Look what I got to touch last night:
It is a sewing bird. I had never seen one before last night. They were used in the 18 and 1900's for holding fabric. The person stitching could hold the fabric tight with one hand and the bird was a clamp to hold the fabric so the person could stitch.
Here you will find some historical information about these beautiful collectables from the
Monmouth Museum in Lincroft, NJ. They have a collection of Sewing Birds and you can see some of them on their web page.
I went to a Christmas Party for one of my stitching groups last night. The party was held at Joyce's house and I wish I had taken pictures of her decorations. They were just beautiful. A Christmas Village all light up, a beautiful Christmas tree, Santa Clause Collection on the mantel and Christmas music playing softly in the background. Many of the ladys were wearing fun holiday clothing, not me :( It was a mini vacation for me. Joyce brought out some of her sewing antiques and the bird was one of them. I loved it and of course now I want one....or 100...LOL
Joyce had an article taken from
Mark Lapinski's Quilter's Home and I believe it was Aug./Sept. 2009 issue and there were lots of antique sewing clamps. Check out the magazine to see more amazing sewing clamps.
Smiles,
Kelly
