Housewife Kit c. 1750s-1800

This kit includes:

a selection of printed cottons cut to size and pinned

a selection of needles

small cake of bee’s wax

sewing thread on wood thread winder

1/2″ cotton tape for binding

1/4″ cotton tape for tie

Instructions how to assemble your housewife

This kit is designed for the most basic student to make a housewife that will pass the most stringent authenticity standards. Housewives were used as sewing kits throughout the 18th and 19th centuries to hold sewing tools, thread, thimble, money, and jewelry. Usually owned by women, housewives may have been used as sewing kits for soldiers, sailors, and single men. In this kit you’ll find samples of beautiful 100% linen, wool, and cotton. Three pockets allow you to store your needlework tools or money with a wool pin cushion at the top. Although each one is individually made the finished housewife should measure approximately 4″ by 10 1/2″ and fold to 4″ by 3″. Since each is made by hand fabrics and sizes very. As an example of what one woman in 1732 kept in her housewife, “We searched her, and found 7 Guineas, 5 s. and 6 d. and a Gold Ring in a Housewife in her Pocket” was reported in a theft trial in London in The Proceedings of the Old Bailey.