21 Sewtastic Notions

Sewing can construct or embellish. Decorative threads are used for embroidery and needlepoint. Other types of thread are matched to their work, lightweight threads for fine finishing and hefty threads for upholstery or industrial use. Thread does little without a needle to lead it through the fabric to be sewn.

Western Europeans and central Asians were making sewing needles a couple of centuries BC. Chinese archaeologists report finding a complete sewing kit that dates from that time period as well. Needles were hand-hewn from bone fragments.

Modern sewing needles are made from coils of steel wire. Most people who sew opt for a machine rather than a needle. Machines didn’t come on the scene until 1844 When Elias Howe came up with a prototype of the modern sewing machine.

The most recent inventions include fabric-joining glues and even a joining method that fuses fabric together with sound.

Sew much for thread!