As a young woman, Mary Woodbury (1717-1747/8) attended one of Boston’s elite schools for young women in the 1730s where she became proficient in needlework, as demonstrated by this apron made of a length of white silk and lavishly embroidered in multicolored silk along the sides and bottom. There is evidence that this apron was not finished--there are places where the design is outlined, but not filled in with embroidery, and there are no ties.