{"id":530,"date":"2012-07-20T19:11:00","date_gmt":"2012-07-20T19:11:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cinnamonstudio.com\/blog\/2012\/07\/20\/the-needle-a-simple-tool-2\/"},"modified":"2012-07-20T19:11:00","modified_gmt":"2012-07-20T19:11:00","slug":"the-needle-a-simple-tool-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cinnamonstudio.com\/blog\/2012\/07\/the-needle-a-simple-tool-2.html","title":{"rendered":"The Needle – A Simple Tool"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n<\/p>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\n<\/a><\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\n\u201cThe Praise of the Needle\u201d is one of a series of \u201cpraise
\n\u201cpoems written by John Taylor in 1693. 
\nSomewhat humorous in tone he emphasizes the importance of needlework as
\na skill in 17thC England.<\/div>\n
\n\u201cTo all dispersed sorts of Arts and Trades, <\/div>\n
\nI write the Needles praise (that never fades)<\/div>\n
\nSo long as Children shall be got or bourne,<\/div>\n
\nSo long as Garments shall be made and worne,<\/div>\n
\nSo long as Hemp or Flax, or Sheepe shall beare,<\/div>\n
\n Their linen-woolen
\nfleeces yeare by yeare;\u2026..<\/div>\n
\nYea, till the world be quite dissolu\u2019d and past;<\/div>\n
\n So long at least,
\nthe Needles use shall last.”<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\n  <\/span><\/div>\n
\n<\/o:p><\/div>\n
\nEarly man in northern climates relied on animal skins for
\nwarmth. Excavations of early cave dwellers indicate that animal pelts were
\n\u201csewn\u201d together for clothing.  Actually,
\nthe skins were pierced by sharp bones, shells or horn and then laced
\ntogether.  These early needles did not
\nhave eyes, although some had hooks, which were useful in lacing.<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\n<\/a><\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nThe bronze age yielded silver, tin, lead and gold.  Once the process of making iron was known,
\nthe ordinary woman could have iron needles, which also had no eyes ( a closed
\nhook carried the thread).  <\/div>\n
\nThroughout textile history the needle has not significantly
\nchanged its shape.<\/div>\n
\nThe first fine metal needles are said to have been created
\nby the Chinese for their elaborate silk embroideries, which along with the silk
\ncloth were considered very desirable trade items.<\/div>\n
\nIron needles were all hand-made until the 19th<\/sup> C
\nand there are accounts of German needle-making centers that supplied England
\nand Europe.  In 1563 England passed an
\nimportation act that included banning the importation of needles and
\nmanufacturing centers grew in England. 
\nOne town famous for its needle-making is Redditch.  Iron was replaced by steel for needles as
\niron needles could only be hammered to a certain strength.<\/div>\n
\nAn article in the 1843 edition of The Penny Magazine
\ndescribes the steps in the hand-making process.   Bundles of wires, 3 inches in length, were pointed on each end,
\nthe center was flattened and the eyes were punched, The needle \u2018\u201dtwins\u201d were
\nhalved and sent to be cleaned and polished. 
\nThere was great health issues associated with hand-manufacturing as the
\ngrinders that polished the eyes and points of the needles inhaled much of the
\nparticles of the steel as well as the stone dust of the polishing wheels.  Also, much of the sorting and polishing was
\ndone by children. The needles were sorted by size and separated into piles
\ncalled \u201ccompanies\u201d. 14 pounds of wire could yield more than 48,000 needles,
\nwhich were packaged for sale. In 1861 Redditch and nearby villages made 520
\ntons on needles. <\/span><\/div>\n
\n<\/o:p><\/div>\n
\n
<\/span><\/div>\n
\nIn time machines provided the labor.<\/span>  <\/span>In 1826 a stamping machine was used to
\ncreate the eyes and by the late 1880\u2019s machines did all the work.<\/span>  <\/span>Today needles are made from steel wire,
\nwhich is cut, heated and straightened and pointed and then fed into a die to
\ncreate the eyes.<\/span>  <\/span>Finally, as in times
\nbefore the double needles are separated, polished, tempered and sorted.<\/span> <\/span><\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\n<\/a><\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nVarious sized needles, including a curved and large upholstery needle, needle threaders. Victorian velvet pin and needle cushion filled with emery to keep pins and needles sharp and a needle book of felt with embroidery in the shape of a small girl.<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nOnce needles were manufactures in great quantities, thought
\nwas given to packaging.  Packages and
\nboxes of English needles had a portrait of Queen Victoria for many years and
\nare now becoming quite collectible.  At
\nthe turn of the 20th<\/sup> C 
\nlithographed illustrations were featured on needle packs. <\/div>\n
\nOther collectibles are needle cases and needle books.  As needles were once quite expensive sewers
\nwere concerned for their storage.  Cases
\nof mother-of-pearl, ivory, and enamel were popular, some lined with silver or
\ngold.  Brass needle cases were especially popular.  Collectors today label brass needle cases as “Averys” after one leading  19thC needle-maker, although there were several  large manufacturers , all making brass cases as well. The cases were so elaborate and popular that they were patented   More information on brass needle cases can be found in Victorian Brass Needlecases by Horowitz and Mann. Today cases can be found made of
\nvarious materials. I have many wooden needle cases in which I keep various
\ntypes and lengths of needles.<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nSpeaking of needles, where is the eye in a sewing machine
\nneedle?  Why, at the point! This
\nadaptation made the interlocking stitch made by the machine possible.<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\n\u201c She wrought so well in Needle-worke, that she,<\/div>\n
\nnor yet her workes, shall ere  forgotten be.\u201d<\/div>\n
\nJohn Taylor<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cThe Praise of the Needle\u201d is one of a series of \u201cpraise \u201cpoems written by John Taylor in 1693.  Somewhat humorous in tone he emphasizes the importance of needlework as a skill in 17thC England. \u201cTo all dispersed sorts of Arts and Trades, I write the Needles praise (that never fades) So long as Children…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-530","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinnamonstudio.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/530","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinnamonstudio.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinnamonstudio.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinnamonstudio.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinnamonstudio.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=530"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cinnamonstudio.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/530\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinnamonstudio.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=530"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinnamonstudio.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=530"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinnamonstudio.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=530"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}