Great-Grandmother's Sewing Basket.

I was getting ready to sew one of the cosmetic bags in the "almost finished" pile of crafts and needed navy or black thread, so I pulled out Great-Grandmother's sewing basket. Upon opening it, I realized that it told a story of sorts and decided to share.

Now, Great-Grandmother, better known to the family as "Bummie", was born in 1894. When the Great Depression hit in 1929, she had two small children - my Grandmother, Evelyn, (who raised me) and Great Uncle Bill.

To keep her small family fed and clothed, she watched what she spent and wasted nothing. She saved thing like string and rubber bands and aluminium foil. In fact, if you look up "recycle" in the dictionary, you'll see her picture (just kidding). Her sewing kit reflects the values she learned during those times.

Shall we take a look inside?

Of course, there is the traditional tomato pincushion with the little strawberry attached. As children we were taught that the strawberry contained sand, but it's actually emery powder (think emery board for filing fingernails). Sometimes when needles are well-used they pick up fibers and what-not from the fabric they're drawn through and start to drag during use. Poking the needle several times into the powder removes most of the residue and the needle is usable again.

Here's a closer look at some of her stash.

Scissors. Check. If you look closely, you'll see the country of origin is Germany.

Tape measure. Check.

Seam ripper. Check... Look at the size of that seam ripper. It's HUGE compared to the ones I use. And dull to boot!

Thimbles. Check.

Take a close look at the thimble on the left. It's been so well-used it has conformed to the oval shape of a fingertip.

They are both stamped with "II" - I'm guessing that's how they're sized.

These are too big for my fingers, but I'll hold onto them because they were hers.

There's more in there too!

What sewing box would be complete without thread? Here shown are Coats, Clark, and Coats & Clark thread. All on wooden spools. The prices are shown on some of the label. Can you imagine paying $0.15 for a spool of thread?!! Talk about inflation. By the way, that's not thread wrapped around the cardboard tube - it's elastic! What do you suppose you'd use it for?

Buttons anyone? Some of these are so tiny! They must have been for or from baby clothes. Or perhaps from doll clothes. 

Some of these will probably make it into my button box. The big white one looks vaguely familiar. Perhaps from a childhood sweater.

Another item that's a little unusual is the inclusion of a steel crochet hook. They're great for fixing runs in sweaters or other knit/crochet items.

Those little pompoms look about the same size as the pompoms that used to be on the heels of tennis socks.

Ace bandage closures... For emergencies?

Here's something funny peculiar. She used old bra closures as needle holders. With the number of hook and eyes in there, I'm thinking that bras have always had "issues".