Have you ever wondered how long sewing threads have been around?
The answer is almost as long as man has walked on two legs. The first threads would have been little more than thin leather or twine. Many ancient tribes knew which local plant or tree gave the best thread such as honeysuckle, reed and cactus.
As the centuries went by we learned how to twist materials into thread such as fine wool and silk. History of Cotton.
The first needles or bodkins were animal bone and wood, later bronze and eventually steel so fine that they could pierce the most delicate silk without a mark.
Today some of the traditional net maker still use wooden needles made from the holly tree which has remarkable abilities to keep its point and not break.
For centuries the center of the needle industry for the entire world was Redditch producing the best needles on the market such as Milward’s and Able Morrall’s.
The Forge Mill next to Bordesley Abbey, Redditch, is well worth a visit. The museum provides a fascinating insight into the early working life of the industrial revolution where children as young as 4 worked for a living!
The Redditch needle industry kept the secret of fine needle making closely guarded. There secret was in the endless polishing of the needles with fine grinding powders. The water powered machinery proved so successful that it was used for generations.
Birmingham & Redditch were the center of the needle industry
In 1806 nasty Napoleon (where the name Bogey Man originally came from, Bonepart–Boney–Bogey, the Bogey man is coming over the water to get you! What horrible parents he!), made a blockade around the coast of Britain.
The defeat of his fleet at Trafalgar left him embittered and out for vengeance. This stopped almost all but the most ardent smuggler from bringing goods to England. All ships were prey to the French fleet.
In turn the silk sewing threads became scarce and incredibly expensive. A reel of silk thread would cost two days pay.
Only skilled smugglers managed to break through the blockades in the dead of night. Their vessels often painted Matt black and set with sails at both ends to move silently in and out of moonlit bays.
The cost of threads rocketed as did tobacco and booze. Great years for the smugglers!
Years later all that changed as Huguenots fled from persecution. Many focused themselves around the Brick Lane area of London. By 1851 Britain had over 100,000 silk weavers. Today there is only one working silk mill left in England at Whitchurch.
A saying emerged around that time. ‘We are all born Adam’s children but silk makes the difference’.
However we are jumping ahead, stay with me now! Britain is being blockaded and silk, the normal sewing thread is a silly price.Hanks of silk from China cannot get to England and the price soars! An alternative was needed and fast!
Patrick Clark came to our rescue inventing a method to twist cotton threads together to produce an excellent sewing thread for most applications. Cotton was still available and could be recycled from fabric so there was no shortage.
Clark opened his factory in 1812 in Paisley, Scotland, and never looked back. His son’s opened the Coats factory a few years later and so two of the biggest names in thread were established and all because of the Bogey Man.
By the 1890’s they had become one company again, Coats & Clarke.
An early advertising card showing Gulliver taking thread to the Lilliputians.
The original two, three and four cord hand sewing thread was not strong enough for sewing machines so later George Clark, one of the grandson’s, invented a thread specially designed for these new fangled gadgets.
The six-cord soft thread sewed very well and helped the sewing machine industry flourish compared to the wiry old hand-sewing stuff.
This thread was labeled and each reel was marked with the initials “ONT” Our New Thread. Simple he! I would love to find one of these reels as it would date it to around 1850.
Silk threads were around years before Clark and Coats so look carefully in your sewing box, you may have an ancient reel of thread in there.
The earliest I have come across was a Barbour thread of 1783.
I hope you enjoyed this story, I did. As a matter of fact, I liked it so much, I checked it out, and found it was written by Alex Askaroff of England. He calls himself a collector, writer and enthusiast, who writes about the weird and wonderful history of the sewing machine and thread. I have e-mailed him a few times, checked out his website, and found that he is quite an interesting fellow.
According to his website bio (a great read!), Alex has spent a lifetime in the sewing industry and is considered one of the foremost experts of pioneering machines and their inventors. He has written extensively for trade magazines, radio, television, books and publications world wide.
He is a long term member of the Guild of Master Craftsmen. He grew up in the sewing industry and as a teenager undertook a four- year engineering course, qualifying in 1976. After qualifying he was trained by further experts from Jaeger and the sewing trade then spent 10 years on the factory floor at the family firm before founding his own business.
Alex has also had work published across the world from Australia to America and is considered one of the few experts in early pioneering machines and their inventors. One of his hobbies has always been collecting early sewing machines, and he now owns one of the finest collections of early 19th century machines. Now, by popular request, many of his most popular stories have been put together into a trilogy of sewing books.
Ready for a laugh? Visit his website, www.sewsalot.com, read a few of his stories online, and check out his full biography, it’s really interesting. Then, check out his collection, he really does have some beautiful machines.
In closing, stop by the Stitchin’ Heaven website and stock up on those kits you’ve been dreaming about. Our Annual Kit Sale is going on this week, and you’ll save BIG BUCKS!
Until we meet again, may your days be pieceful! -deb
 
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