Place of sewing in women training from the Ottoman Empire to the Republic (1908-1952)

The Ottoman women were restricted by traditional roles until the Tanzimat period, continued to live in a social areas consisting of kitchens, wells and courts, defined by laws and called "makarr-ı nisvan". The most important area of occupation was traditionally considered to belong to women, such as trimming, sewing, embroidery and cooking, to meet the needs of the faraway family. One of these virtues, which women learn from the great ladies of the house, is sewing. After the Second Constitutional Period (II. Meşrutiyet), it became the center of the social policies pursued towards women. In 1908, from the declaration of the Second Constitutional Period to the annulment of the Halkevleri (People's House) in 1952, in the direction of political, economic and social policies of the period, women were referred to be engaged in sewing. From the training of women to the inclusion in the workforce, from the provision of economic policy, to the exercise of national service by meeting the needs of the soldiers. In the establishment phase of the Republic of Turkey, it has become the center of social policies towards women. From the Ottoman period to the Republican period, about 50 years of Turkish history, the ability of sewing was used as a means of creating the areas of responsibility, expected from women. In this study, it was examined that the political, economic and social reasons behind the refferal of the women to the pattern cutting and sewing, and the place of the cutting-sewing in the educational institutions between 1908 and 1952. The way in which women were educated and included in the workforce was assessed on the basis of the Türk Kadınları Biçki Yurdu (Turkish Women Tailor's Cutting Home) in 1913 and it was tried to put forth how the vocational and technical education policies for women were influenced after the proclamation of the Republic.