Glossary

Glossary of Terms used in 1900s-era “fancywork” books.

Brown, Anna Wuerfel

• Ravelry fan page http://www.ravelry.com/designers/anna-wuerfel-brown
• The New Filet Crochet Book, 1912 http://www.archive.org/download/newfiletcrochetb00kirc/newfiletcrochetb00kirc.pdf

cretonne

• cre tonne

  [kri-ton, kree-ton] Show IPA

  noun

  a heavy cotton material in colorfully printed designs, used especially for drapery and slipcovers.
  Origin:
  1865–70;  < French,  after Creton,  Norman village where it was produced

• http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/cretonne?s=t

Fancy-work

• Any of the type of textile or household crafts created by women in the early 1900s.
• What is Fancywork Crochet? (crochetme.com)

Filet crochet

Filet lacis

Nightingale

Portier:

• A portière is a hanging placed over a door or over the doorless entrance to a room. Its name is derived from the French word for door, porte .   http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_a_drapery_portier

1. Note:  The portiere shown in the Priscilla Helps for Household book is not being used in this manner, rather, is a simiilarly open beaded drape used as an embellishment over a sheer panel.

Shirt-waist

• shirt·waist  (shûrtwst)
  n.

  1. A woman’s blouse or bodice styled like a tailored shirt.

  2. See shirtdress.

  http://www.thefreedictionary.com/shirtwaist

Smyrna rug

• http://www.richardewright.com/9005_smyrna.html

Testa, Carmela

• Boston-based Italian designer Carmela Testa appears to have self-published the phenomenal Variety Italian Cut Work and Filet Lace.   http://ia700209.us.archive.org/10/items/varietyitaliancu00bost/varietyitaliancu00bost.pdf