"Home Fires"

Sisters Laura (Leila Mimmack) and Kate (Rachel Hurd-Wood) wear, respectively, the embroidered jacket from Golden Eagle no.478 and the leaf-patterned cardigan from Bestway 1027.

 

The 2015-2016 series "Home Fires" set in WWII-era rural England is chock-full of wonderful period knits -- and we know they are absolutely authentic as Bridget C. has tracked down the original patterns for two of her favorites.  Copies of the patterns are available for a modest fee from Sue at FabForties.

For more photos of knitwear from the series see the A Bluestocking Knits post here.

Golden Eagle no.478, an embroidered Bavarian-style jumper or jacket, knitted in 3-ply, to fit a 34"-36" bust. The pattern also included instructions for modifying the short sleeves to long, and a quote for the number of coupons needed for the wool.

Bestway 1027 a leaf-patterned cardigan with small collar, knitted in 3-ply, to fit 32" bust.

Kudos to the "Home Fires" costume designers, Lucinda Wright and Howard Burden, for using authentic patterns for their garment!

"Ladies' and Misses' Sweaters" (1897)

This 1897 sweater pattern is from the American magazine "The Delineator" (v.49, pp.700-701), available free from the Hathi Trust, via Google and the University of Iowa.

This pattern, in two variations, is presented in what was then a rather modern way, with photographs showing what the finished garment looks like when laid flat and when worn, as well as having (basic) instructions for making it larger or smaller than the single size given.  The only different between the two versions is the generosity of the upper part of the leg-of-mutton sleeves.

 The Met in New York has in their collection a wool sweater that looks remarkably like the Delineator one in its shape --

Sweater, ca. 1895, probably American. Casual wear such as this, the Museum notes, "is rare in museum collections because of the nature of its use and the intrinsic value people placed on more formal attire." Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, accession no.2009.300.1111.

 The Met sweater, though, is worked in a brioche stitch on the body and upper sleeves, with probably a single rib at the waist and lower sleeves, with accents in an interesting zigzag stitch.

The Amazons' red caps

"Swallows and Amazons" (1974)

In the classic series of children's books by Arthur Ransome that began in 1930 with the eponymous Swallows and Amazons, the Blackett sisters usually wear distinctive red knitted caps.  The caps aren't described much, only that they are knitted and that the red color can be seen for miles, as when the four Walker children aboard their beloved "Swallow" can easily recognize "Amazon" as she tacks across the lake, by the red caps of her crew.

"Swallows and Amazons" (2016). Peggy has somehow got hold of a striped cap here, instead of the usual red one.

Because Ransome was so vague about the style of cap that Nancy and Peggy wear, we have more leeway in choosing a pattern.  In 1920s England, a watch cap pattern would be a logical choice, and would certainly have been available to a knitting mother or grandmother who had a relative in the merchant marine or the Navy, who had knitted for servicemen during the recent War as so many women did, or who simply had sailors in the family, as do both the Walkers and the Blacketts.

"Crow's Nest Cap" pattern, probably from the 1910s, from "The Needle-Worker" magazine's booklet Comforts for Sailors, and How to Knit Them. Note that the cap is worked from the top down.

One could also get a bit more elaborate than a simple watch cap, as the costumers did for these two filmed versions -- the 1974 Blacketts wear a longer version more like a ski cap with pompom, while the 2016 Blacketts' caps look very like the voyageur style.

"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.

"London Eyre Shawl"

 

(There may have been two shawls used in the film, as this one looks considerably smaller than the one in the photos below.)

The London Eyre Shawl free pattern by Donna Strom recreates the shawl worn by Mia Wasikowska as the title character in "Jane Eyre" (2011).  Strom notes,

The London Eyre Shawl pattern was created and named solely by me as a replication/copy of a shawl which appears briefly in the 2011 Focus Features film production of "Jane Eyre" -- costume design by Michael O'Connor. According to Focus Features the original shawl was free-knitted by the owner of a company near London, England which produces custom pieces for period films. The name of the pattern is my way of paying tribute to the talented original knitter -- whose name is not known to me. To the best of my knowledge, no written pattern exists for the original shawl.

Note that Charlotte Brontë's novel was published in 1847, though is set somewhat earlier. Most film adaptations tend to use fashions of the 1840s for the main part of the story.

Short rows contribute to much of the shaping in this shawl.

"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.")