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Dimity pocket belonging to Abigail Adams
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Choose an alternate description of this item written for these projects:
- Object of the Month
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[ This description is from the project: Fashioning the New England Family ]
White dimity (woven with raised stripe) pear-shaped pocket with white woven ties. Pocket made of eight pieces of dimity sewn together with a 23 cm vertical opening from top to horizontal seam on front. All seam hems are sewn down and the seam joining front to back has been turned over and sewn on itself for extra strength. All front pieces cut along the vertical grain with vertical stripes; all back pieces are cut against the grain with horizontal stripes. Ties ties sewn onto back of pocket at top side seams: left tie is 51.5 cm long and right tie is 36.5 cm long.
This pocket was worn by Abigail Adams (1744-1818) late in life. An accompanying note by Abigail's granddaughter, Elizabeth Coombs Adams, reads: "All old ladies wore these under pockets & carried their keys in them." Before pockets were actually sewn into skirts and dresses towards the middle of the 19th century, women made separate versions to be tied around the waist, over a petticoat but under an outer skirt and reached through openings in the side seams. Abigail’s pocket is of interest not just because it bridges the 18th and 19th centuries, but because it also reflects Abigail’s personal style. Comprising eight pieces of dimity with cotton tapes to tie it around her waist, its very simplicity and functionality renders the piece striking: there is no excess, nothing that is not needed for its intended use.