The sontag (1860)

The December 1860 issue of the "American Agriculturalist" magazine gave a pattern by Marian M. Pullan for "a sort of woolen habit-shirt that ... makes a warm and not cumbrous wrapper under a mantle" (in those days when a woman's usual outer garment was a cloak, not a coat).  Note that Mrs. Pullan had to explain what a sontag was!

"La Mode Shawl for Mourning" (1862)

This shawl for mourning wear is from Mlle. Riego's La Mode Winter Book (1862).  There were strict customs for mourning, with different garments, fabrics, and quantities of black as well as specific time frames depending on one's relationship to the deceased -- deepest mourning for an immediate family member, "second" mourning for a more distant one, with "half" mourning being the lessening before returning to ordinary dress.  (See "Mourning in the 1860s" at Sew Historically and "Stages of (Victorian) Mourning and Fifty Shades of Purple" at Lilac and Bombazine, among others, for examples.)

Mlle. Riego's pattern is for a half-mourning shawl, as mauve, grey, or white were the first colors allowed after the year during which a widow, for example, would wear deepest mourning.  An 1860s-era knitter could, of course, knit pretty much any garment in black and call it mourning wear, but this shawl is interesting in that it is designed specifically for that purpose.

All of the patterns in this book except for the mourning shawl are in "tricot écossais," or what we now usually call Tunisian crochet.  

Note that the shawl pattern is written using British terms, that is, its treble stitch is equivalent to the American DC -- but it is otherwise very simple, being in what we now call, perhaps because of shawls like this one, "granny stitch".

Miss Mary Campbell's Shetland shawl

Shetland shawl of cream wool, in the collection of the National Museums of Scotland in Edinburgh.

The National Museums of Scotland write, "This shawl of handspun and handknitted wool was made in Shetland. It was given to Miss Mary Campbell of Jura on the occasion of her marriage in 1863 and is a copy of the shawl presented that year to Princess Alexandra of Wales by the Shetland Islanders."

The dimensions of the shawl are given as 2400 mm x 1230 mm (about 95 in. by 49 in.).

For a modern interpretation of this shawl, see "The Princess Shawl" by Shannon Miller.

(It seems to me, by the way, certainly not an expert on Shetland lace, that the triangular shape is rather unusual, perhaps even wildly so.  Most of the "traditional" lace shawls I've seen, and certainly the ones blocking in this well-known period photo --

are square, and so I will tag this post with the "earliest known" label until further notice ...!)

"Victorian Slum House"

Adrian and Wiebke Bird.

A portrait from episode 2 (1870s) of "Victorian Slum House" showing a crocheted shawl, worn by shopkeeper Mrs. Bird with the ends wrapped around her waist and tied at the back.

"Meg's Hug-Me-Tight"

In a deft little touch by the filmmakers of "Little Women" (1994), some of the clothes are worn by one sister in an early scene and then handed-down to a younger one later, surely just what would have happened in a not-very-well-off family in any period, and even more so in wartime when clothing was scarce.  Meg and Amy each wear a gray hug-me-tight with black or dark-brown trim, though I'm not quite sure if it's the same one or if both have their own version of this useful garment.

 Note also the piece of crocheted lace tacked onto the edge of the shelf!

There isn't (yet!) a known historical source for this particular garment, though as far as I know no one has yet asked the film's costume designer, Colleen Atwood. That said, it is clearly well-rooted in period garments -- only a short step from the V-shaped sontag, with a side piece added to fully enclose the wearer's torso -- and we might even say, "If it isn't a period garment, it should be!"

Inspired by the garment, Michele DuNaier developed a pattern for it, now available for purchase via Ravelry.

(DuNaier wonders aloud, "Was it a shrug? A pelerine? A fichu? Or perhaps a sontag (AKA 'Bosom Buddy')? We finally called it a 'Hug-Me-Tight,' defined by Merriam-Webster as 'a woman’s short usually knitted sleeveless close-fitting jacket -- first known use 1860', which fits right in with the Civil War era Little Women.")

"What Katy Did" (1872)

Two of the Workwoman's Guide muffatees (1840), patterns available in an earlier post here.

In the children's story What Katy Did by Susan Coolidge (1872), set in the 1860s, twelve-year-old Katy, at this point in the story an invalid after a bad fall, has knitted a pair of muffatees for her father and a pair of leading reins for her four-year-old brother at Christmas-time.

"I wish I had something pretty to put into everybody's stocking," she went on, wistfully; "but I've only got the muffatees for Papa, and these reins for Phil." She took them from under her pillow as she spoke – gay worsted affairs, with bells sewed on here and there. She had knit them herself, a very little bit at a time.

The two Workwoman's Guide muffatees in the illustration above are rather plain, certainly compared to the more elaborate ones in the book, which would make them likely candidates for Katy's pair, and why she doesn't think them very "pretty"! 

Miss Loch's The book of "hows" or what may be done with wools in every home (Baldwin & Walker, 1900) has a pattern for leading reins -- yes, with bells! -- which parental necessity has obviously been around for quite a long time.

Franklin Habit has adapted a different pattern for leading reins from Weldon's.