Rachel's Cottage Studio

Rachel's Cottage Studio Textile heritage Research Artist working with archives, memory & mill histories Neurodivergent-led studio Slow craft Soft Source directory founder

What We Hold in the DarkI’ve been writing about the SOOT exhibition this week — a show exploring carbon, colour, residue...
05/06/2026

What We Hold in the Dark

I’ve been writing about the SOOT exhibition this week — a show exploring carbon, colour, residue, and the quiet materials that shape how we see the world.

To accompany the post, I chose this ancient terracotta vessel cluster from The Met’s public‑domain collection. It isn’t part of the exhibition, but it speaks to the same ideas: how materials gather, settle, stain, and stay with us.

Soot, pigment, ash, clay — all the things that cling to human hands.

If you’d like to read the full piece, the link is in my bio, or via https://rachelscottagestudio.co.uk/

Image: The Metropolitan Museum of Art (Public Domain)

Victorian OddityThe Anti‑Giggle RuleSome etiquette manuals warned young women against laughing too freely, calling it “u...
03/06/2026

Victorian Oddity
The Anti‑Giggle Rule

Some etiquette manuals warned young women against laughing too freely, calling it “unbecoming animation.”

A polite giggle was acceptable.
A hearty laugh was “vulgar.”
And anything resembling joy was suspicious.

Imagine living in a world where your laugh needed editing.

For more visit https://rachelscottagestudio.co.uk/ (Link in bio)

Did Victorian Women Really Faint All the Time?Not exactly.Most “fainting” was caused by:tight corsets restricting breath...
02/06/2026

Did Victorian Women Really Faint All the Time?

Not exactly.
Most “fainting” was caused by:

tight corsets restricting breath

hot, crowded rooms

heavy fabrics

poor ventilation

and sometimes… dramatic effect

Fainting couches existed, but the constant swooning was more cultural performance than medical crisis.

For more visit https://rachelscottagestudio.co.uk/ (Link in bio)

What Is This Object?A Lace Bobbin This small wooden tool was used to guide threads in handmade lacework.Dozens of bobbin...
01/06/2026

What Is This Object?
A Lace Bobbin

This small wooden tool was used to guide threads in handmade lacework.
Dozens of bobbins would hang from a pillow, each one weighted just enough to keep the pattern steady.
The rhythm was quiet, repetitive, almost musical — twist, cross, pin, repeat.

A tiny object behind hours of patient labour.

For more visit https://rachelscottagestudio.co.uk/ (Link in bio)

True or Not?Victorian Colour Was Always DullNot true.Victorian colour could be brilliantly bright — sometimes alarmingly...
31/05/2026

True or Not?
Victorian Colour Was Always Dull

Not true.

Victorian colour could be brilliantly bright — sometimes alarmingly so.

Natural dyes like madder, indigo, and weld made strong reds, blues, and yellows.
Mineral pigments added vivid vermilions and ultramarines.
And after 1856, synthetic dyes created colours no one had seen before.

Victorian colour wasn’t muted.
It was chemistry in a jar.

Image Credit: Artwork: Tate (via Art UK)

For more visit https://rachelscottagestudio.co.uk/ (Link in bio)

Victorian OddityThe Sofa Cushion of MoralitySome Victorian households insisted on placing a large cushion between courti...
31/05/2026

Victorian Oddity
The Sofa Cushion of Morality

Some Victorian households insisted on placing a large cushion between courting couples on the sofa, not for comfort, but as a “moral safeguard.”

Etiquette books called it a “buffer of propriety.”
Translation: a soft, decorative barrier preventing any accidental enthusiasm.

Imagine trying to flirt while a cushion is doing the chaperoning.

For more https://rachelscottagestudio.co.uk/ (Link in bio)

The Great Anti‑Flirtation Law of 1898.Victorians were so worried about “improper glances” that some towns tried to intro...
27/05/2026

The Great Anti‑Flirtation Law of 1898.

Victorians were so worried about “improper glances” that some towns tried to introduce anti‑flirtation rules, laws against winking, smiling too boldly, or “inviting attention with the eyes.”

Imagine being fined for… having eyes.

One newspaper even warned that a woman could be reprimanded for “walking with undue animation.”
So: too sad? Suspicious.
Too happy? Also suspicious.
Too normal? Deeply suspicious.

The only safe expression was “mild despair.”

Find out more https://rachelscottagestudio.co.uk/ (Link in bio)

What Is This Object?A tailor’s goose iron.Heavy, fire‑heated, and used to press seams long before electricity.A tool of ...
26/05/2026

What Is This Object?

A tailor’s goose iron.

Heavy, fire‑heated, and used to press seams long before electricity.
A tool of strength, repetition, and quiet skill, lifted, heated, pressed, set down, and lifted again.

A small object that shaped every garment.

Image: Aberdeen Gallery Archive & Museum (Public Domain)

Find out more https://rachelscottagestudio.co.uk/ (Link in bio)

True or Not?Pacing was a Quiet Survival Tool for Victorian Women.Victorian women who worked in sewing rooms, workshops, ...
25/05/2026

True or Not?
Pacing was a Quiet Survival Tool for Victorian Women.

Victorian women who worked in sewing rooms, workshops, and home‑based piecework rarely worked in long, uninterrupted stretches. Instead, many paced their labour, small bursts of stitching, cutting, pressing, then brief pauses to manage fatigue, pain, or sheer overwhelm.

Their workbenches weren’t just furniture.
They were coping strategies.

Pacing wasn’t laziness.
It was how women protected their bodies and minds in environments that demanded speed, precision, and endless repetition.

In rooms like this, crowded, noisy, and thick with fabric dust, pacing was often the only way to endure the day.

True or Not?
The Pacing Worker’s Bench wasn’t a sign of weakness.
It was a quiet form of resilience.

Image credit: Manchester Archives+ / Manchester Libraries

For more https://rachelscottagestudio.co.uk/ (Link in bio)


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