Sewing accessories are the small tools and implements used for sewing, embroidery, lacemaking and other needlework, and the cases made to contain them. They include thimbles, needle cases, pincushions, scissors, bodkins, thread winders, tape measures, darning eggs, stilettos, emery cushions, chatelaines and the fitted étuis and work boxes in which they were kept.
The late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries were the golden age of sewing accessories, when even everyday tools were often made with remarkable care in silver, gold, ivory, bone, mother-of-pearl, tortoiseshell, enamel, wood and brass. Birmingham silversmiths produced vast numbers of thimbles and needle cases, Tunbridge ware makers specialised in mosaic-decorated boxes and implements, and Palais Royal craftsmen in Paris made elegant fitted sets with mother-of-pearl tools. Souvenir and commemorative items were also popular. Collectors look for fine materials, hallmarks and makers' marks, unusual forms and complete fitted sets, since tools are easily lost from boxes. Condition matters, as dents, splits and replaced pieces reduce appeal, and items of ivory and tortoiseshell are now subject to legal restrictions on sale. Small, affordable and varied, sewing accessories remain an accessible collecting field.
