Sewing servant
From about AD 900 until the middle of the 19th century, the sewing technician was the only semi-skilled assistant to the tailor and the linen cutter . The activity suddenly disappeared between 1830 and 1850 with the invention of the sewing machine .
The work in a tailor's shop was structured as follows: The master , who had passed his master craftsman examination before the guild , ran the business, carried out purchases and sales, took measurements and much more. The wandered journeyman (old journeyman ), who had learned the cutting, which was more experimental at the time, was allowed to cut the fabrics. The bachelor who was on the road worked with a needle, iron, yardstick and chalk on the fabric, lining and interlining.
The trained journeymen were needed to hide , decorate , prick and to carry out other qualified work requiring knowledge, feeling and experience. There are also many simple long seams at work, such as side seams, trouser seams, sleeve seams, etc., which do not place high demands on the person doing the work.
Since the early Middle Ages , for reasons of cost, it was therefore common to employ weak or physically or mentally handicapped boys as sewing servants. The sewing technicians helped the journeymen and made their work easier. They only learned how to use a sewing ring and needle to close long seams. These highly stressed seams were executed in the backstitch (backstitch).
To save space, the Nähknechte often sat unlike the tailors in so-called cross-legged cross-legged in the middle of the work table. Strangely enough, this caricature has survived to this day as a symbol for the tailor who laboriously earns his meager bread.
With the advent of the first sewing machines and the drop in prices for craftsmanship , this profession disappeared within a few years.
Footnotes
Remarks
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- Craft regulations of the city of Cologne from 1768
- Archive of the men's tailors' guild Bonn