Do you know what these are, I asked the auction-house assistant hoping that he could come closer to a guess than me about the wooden pointy items. They were cylindrical, rounded at the waist, their tops coiled in bright yarn. Among them were similarly shaped items with carved rings and round bottoms.
Without saying a word, the assistant picked up a pointed one and playfully jabbed at my hand with it. He had no clue, either, he said.
I love vintage sewing items; they’re like small toys that served a big purpose for women who once did most of their sewing by hand and others who continue to do their knitting the same way. Most of the sewing items of yore look as if they were designed by someone who put a lot of thought into them, not indifferently made. Most of the nicest ones I’ve seen were usually made of wood, especially the sewing boxes and thread holders, a collection of which was sold at another auction house a few years ago.
The sewing items in this auction were all very small, and they seemed to be from a dealer who sold stuff for a living, because some of the items still bore handwritten price tags.
As in many cases, I was not able to identify many of those without boxes, like the wooden ones the assistant and I joked about (he and his wife are dealers, and she bought many of the sewing items at fantastic prices). Back at home, it took me some time on Google before I was able to put a name to them.
They were two types of bobbins: the pointed ones were tapestry bobbins (here’s a demonstration of how they were used), and the rounded ones were bobbin lace bobbins, used to make a certain type of lace.
Below are photos of some of the other sewing items. Can you guess how the first three were used? Click on the individual photos to see if you’re right. I’ve also included some other neat sewing pieces from the auction that I’ve identified.
