746: Fancy Work

The Lady’s Manual of Fancy Work by Matilda Marian Chesney, 1859.

Cover of the The Lady’s Manual of Fancy Work

  Before finding this enchanting mid-nineteenth century book by Matilda Marian Pullan, I would have guessed that the term “fancy work” referred to any job done in a fancy manner, such as holding a brick trowel with your pinky raised, or skipping to the dumspter with your garbage.

…Turns out I was absolutely right!  Skipping to the dumpster is indisputably fancy!

However, in a more traditional sense, “fancy work” refers to ornamental needlework such as embroidery or crochet.

Pullan’s manual includes instructions for all things decorative, from bead work and bobbin work, to netting, tatting, trimming, wire work, and lots more techniques most of us have never heard of.

The book itself is also an ornamental delight!  Its deeply stamped cover, whimsical fonts, and intricate, fold-out color illustrations of lace work make for a tactile and visual fancy feast!

The Lady’s Manual of Fancy Work is non-circulating, but please contact us if you would like to visit it.  Of course, we make everyone who uses it wear frilly lace gloves and an over-sized bonnet 🙂

To find current books on the topic of domestic beautification, please check out our library catalog at www.slpl.org.  Try a “subject search” using the terms “Crocheting”, “Knitting”, “Embroidery”, “Handicraft”, or, of course, “Fancy Work”