My Vintage Sewing Collection (Pt. 1)

My grandmother was an avid seamstress, and we were lucky enough to inherit some of her sewing supplies. Recently, I sorted through all of these, and thought it might be interesting to share and discuss what I found in this post.

The first thing I found was a giant stash of miscellaneous buttons, mostly plain or iridescent, but some metallic, or with markings or engravings. I have to wonder where all of these buttons came from. Many were likely store-bought, but some must have come from other garments. I also wonder what kinds of things were made with these, and where they ended up. My favorites of these buttons are the gold one with a side profile of a girl, and the silver ones engraved with different seals and inscriptions.

Next, I found some various hem facings, bias tapes, and twill tapes. I particularly love the unmistakably 50s/60s font and color scheme on some of these (the 15c price tag gives that away too). Since I am still new to a lot of this, I honestly do not really know the difference between all of these things, or what their various purposes are. I should do some research on that, seeing as it's a fairly basic sewing notion.

Next in line we have our somewhat color-coded thread boxes, which include both new thread and vintage spools. As you can see from the type of boxes we use, our family might have a bit of a predilection for chocolate.

Here is the brown-mauve-ish box. You can see the labels and imprints on top of each spool of thread. They are mostly Coats & Clark's brand, with a few Corticelli brand as well, which appears to be out of circulation today.

I am not very familiar with these different thread companies: Coats & Clark's, Queen's Thread Company, and Corticelli, and therefore don't know the history of them or when these spools may have been made. I invite anyone with more knowledge than I to comment about anything.

The blue-green box is next, with a beautiful array of blues, teals, and greens.

I am especially fond of this deep olive green silk thread, which has a lovely sheen to it and feels incredibly smooth.

Finally, we have the pink-purple box, with colors ranging from deep aubergines and plums to bright fuchsias, roses, and salmons.

I, once again, gravitate towards the luxurious silk peach thread that practically glows under the light. I also love the rich purples that have a very regal feel to them.

Here's a lovely array of some of the colors:

I also found some lace that my mother bought when she lived in Belgium in the late 1960s and early 1970s. It has faded a bit with age, though looks much brighter and whiter on camera. She tells me that it is supposed to be a collar for a dress that can be worn with the opening either in the front or the back.

Here are some vintage notions still in their original packaging. There are hooks and eyes from Clinton and DeLong (15c), snap fasteners from Woolco and DeLong, and a "lingerie guard" from Miada (15c), which appears to be quite old (the patent is from 1924). These are sewn into a garment and snap around an undergarment strap to keep it from slipping down. I think these are still very useful even for modern garments.

Thank you for reading, I'll be posting the rest of my collection soon!