Common Art History

 

 

 

Rolling past my feet was a ball on the run. Picking it up, I saw that someone had taken fabric remnants a very long time ago, torn them into strips, then tied them together end to end and rolled them into a ball.   

 

This is no ordinary ball; it is art history rolled up in one.

 

 

Turning the ball around and around, I could imagine the different vintage cotton dresses, work shirts, and aprons that had been made. The clothing that had become too small or aprons soiled beyond lemon and sunshine. I could see the time it took to rip the fabric in long, narrow strips and the nimble hands to tie such delicate knots.

 

 

Why would someone go through so much trouble? It didn't seem likely that the person created this as an art project, nor as a way to remember the clothing she had made or that her children had worn. Then, as swiftly as the ball had rolled past my feet, I knew what it was.

 

 

Like a ball of yarn, this was used for braiding or crocheting. The old bits of clothing had been recycled into a rag ball, which, woven together, would create a rag rug. Something very common during the Depression era was being creative with what you had.

 

Fortunately, this ball had escaped the crocheting needle and was tossed through time towards me.

 

Instead of calling it rag ball or seeing it as a project yet to be done, I admire it as a work of art history.

 

What cherished piece do you have that most would not notice but speaks to you each time you see it?

Comments

[TracyH]

The colors in that rag ball are so pretty. 💝🩵

[Laurel]

My mothers button basket, buttons saved from clothing and carefully tied together to be reused on new garments or replace lost buttons. I loved looking through the basket as a child and still like it.

[marlis]

In the 70s or 80s, knit sweaters made of fabric were quite popular. I had a few and also purchased the "fabric" balls to knit another. What a blast from the past! My cherished piece is a cross stitch remnant my grandmother made as a child.

[Teddee Grace]

My mother did this with fabric rags and hooked rugs with the strips. The places where the different pieces of fabric were tied together were obvious in the rug. Kind of interesting. I hadn't thought about that in a long time. We were really poor when I was growing up and this was one way to get a very sturdy and washable throw rug for no price but the labor.

[Denise]

Beautiful! Notice how lovely the colors and patterns complement each other.

[Barbara St. Aubrey]

Mom made balls of wider bits of cloth braiding them into rugs to wipe our feet on the back porch or stand on near the stove that she could then wash in her older wringer type machine - my favorite is a saved seersucker dress now all time stained that I wore in a school play hand sewn by my Mom - I feel her presence remembering how she made our life meaningful, sewing most of our clothes and so many gifts a well as practical additions to her home. Even hangers were covered and stuffed with scented cotton as handmade sachets hung behind the doors of bathroom and bedrooms. Thanks for helping me capture the memory...