Rickrack

[2] Before the prevalence of sewing machines and overlockers, rickrack was used to provide a finished edge to fabric,[3] and its popularity was in part due to its sturdiness and ability to stand up to harsh washing conditions.

[6] During the 1890s, American home sewists used imported European rickrack as decorative edgings for dresses, aprons, and lingerie.

These dresses were worn as everyday attire, and were constructed from the large cotton bags that flour, chicken feed, and other goods were shipped in.

[8] Since the food had to be shipped in fabric bags anyway, the flour mills competed with each other by using attractive, colorful fabrics that the buyer could either resell or upcycle into dresses, aprons, nightgowns, dishtowels, and other clothing and household items.

[9] Adding trim like rickrack was a way to reduce the stigma around needing to use whatever fabric was available, rather than buying it from a store.

Red and cream rickrack trim on a calico half-apron [ 1 ]
1861 pattern for a woman's lace collar using Hutton's waved lacet braid
a machine to create rickrack, containing multiple bobbins of thread connected to rotating disks
19th-century industrial braiding machine creating rickrack and the Museum of Crafts and Industry , St. Etienne, France