All things buttons & more …
Here are two very different old needle holders.
The brown one has a lady mending her stocking pictured on it and it holds a small spool of thread which has a small needle compartment inside.
The other one is in the shape of a girl and has some thread on the top and is hollow for holding needles. What a nice way to store your needles.
I remember buying this pin cushion at an Antique Fair with my friend Suzanne.
They were selling a pair so we got one each. It has an old charming look about it.
This porcelain pin cushion is reasonably large.
A shoe or boot seemed to be a very popular subject for pin cushions in the early 1900’s. They were made of various materials.
Here is a little group of silver needle cases and a silver thimble.
One is perfectly plain and one nicely etched. The one with the tassle is only white metal.
Here are two nicely made needle books, one with a lady holding a basket of flowers, the other an English Cottage.
They are well made from good quality paper and would have made a lovely gift in their time. It is nice to find them in good order. They were made in England.
These needle books were a very fancy way of storing different size needles and the pictures on them depict the fashion and hairstyles of their day. Nowadays they are expensive to buy and not so easy to find.
This is a Victorian pin cushion (with gold thread stitching and beadwork) in the form of a handbag. It opens up with the fancy gold clasp to reveal the velvet pin cushion inside. I was really taken with it when I saw it at the Buttonfest in Melbourne a few years ago. I have not seen another anything like it.
This type of needle case was very popular. Many had the little spools of cotton inside where you could take off the tiny lid to reveal the little compartment for needles. What a very compact and great item.
The sewing kit with petit point flowers on a black background is very effective and pretty. The two tape measures have been done in a similar manner. Didn’t they make things well in the earlier years. Am I getting old!!!!
I have always enjoyed fossicking in antique shops and at fairs looking for treasures. Having been a keen embroiderer over many years, sewing related items are of great interest to me. They have now become much harder to find as well as being much more expensive. My collection has grown over the years and I now have some lovely items.
Here are a few examples : One photo shows a group of sewing items made from bone, including a needle holder, crochet hook and pincushion.
The second group has an enamelled needle holder with a green tassle. The wooden holder contains thread wax and the “Blue Boy”packet holds needles. Just a few items to whet your appetite!