@ Muv! The remark about "looking like Quaker children" amused me too! (Like there's something wrong with modesty???)
I found a couple of other pieces that amused me... one was an article that referred to treadle sewing machines as an intrument of the devil, saying that the action of treadling excited women in an indecent manner. (An 1858 Methodist publication) The other referred to a comparison between riding a bicycle and treadling as being much the same kind of exersize, and laid that to rest saying that it was not the same at all, because treadling used only the muscle from the knee down, whereas the bicycle used the whole leg. The article, in a gynecology article, indicated sewing is bad for one's health:
"The sewing machine is used in a room with a bad atmosphere while wearing unhygenic clothing; the eyes are following a seam only twelve inches distant, producing eye strain and other nervous symptoms, simply from the extreme monotony and drudgery of the work. The sewing machine causes statis of the blood in the lower limbs and pelvic organs because of the bent posture. Bicycling demands deep inspiration; operating the sewing machine does not."
Oh my...what an unhealthy hobby we've chosen!!