In addition to needle cases, scissors, thimbles, and pin cushions, other sewing tools such as rulers, bodkins, clamps, and thread winders can be highly collectible. The most valuable items in this genre date from the Victorian era, the heyday of sewing. Look for whole sets of items, often boxed in decorative sewing boxes or etui cases, and engraved items, which sometimes bear the name or initials of an affluent seamstress.
Interviews & Articles
Antique Sewing Machine Collector Harry Berzack on Singers and Manhattans

I work for a sewing machine distribution company that was started by my late father. We mainly distribute industrial sewing machin… [more]
Angry Chicken's Amy Karol on Sewing, Vintage Slips, and Her Apron Obsession

I think I started collecting vintage aprons seriously probably in 1991, my first year of college. I was an absolute junkie for vin… [more]
Best of the Web (“Hall of Fame”)
Sewing Machine Collector

Geoff and Norma Dickens' reference site on vintage toy sewing machines from the late 1800s. Browse the images alpha… [read review or visit site]
Sensibility Vintage Images

An extensive collection of photos and ephemera illustrating changing fashion styles from 1795 to 1959. Includes por… [read review or visit site]
If These Shirts Could Talk: The Tantalizing Tales Behind Used Clothes
Jockeying for Position: How Boxers and Briefs Got Into Men's Pants
Gloriously Grotesque 19th-Century Pipes
In the Hot Seat: Is Your Antique Windsor a Fake?
Bizarro Beauty Products, from 1889 to Now
Love at First Kite: How Pizza and Pente Led to One Oklahoman's High-Flying Obsession
Pin-Up Queens: Three Female Artists Who Shaped the American Dream Girl
Say Ahhh: An Oral Surgeon's Quest to Reimagine the Garage-Band Guitar
Tokens for Sweethearts, in Times of War
American Picker Dream, Part I: Mike Wolfe On His Love Affair With Bikes



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