Tools of the Trade

While I love to sew, I have no desire to ever pursue sewing as a full-time job again. However, I am fascinated with the job of seamstress or tailor throughout time. One of the constants are the tools of the trade: needles, thread, scissors, pins. These were particularly important in the 18th century, as all sewing was done with these tools--no machines to be found. I've not put my sewing machine up on the shelf permanently, but I have begun transferring some of its work to more old-fashioned methods as I assemble my 18th century wardrobe. For Christmas, I received a few of these tools, as seen in the photo below. All of these came from Samson Historical. 

L-R: Shears, bone thread winders, bone bodkin, and bone awl

When it comes to their uses, the bodkin is perhaps the most unusual for modern sewists. It's not so much a sewing tool as it is a tool for getting dressed. When lacing up stays or the interior of a gown, by threading the lacing through a bone bodkin, the job can be done far more swiftly. It really makes much quicker work of getting dressed. 

Before 1820, thread didn't come on a spool like it does now. It was sold in skeins like yarn. Thread winders allowed an individual to carry around more manageable amounts of thread with them in their pocket or hussif, and kept it from becoming a tangled mass. With the linen thread on its winders, a person would carry beeswax. Thread also didn't come with a nice, smooth polyester coating in the 18th century, but was made of linen. Waxing the thread ensured that the linen fibers did not tangle as you worked. 

The bone awl is a useful tool for creating eyelets. Cutting the thread when creating an eyelet weakens the fabric and makes it more prone to tearing. An awl pushes the fibers apart to make a perfectly round hole without any damage to the weave of the fabric. This would have been important not just because it is a more efficient way to make a hole for an eyelet, but also because at that time, fabric and clothing were a much more costly than they are today. Ensuring longevity for clothing was a priority, and that started with making clothing in a way that would ensure durability.

Also found in the sewing kit of an 18th century individual would be a thimble, which still serves the same purpose today. Finally, the scissors or shears. Like the thimble, they were as common a tool in the 18th century sewing toolkit as they are today. Women often carried their scissors hanging from their waist alongside a pincushion, as seen in examples from art below: 

The Embroiderer by Jean-Baptiste-Simeon Chardin, 1735-1736

Femme parée des environs de la tête de Buch Landes de Bordeaux, Costumes de Différent Pays, c. 1797

This leads us to pincushions, or as they were often referred to in the 18th century, pin balls or pin pillows. For more on this, look out for an upcoming post on 18th century pincushions.