Carefully perched
upon an old side table
next to my "stitching" chair
you will find
this sweet little bird....
A steel sewing bird clamp ~ Circa 1850's
While the little sewing bird
no longer gets used as once intended,
it does bring much delight
to my surroundings
as I sit and stitch.
I can't help but wonder
what it's story is...
who the woman
who the woman
was that may have received it
from her soon to be husband...
what it held in it's little "clamp" beak...
what it held in it's little "clamp" beak...
was it bedding,
was it clothing
or some other handmade
household item?
Sewing birds' came into fashion
early in the 18th century.
Invented & crafted
in the Georgian period
in England.
It was the first device
that allowed the seamstress
to move the cloth
without having to loosen the clamp.
These sewing birds
were used to attach
one end of a piece of cloth firmly
to a table to enable a seamstress
to hold her sewing nice & tight
with one hand while stitching with the other...
often times
called the "third hand".
These were considered
luxury items
&
were often gifted by
a young man
to his future bride
just months
before their wedding.
While my little bird wasn't gifted to me
by my husband, rather a gift
from me to myself...
I thoroughly enjoy
it's presence as I
sit & stitch.
Watch for an upcoming
cross stitch pattern design,
"starring" my little bird clamp!
Release date for this pattern
is sometime after
the holidays.
With thy Needle & Thread,
Brenda
What a beautiful sewing clamp Brenda..so very dear and sweet.
ReplyDeleteI look very forward to seeing your new design.
Have a joyous day,
Doreen
Have never seen anything like that... so lovely!! :o)
ReplyDeleteWell I did a post yesterday on your other blogpost and it seems to have gone up in smoke... I just needed help with a technique to prevent my cross stitches to slip under the linen when working over one thread.. can anybody help????
Stina,
ReplyDeleteYour previous post did not go up in smoke...LOL. I'm just getting around to posting comments, sorry we are busy busy! Are you using hand dyed linens by chance when you experience this? I find this more of an issue with the hand dyeds. To remidy this situation I spray the heck out of the hand dyed linens with spray starch...really seems to help for me. You may also be pulling your thread too tight, must be gentle as you finish the stitch.
Hope this helps,
brenda
What a treasure!!!Thanks for sharing. Looking forward to a design inspired by it!
ReplyDeleteChristine
Treasure indeed. Never have I come across something like this. Thank you for sharing.
ReplyDeleteNo ...not hand dyed linen at all... just regular swedish ones..:o) And I try not to pull the thread ......Hmmm. will try and starch my linen...
ReplyDeleteI just wonder if you have other linen than we have??? Probably not... :o)
I have to stitch one xstitch at time and they become more bulky then... and I dont like that ..:o( Any one else having problems??