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Friday, March 26, 2010

MY PRIMITIVE PINCUSHION

Happy Friday to you!! As some of you may already know, I LOVE PINCUSHIONS!!! Insert...(understatement). Anywho, I thought I would share a very primitive stained pincushion that I made from a Stacy Nash pattern called "Netty's Sampler - Pinkeep Drum". I love the dark tones and the flavors of thread I stitched it in. I stuffed it with sawdust and voila...here is Miss Prim (the beautiful peacock)in all her glory. Now I am laughing at myself as it should be Mister Prim, as the female species is called a "peahen"!!! Whatever.....
















DID YOU KNOW.....

that as early as the 1300's, pins were carried around in a pouch? Metal pins were very costly and hard to find, so a special container was very important! During the 1400's carriers came into fashion.



These early pins carriers were made of ivory, bone, or silver.  At the time names such as pin keeper, pin poppet and tuffet were popular.



At the beginning of the 1700's pin-pillows came into use.  Usually delicately embroidered and made from finer fabrics such as linen, canvas or satin.  Hanging ball pincushions were found in many parlors.  Soon pin-pillows evolved into mounted cushions.  Silver or wooden stands were topped with these cushions.






Pincushions from the 1600's through the 1800's were most popular and more decorative.  On some, the pins were the decoration.  At this time pincushions came in the forms of eggcups, baskets, china, metal, and glass.





During the early 1900's pincushions became useful sewing aids.  Clamp pincushions were decorative and functional.  They would be screwed onto a table edge and also would help to hold fabric in place.



One of the most well recognized is the tomato.  People believed that placing a tomato in the entree area of their home would bring prosperity.  Since tomatoes, at that time, were not available year round, people would make red balls of fabric stuffed with straw or sawdust.  These would eventually be used as pincushions!


In today's world, pincushions play an important part of our sewing history and a collectible that comes in many, many shapes, sizes and forms.



Until next time......Smiles

Jolene

35 comments:

Anonymous said...

Beautiful finish on the Stacy Nash design!

And the photos and information were a nice treat...I always learning more about our stitching history! Thank you!!

HAPPY STITCHIN'
Terri

Missy Ann said...

Great post Jolene!

Tracey said...

Love it! Is there a tutorial on how to make this type of pincushion? I would love to learn!

Kathy said...

What an interesting post. Thank you so very much for the info on the hisotry of pin cushions and pinkeeps. Yours is gorgeous. I love your finishing on it.

Margaret said...

I love your pincushion! And the history about pins and pincushions too! Thanks!

Berit said...

Wow! "Miss Peacock" is so cute--as well as the history you compiled is interesting! I knew almost none of that info, so thanks for sharing. :) I really love Stacy Nash's work, and hope to be able to do some of her Halloween stuff this year. :)

Deb said...

Love your pincushion finish and your post about the history of pincushions. I love them too. I found a couple old ones in my antique travels recently. Those are hard to find - I rarely see any and if I do they're usually more than I want to pay!

Teresa S. said...

Very cute Miss "Peahen" pincushion! And thanks for sharing all the info-very interesting!

SugarandSpice said...

Aryanna actually just did a report on peacocks about aweek ago. You know they're her favorite! Now I am all sorts of informed on the peacock:) Together (Males and females) they are peafowl.

Loraine said...

Your pincushions are amazing! What a wonderful history. Thanks for sharing with us. I love the new finish! That is my favorite pincushion of all!
Hugs.

Chocolates4Breakfast (Terri ~ Boog) said...

Wonderful finish, Jolene! I just love it - I'm afraid if I tried that finish, it would be very wonky! Great history lesson as well!

Tricia said...

What a great post! I always wondered if there was any difference in all the names. Thanks! Beautiful finish, too. I love the little bunny on the side. :-)

Pumpkin said...

Absolutely stunning! It looks ancient :o)

Thank you for the quick lesson. I really learned a lot! Do you have any of the antique pieces that you showed?

Beth said...

Pins were once so expensive they were accepted as currency - hence the phrase "pin money"

Faye said...

WHOA~~~ What a beautiful prim pincushion~~~~ I LOVE how that one came together....You should SELL them..... One of your nicest pieces!~

Cari said...

I love your pincushion Jolene... Good JOB and thanks for sharing!!! Have a great weekend.

Lainey said...

Your pin cushion is beautiful and what a great post, thanks for sharing all that history.

Myra said...

Well who knew the humble pincushion had such a rich history. Thank you for sharing that information. Now, none of those you pictured could compare to the one you made. Wow! You did a fabulous job and it is truly an heirloom piece.

Jules said...

Very beautiful piece you have created there! I love the effect of the staining on it...a nice aged look!

Thank you for the history of the pincushion. It was very interesting to read.

doris said...

Well, that was incredibly interesting. Love, love your pin cushion.

Catherine said...

Love your finish!!! What a great history lesson as well!

Jane said...

I love this drum pinkeep and you've aged it so well. I also like the extra bits you attached on top of it.

Daffycat said...

Love the peacock pincushion ~ fantastic finishing!

Kathy A. said...

Thank you for such a lovely article and photos of pincushions. I loved it!

Melissa said...

Lovely prim pincushion! I also like all the interesting facts that you posted!

Alice said...

Looooooooove your peacock pincushion!! Miss Prim sure looks great on the stained linen. I enjoyed reading about the history of pincushions. That little bird with its bum in the air is just precious!
Alice
xxx

Ranae said...

Ahhh! I love that pinkeep drum, it is just so prim.
Thanks for the hisory lesson 101, very interesting

Robin said...

Love your pincushion finish! I'd love to hear more about using sawdust as stuffing. I think it intriques me because my father was a carpenter and I grew-up around sawdust. He just swept it up and threw it away.

I enjoyed the pincushion history. Thanks for sharing!

Brigitte said...

Oh Jolene, your new pincushion is a dream. So beautifully stitched and finished, just fantastic.

Andrea said...

What an adorable pincushion Jolene, love it!
Very interesting history info, thanks!

xoxo

Sharlotte said...

The Stacy Nash pincushion is fabulous!! I loved learning all the info on the sewing supplies. Funny how we use things everyday without knowing how they came to be

Siobhán said...

Your new pin cushion is wonderful, Jolene! Great finishing!

Anonymous said...

Jolene, that is a beautiful pincushion from Stacy Nash; I too am a pincushion lover.
thanks for the history lesson; I had no idea behind where the pin cushion came into fashion.

Daisy said...

Un precioso post.
Saludos

Martha Doe said...

I also am a pinkeep addict! Thanks for all the history info. I just love peacocks,,,will have to remember it's the male.

Thanks !

Martha 4theluvofprimitives