Imagine you are a woman living in the 1940s. You are soon to be a mother for the first time, and you are so excited about the baby. You have been knitting lovely little clothes for the baby, and of course sewing clothing too. Now, you are almost ready to decorate the little cotton and linen outfits you have made. Your husband is just as excited about the baby, and yesterday he gave you a lovely gift – a book of embroidery transfers which you can use to decorate the clothes.
When I showed the children these hot-iron embroidery transfers, their reaction was very interesting. Of course, the children had no trouble at all working out what the item was, as there was plenty of writing on the book explaining exactly what the transfers were. The children did have trouble visualising the finished product though. Embroidery is not a skill which many of the children have, nor their parents, and for those not versed in the art, the embroidery seemed very complex, though it would have been extremely simple for experienced embroiderers.
Embroidery transfers have a surprisingly long history, dating from at the least the 1800s. The first were perforated, using tiny holes in the paper through which a black powder could fall to transfer the pattern. The black powder was a problem though, as any excess could cause marks on the fabric. Soon though, new methods were created, like patterns which could be transferred by rubbing them, or wiping them over with a wet cloth. These also had drawbacks though as the pattern could be distorted if it moved during the transfer.
The real innovation came in the mid to late 1800s when hot iron transfers became available. One of the first to offer these types of transfers were the Deighton Needleworks. The needleworks were established in the mid 1800s by William James Deighton and in 1870 Deighton were producing embroidery transfers in England. His father, also a William, was a surgeon and apothecary and with his help the pair were able to develop a heat activated ink. Using this they could print designs which could be placed on fabric and ironed into place with the ink being activated by the heat of the iron and transferring the pattern from the paper to the fabric. They were not the only company to create hot-iron transfers though. The ones I showed the children were created by Semco, but Vogart and Aunt Martha were also popular brands. Even today, these vintage transfers remain popular.