Featured Bone & Ivory Stilettos, for Textile Arts; First Assortment

Discussion in 'Textiles, Needle Arts, Clothing' started by wlwhittier, Jul 29, 2022.

  1. wlwhittier

    wlwhittier Well-Known Member

    These are the longest, and mostly largest diameter.
    Numbers 1, 8 & 11 are probably manicure tools, but attractive nonetheless, and are obviously comfortable with the others.

    The next installment will be more numerous (if I don't split it into more manageable groups). Inna day or 2...or 3.

    Feast yer eyes on these made-for-purpose tools, almost every one with sweet artisan embellishments. Thanks for lookin'!

    fullsizeoutput_9be3.jpeg fullsizeoutput_9be2.jpeg fullsizeoutput_9be1.jpeg fullsizeoutput_9be0.jpeg
     
    lovewrens, elarnia, Aquitaine and 2 others like this.
  2. Hollyblue

    Hollyblue Well-Known Member

    https://www.google.com/search?q=bon...2Mec4As&bih=638&biw=1208&client=firefox-b-1-d
     
  3. Aquitaine

    Aquitaine Is What It IS! But NEVER BORED!

    @wlwhittier, top image, next to last in from the RIGHT.....is that just a hole or is there a mini image on a mini magnified glass in that hole??? I love those, if that's what that is!!!
     
    Last edited: Jul 29, 2022
    wlwhittier likes this.
  4. wlwhittier

    wlwhittier Well-Known Member

    What you like is, unfortunately, not to be found in that 'bodkin' (more on the term subsequently)...Stanhopes are particularly delightful to find serendipitously, as you had hoped, in among (usually) older items...as I have on 2 occasions, deep in th' past.

    In my family, the term bodkin usually applied to a longer, but not too wide, ordinary safety pin. My younger brother an' I wore 2 piece PJ's...with drawstrings at the waist. Quite often, when sent to get ready for bed, it was found to be that one of that string had disappeared down the channel. Nothing to be done but withdraw it completely in order to rethread it. By attaching the pin to one end, then slowly...using the pin as gathering piece...rethread the string fully, allowing our PJ bottoms to be secured around our butts. It took awhile, y'know, to accomplish this task without either over-pulling the string when it finally appeared, or raising our parents suspicions about the time it took, or the uncommon frequency of the necessity to use the 'bodkin'. I was 6, he was almost 5.
    Looking back I realize we weren't fooling either of them...but as we were gainfully occupied in the urgent task we were allowed to be up past our normal bedtime...by as much as maybe half an hour! I really regret not having questioned either Dad or Mom about this long-ago charade later in their lives.
    In the next batch, there'll be 3 simple bodkins. Any of them would serve to yield an extra 30 minutes of wakefullness to a couple of kids.
     
    antidiem and Aquitaine like this.
  5. Northern Lights Lodge

    Northern Lights Lodge Well-Known Member

    @wlwhittier What a lovely assortment!

    Yes, these are definitely "fabric stilettos" (minus the manicure pieces) and were primarily used for "opening" fabric to make holes.

    Usually they were used in making holes for embroidered eyelets. They came in a multitude of sizes. Although the one with the hole "may" have been used for a bodkin, I think it more likely that it had a long ribbon through it to be worn around the neck when working. Thus saving the embroiderer the need to fumble around to find it when she was ready to "punch" the next hole.

    It could have been used to make a multitude of openings - decorative eyelet openings that one might find in embroidery or white work or more utilitarian uses, as one might need for lacing up a garment or shoe.

    These were also used to shape a corner from the inside - giving (for instance) a collar a sharp point.

    Will look forward to seeing more of the collection!
    Cheerio,
    Leslie
     
    wlwhittier and komokwa like this.
  6. DragonflyWink

    DragonflyWink Well-Known Member

    Last edited: Jul 31, 2022
    wlwhittier, komokwa and Bakersgma like this.
  7. wlwhittier

    wlwhittier Well-Known Member

    Great information, DFW...Thanks!
     
  8. 2manybooks

    2manybooks Well-Known Member

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