at Home
Postcard published by Beagles Postcards,
from a photograph by Ellis & Walery

There are also two postcards of celebrities wearing Irish crochet.    Miss Julia Neilson, depicted at home next to the piano, was an actress.  She is wearing an Irish crochet blouse, and one of those nasty furs made from a dead fox.   Miss Marie Studholme, an actress and singer, is wearing an Irish crochet collar to her jacket/bodice, and possibly an Irish crochet blouse underneath (hard to tell - it's out of focus).   The card is postmarked 1906. 

Miss Marie Studholme
Postcard published by Rotary Photo Co.,
from a photograph by  Foulsham & Banfield

The three postcards show women wearing smart clothes, and probably the Irish crochet was bought - they did not make it themselves.  Ordinary women would not be able to afford to buy whole garments in Irish crochet, nor have the time to make them.   But we have several photographs of women wearing little crocheted collars or jabots.  I suspect that many such collars were made at home, but they might have been cheap enough to buy. 

The young woman wearing the large crochet jabot and stand-up collar (and huge hat) is evidently wearing her best clothes for the photograph. 

Little lacy collars to wear with a plain dress were also popular - not all are in Irish crochet, though I think that the one above is.

I also found an ad for Manlove's crochet cotton, in Fancy Needlework Illustrated from 1914. The "peasant girl" in the ad is making a set of motifs for a collar.  (When Irish crochet was made commercially, the more experienced and skilled workers made the motifs, which were passed to less experienced crocheters to join together.)  So if you were making your own Irish crochet collar, you could aspire to the standards of the professionals by buying the thread that they used.

"Irish Peasant Girl making Irish crochet Lace"
Fancy Needlework Illustrated, June 1914.