Just loved this excerpt from a Singer Sewing Book circa 1900. How many of you abide by these rules?

When you sew, make yourself as attractive as possible.
Go through a beauty ritual of orderliness, have on a clean dress.
Be sure your hands are clean, fingernails smooth - nail file and pumice will help.
Always avoid hang nails.
Keep a little bag full of French chalk near your sewing machine where you can pick it up and dust your fingers at intervals.
This not only absorbs the moisture on your fingers, but helps keep your work clean.
Have your hair in order, powder and lipstick put on with care.
Looking attractive is a very important part of sewing for if you are making something for yourself, you will try it on at intervals in front of your mirror and you can hope for better results when you look your best.
Again, sewing must be approached with the idea that you are going to enjoy it and if you are constantly fearful that a visitor will drop in or your husband come home and you will not look neatly put together, you will not enjoy your sewing as you should.
Therefore "spruce up" at the beginning so that you are free to enjoy every part of the sewing you do.

I absolutely do, doesn't everyone?

I just love old helpful hints like these. They make me howl.

Sounds like Flylady. Dress to your shoes!

Pulling a useful nugget:
(Fill in the blank) must be approached with the idea that you are going to enjoy it.

And then I fall straight into the gutter. Think of England, dears.

You mean pj's aren't the best thing to dress in. I guess I failed this test!

Love the bit about "being constantly fearful" should a visitor or even worse...your husband turn up! This old anarchist needs approaching with caution when at her machine.

Naturally .........one must always look one's best ! lol !

Tee shirts, jeans or pj's I guess I didn't pass either.

of course ----who --whom??? --dosent ??? [help i dont own a lipstic]

Old flannel nightgown, hair not brushed, never any makeup---and that's at quilting retreat, just imagine what I look like at home!!! LOL Just kidding, it's about the same and it's not a picture that you even want to imagine.
Jemma--I don't own a lipstick either.

I'm surprized it didn't say "Only begin sewing after all daily chores are done, your house is spotless and your husband's supper is in the oven."

that's what I was thinking. I usually am in my pajamas. I go for comfort. :)

I refuse to wear a bra while sewing or in my home for that matter , glad I didn't grow up in 1900's.

DANG............ I failed in all areas... Thank God, no one can see me now! BTW... what is LIPSTICK??? I'm certain it must be something that would interfere with all the pins in my mouth. :( can't have that.

oh you're right! just Imagine... quilting in your corset and buttoned shoes, with scissors and pattern templates cut from the newspaper. Mary help us. only very special, Magical women could perform such feats.

I have a hobnail blanket that my grandmother gave me. It's from around 1850. Her great grandma, Jane Davis Hiatt, Grew the flax, Retted the flax, Spun the fiber, and then Wove it into this Beautiful blanket. And, after 160 years, it is perfectly healthy and hangs from a wall rack in my living room. I can only assume that she did all of this in her corset.

This is wonderful. I usually sew in my night gown.

Most days Im rushing around at the last minute before dh gets home to get out of my jammies and comb my hair. spray some pledge in the air, pour bleach in the sink to make it smell like I did something besides sew.

Ha!

I guess I'd never have sewn the first stitch if I applied these rules!

That would mean a couple of hours of lost sewing time.

my DH doesn't even "get fooled". I just keep my gown on! If my hair is neatly combed he would just ask me where i was going!

I can imagine living like that. And that was supposed to the simplier times.

too funny! I usually have a bad hair day while sewing!!!! OMG!

LOL, does chapstick count? I dont even wear lipstick to work!

Hmmm...I've been at my machine already this morning. I've got my robe on and my hubby told me I had mascara all around my eyes! It must have been a thing of beauty :)

No bras at the turn of the century just corsests so like them we shouldn't sew with a bra on hehe. man I don't even get cleaned up till after lunch. mostly because that is when the kids are napping and I can shower. Plus getting cleaned up to just get dirty cleaning seems weird to me. I don't usually sew until evening after kids go to be anyways.

How different life was back then. Sure glad I'm living in today's time. I would surely be a failure!

Indy, I suspect most women were "failures" by those standards! My Grandma only went to those lengths to go to church! Add me to the what's-a-lipstick tally.

I do wash my hands before I start though, out of concern for the fabric only. Do I get a point for that?

Quilting in my jammies. Never wear makeup. Husband is African-loves a natural woman. Thinks bras are unhealthy, just for keeping things still and secure when outside the home.

TOO funny ... yes those Victorian ladies would be truly horrified by our casual dress today! Tshirt & yoga pants for me ... brush teeth & maybe my hair, but that's about it!
Can you even IMAGINE sewing in a CORSET ??? !!! :roll:

Roflol, mine is retired now, so i have been found out.

I think these tips should apply to men as well as women. Who wants to come home to an unshaven, sweaty man with dirty hands and stinky feet. HaHa.

If I needed to worry about my husband coming home to me not "neatly put together", he wouldn't be my husband. Thanks to maternity leave, I only get out of my pj's when I have to leave the house...and sometimes, not even then! I shower every night after the kids are in bed...and put on clean PJ's! I wear make up when I know somebody will be taking pictures. If someone stops by my house unexpectedly, they can just deal with whatever disorder and or unkempt-ness of myself or my home...or, imagine this - CALL first...or...Stay away!! LOL

Now imagine this cat with 4' unbrushed hair---that's what mine is sometimes when I sew. :lol: :lol: :lol:
I figure that as long as every hair is on my head then it's
"in place" where it should be. I do make one concession---I pull it back into a low ponytail to keep from sewing it into my quilts.

I guess I will never be the "proper" sewer ! I doubt I ever would have done any sewing if I had to do all that before , just to prepare to sew.

I love you guys. Always good for a laugh first thing in the morning.Oh , S__t ,its already 9:30?

ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha
I haven't laughed so hard in days.
First of all, I don't think I own a dress that fits anymore.
I think I put on makeup in 2008, but I'm not sure. :)
If someone drops in unannounced at my place, it's at their own risk. I'll put on tea, and offer cookies if I have them, but don't expect a "Martha" clean house.
My dust bunnies are my friends. I think they're members of PETA.
heheheheehehehehehehehe

ROLMAO!!! Yeah, right -- I'm lucky if I get DRESSED!!!!!!!

PJs here too, have to be comfortable to sew. There is one set of PJs that annoy me to sew in though. The legs are so long and stretched out that they keep getting caught under the chair rollers. I need better PJs!

And they were sincere. Wow.

I do get dressed every day, but NO bra or panties for me so that fails me with the corset. No make-up since I left the factory in 2002, so NO lipstick for me either,lol! If someone comes over to my house then they enter at their own risk or don't come over at all,lol!!

You are too funny!!

ROFL