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What's in Your Sewing Basket?




I’m certain all of my female ancestors owned some sort of sewing basket, box, or tin filled with buttons, pins, scissors, needles, and thread. 

My mother, Roberta, a talented sewist, couldn’t contain her supplies to a sewing kit, and instead had boxes of patterns and an extensive stash of fabric that spilled into every room of her home. Her mother, Blanche, who made most of her own clothes, also had quite a few sewing supplies. And, I believe Blanche’s mom Annabelle, who tatted lace, must have kept her supplies in some sort of container. My paternal grandmother Ruth had a tin with buttons, some needles, and thread, but her skills we limited to basic mending. I don’t think she even owned a sharp pair of scissors. 


I regret that I don’t have many of their sewing notions, but I do have a couple of my mom’s patterns; a 1977 McCall’s Raggedy Ann pattern that my Grandmother Blanche used to teach me how to sew; and my Grandmother Ruth’s buttons.


Yesterday, Abby and I visited an antique store in Belle Vernon and I found this little 8-inch basket of sewing supplies. I couldn’t resist buying at the bargain rate of $18 and when I got home I looked online to see if a basket like this had a name - I quickly discovered that it is a Chinese Wedding Basket.


“Chinese brides would be presented with small gifts in ornate baskets. In the 1880s, these baskets were exported to the United States, by the thousands, and remained popular through the 1930s. In fact, baskets were the most used sewing containers in the early 20th century,” according to the article " A Tisket, A Tasket: Check Out Grandma’s Sewing Basket " by Diana Bulls for Kings River Life magazine in 2014. https://kingsriverlife.com/05/10/a-tisket-a-tasked-check-out-grandmas-sewing-basket/



When I lifted the lid, I was amazed to see how much stuff was inside this tiny basket. Here’s the inventory:

  • 7 wooden spoils of thread
  • 1 pack of gripper snap fasteners
  • 1 black tin containing three Our Lady of Perpetual Help medals (the most interesting find of the day!)
  • 1 pack of veil / corsage pins
  • 1 book of needles
  • 2 straight pins
  • 1 safety pin
  • 1 pack of cover-your-own buttons
  • A few loose buttons
  • 47 button cards

This little treasure was quite a bargain!


I’ve always been interested in sewing and now I'm very interested in vintage sewing notions and intrigued with hand sewing and embroidery. I also love to think about the women in my family and the many beautiful things they created with a needle and thread. And while many many things have changed since my ancestral mothers sat down to make a quilt, stitch an apron, or mend some britches, the basic concepts of sewing have remained the same and all you really need are needles, thread, pins, buttons, a little bit of talent, and lots of patience. I’m thankful that I have a bit of talent and patience that was passed down to me and now that I have Our Lady of Perpetual Help in my basket I should be able to do some amazing things. 


One of the Our Lady of Perpetual Medals 


Ruth Brown Ross' buttons
Some of my containers: a cookie tin, a box, and my new basket!


My tomato pin cushion that I’ve had for a long time. 

Some wooden spools of thread. 

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