Antique Needlework Tools and Embroideries

This is a survey of antique needlework tools from the seventeenth century through to the Edwardian era. Needlework tools have been used by man ever since primitive clothes were devised. Early implements would probably have been sharp and pointed, and used to make holes so that garments could be sewn together. In all likelihood, a tool was developed that could be used to thread fibre through holes, leading to the birth of the bodkin and, later, the needle. A form of pusher would also have been used to protect the finger, leading to the development of the thimble.

The earliest...