Mastery: Tools
These are the most basic tools used for sewing, along with many more pins and a variety of needles and threads. Additional specialized tools and a variety of storage devices for needles and pins were the choice of individual seamstresses.
A work bag, box, or table for storing tools and sewing projects was also a necessity.
Since many of these tools are now obsolete, what follows is an explanation for some of them. Additional photos of examples that could not fit within the exhibition, some of which will be shown in the study gallery drawers, are also added here.
Before mercerized cotton thread was invented in the 1840s, thread (especially linen thread) tended to fray and break. Passing thread through a lump of beeswax lubricated it. Mercerized cotton made thread smoother and stronger, eliminating the need for beeswax. Containers for beeswax like the silver cap here were a luxury, but every seamstress had beeswax in her work bag or basket.
Early needles were prone to tarnish. Every sewing kit needed a small “emery,” similar to a pin cushion but filled with sand-like shavings of emery, a mineral that would remove the tarnish and sharpen the needle when a seamstress passed it through the cushion. Emeries could be made in decorative shapes; the strawberry became the most usual.
Awls made of metal or bone were used for poking holes when needed for eyelets. (A variation on the awl is the stiletto, which unlike a bodkin has a separate handle.) Bodkins were used for threading ribbon or cord through drawstring casings, common on undergarments, infant caps, and night caps, among other clothing.
Pins and needles were costly before they could be mass produced. Small tubular needle cases probably worked fine for the limited number of needles in several sizes that would be used by the preindustrial era’s seamstresses. Once needles became cheaper, however, needle “books” made of fabric-covered cardboard, perforated paper, and other materials became widespread (yellow silk needle book, upper center; see fig. 6.3 for more pin holders, and 6.4 for needle cases). Thimbles came in the typical shape we know or could be open-ended; they could also be made as a ring, with a shield-shaped piece rather than a tube.
1. Silk thread on wooden spools, 1850-1900
2.Thimble, 1794-1815, silver, gift of Mrs. James McNab, 751
3. Needles, late 19th century, and needle case, 1790-1850, steel, gift of Mrs. George and Miss Jane Eaton, 3596.9 , 3596.11
4. Bodkin, 1780-1800, silver, gift of Minnie Bigelow, 1890
5. Beeswax holder, 1850-1870, silver and beeswax, gift of Mrs. Paul Reistrup, 84.6.11
6. Emery, 1850-1900, cotton, gift of Mrs. George and Miss Jane Eaton, 3596.11
7. Awl, 19th century, bone, 92.243
8. Pin cushion, 1797, silk, gift of Carrie Nutting Stone, 7319
9. Pins, 1780-1820, steel, gift of Mrs. J. W. Clark, 47.49
10. Scissors, 1780-1920, iron and steel, gift of Ella F. Sheperd, 6708
11. Embroidery scissors, 1880-1899, silver and steel, gift of Frances Peters, 92.128.7
12. Tape measure, 1850-1870, silver and silk, gift of Mrs. Paul Reistrup, 84.6.13