![]() ![]() The middle one also holds a glove darner, scissors, yarn, and an emery bag for polishing pins and needles. ![]() Pincushions, needles, thimbles were often found in hollow darning eggs. Darning egg designs from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Pinto’s Treen and other Wooden Bygones: an Encyclopaedia and Social History and Thompson’s Sewing Tools And Trinkets: Collector’s Identification & Value Guide, Vol. *See Old-Time Tools & Toys of Needlework by Gertrude Whiting. They were not meant to be used for “flat darning” of woven cloth. The handle-free type was usual in France, as with the sock darning eggs.Īll these curved darners were best suited to mending small pieces of knitted clothing. Some were simple egg shapes dropped into the finger. With big sock darners, the handle itself could sometimes be used for glove repairs. Some glove darners had different-sized balls on each end of a handle. When a glove needed darning, little darning eggs were pushed into the fingers. Is that a yawn at the thought of more darning? Photo by knitting iris. Classic shape for darning eggs with turned handles - plus paint. The Dressmaker, 1916 Glove Darners Wooden glove darner with two small "eggs" to put inside a finger needing mending. ![]() Handles were less common than in the UK or USA.Ī darning-egg or ball, held in the left hand, is slipped under the hole, with the stocking stretched smoothly, but not tightly, over it. In France, every village woodturner had his own style of egg, as you see in this well-illustrated post, and it was once a common present for a bride. You may also come across darners with a detachable handle doubling as a needle case. Hollow olivewood eggs with needle and thimble inside were exported to England from Southern Europe. (See pictures near the bottom of the page.) Desirable antiques now, these used to be bought as gifts. There’s something about a clever design with small things unexpectedly tucked inside a well-crafted piece of hardwood. Photo by Luciaĭarning eggs that open to reveal neatly-stowed sewing accessories are attractive pieces of treen (woodware), appealing to collectors who would never actually use them. Real gourds or cowrie shells could be used, and special 19th century darners might be coloured glass, pottery, or ivory, or have silver handles.* Darning mushroom. Other names and other shapes include darning mushrooms, darners, lasts and wooden “gourds”. A darning ball inside this sock makes mending easier. Edward Pinto, the treen expert, thought the egg was the oldest shape in common use. The simplest old darners are rounded pieces of hardwood – boxwood, maple, apple, elm – with a lovely smooth surface. Inside a stocking or sock with a hole in, the “egg” or darner made it easier to stitch a neat repair: not too tight, not too slack. A woman sitting darning was a common sight, and so was a darning egg. Photo by HomeThingsPastĪ hundred years ago could anyone imagine that darning tools would now be unrecognisable except to antiques or crafts enthusiasts? There always used to be a steady supply of darning in the family mending bag. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |