During my recent convalescence I spent a great deal of time resting because any movement brought discomfort.
However, I was becoming quite antsy on the couch, a sure sign of some bit of healing and recovery, when I remembered that I had several 18th century needlework kits in my sewing stash.
I’m usually so busy with big projects of laying out fabric and patterns, which I have not been up to at all, that a little project sounded perfect!
THE POSY COLLECTION
Thus, this sweet little 18th century needle case kit became my quiet little project.
This kit was created by The Posy Collection, which designs needlework kits for historic sites across America.
When I emailed the company to ask about this kit, the designer replied that she worked very closely with the Poplar Forest staff and also with one of the ladies at The Hermitage (President Andrew Jackson’s home in Tennessee) who sews historical clothing for museums.
GAWTHORPE HALL UNITED KINGDOM
When I first saw this kit at Poplar Forest, I immediately recognized the similarity to an extant needle case I saw in Gail Marsh’s 18th Century Embroidery Techniques.
On page p165 is a picture of the needle case from Gawthorpe Hall, Lancashire, UK.
While the Gawthorpe Hall version is comprised of embroidered silk flowers, the book states that needles are stored on chamois leather and that Mother-of-pearl buttons are used for the rosette pivot.
SIMILARITIES
The similarities between the extant silk case from Gawthorpe Hall and this one from The Posy Collection for Poplar Forest are:
- both are petal shaped
- both are bound by ribbon
- both are decorated by lovely needlework
- both use a rosette with buttons to allow the 2 petals to pivot
- both have chamois to store needles between the petals
CROSS STITCH?
The main difference is that the needle case at Gawthorpe Hall does not use cross stitch as the kit does.
Although cross stitch was used in the 18th century for laundry markings, pinballs, and samplers, I have no idea if it was used for needle cases.
MY VERSION
Since I lost the buttons that came with the kit, I dug through my button collection and chose this button that resembles mother-of-pearl.
The decorative rosette and buttons functionally allow the petals to pivot open.
For more photos, check my Flickr set.
COMMENTS FROM MY OLD BLOG
Black Tulip – February 20, 2015 at 8:09 PM – So pretty! It’s always nice to have little projects which you can work on when you want to be getting on with something, but don’t feel up to anything large. And making something which you can use as well – even better!
