Wraping thread

When we sew we need thread. Today thread comes on a bobbin, or a spool. Even non-sewers know what these look like. Yet spools of thread haven’t been around all that long in the grand scheme of sewing. Spools as we think of them today have only been around for 100 years coinciding with the beginning of the industrial age and the invention of the sewing machine. Spools of thread were common long before that but the shape of them now is a modern concept. Before that they were bigger and balkier and more for selling the thread then for being purchased themselves. Thread could of course be purchased in small spools or you could purchase just the amount of thread you needed. It could be wrapped around a scrap of cloth to be kept or a thread winder.

My Victorian thread wrapper you can hang from your belt

Thread winders are also used for prettiness factor. They can be extremely interesting and pretty. Most samples I have seen date from the late 18^th centuries and seem to fall out of use by the turn of the 20^th century. They can be animal shaped wrapping your thread around the body of your animal. Some are crosses with eye catching patterns and details. They were as much something to look at pretty in your basket as they were about being a useful part of your basket. What’s more  perfect interesting and useful.