The Mary Margaret Smith-Watson Sewing Books collection is comprised of two sewing books documenting coursework that would have exemplified the study of clothing and textiles in the Department of Home Economics in the first half of the 20th century. The first sewing book in the collection – embellished with a cut-out of two women in late-Victorian-era dress – includes course notes for a Clothing and Textile course taken by Smith-Watson. The three main “units” of the course – Style and the Human Figure; Design in Relation to Dress; and Study of the Personal Figure – cover such topics as grooming and posture, different style of clothing silhouettes, and the rules of design. Sketches illustrating the elements of design – for example, proportion in dress, and how to emphasize or minimize certain physical attributes – are included with the class notes. Unit III – Study of the Personal Figure – includes a section on pattern making, including how to drape, draft, and design flat patterns. Miniature templates for patterning darts, lapels, short and puff sleeves, and various styles of blouses are included, as are flat patterns for two dresses that Smith-Watson designed as part of the course, and pieces of fabric cut according to parts of the patterns. Taken as a whole, the resulting work appears to have been presented as a final project or portfolio for the course.
The second sewing book is comprised of instructions for a Department of Domestic Science course, and sewing samples for each of the lessons taught in the course. The course may have been taken or taught by Mary Margaret’s mother, Lucile McCullen; the ledger cover that was used to folder the materials is inscribed “Lucile McCullen 1910.” What would become the School of Home Economics in 1914 was, in 1910, the School of Domestic Science, which was comprised of two departments, Domestic Science and Domestic Art. The name of the department offering the course, then, dates the materials in the second sewing book to sometime in the 1910s, thirty years before Mary Margaret attended OSC. Unfortunately, no evidence could be found of a Lucille McCullen, either as a student or as an instructor. Given that the instructions are broken down by "grade," it's possible that this sewing sample book may have been used to teach a high school domestic science course. The book includes a list of the equipment and supplies needed for the course, directions for both the pupils and the teachers, and specific instructions and examples showing the different types of stitches and styles that were taught.
