Sewing is the craft of joining, finishing and decorating fabric with a needle and thread, by hand or by machine. In the antiques world it is represented both by the products of the needle, such as samplers, embroidered panels, quilts, household linen and costume, and by the tools, boxes, tables and machines made to support the work.
For centuries plain sewing was an essential household skill, while decorative needlework was regarded as a polite accomplishment for women of leisure, taught from childhood through samplers that recorded stitches, alphabets and verses. The Georgian and Victorian periods produced a wealth of fine sewing equipment, including work tables with fitted drawers and silk-lined pouches, sewing boxes in rosewood, tortoiseshell and Tunbridge ware, and implements in silver, ivory, mother-of-pearl and brass. The sewing machine, developed commercially in the mid-nineteenth century by makers such as Singer, transformed domestic and industrial production, and early machines with decorative gilt transfers are collected today. Collectors value completeness, original fittings, fine materials and documented makers. Sewing antiques offer an intimate view of domestic life, and work tables and boxes remain practical and decorative pieces in bedrooms and sitting rooms.
