Thousands of uses for millions of needles

We're up in the Lickey Hills for a few days teaching at a residential sewing retreat ( more about that later!) and found ourselves with a free Friday morning.  It was also raining (nothing new there then!). So we took ourselves off to visit here:

I've often seen it mentioned in magazines and thought I'd like to visit it one day.   Today was that day!

There was even a  welcome ambassador, who, on this occasion, was asleep on the job...

The museum was also hosting a small exhibition called Sew Small bythe Miniature Needlework Society international.  Most of the work was 1/12th scale and amazingly intricate, definately not for children to play with!  We were particularly taken by this pair of knitted mice, all 1 1/2 inches tall.  

Have you still got a Dean tape measure lurking at the back of a drawer?  I'm sure have have several, different coloured ones from my dress making days.

There were also vintage adverts for different types of scissors and

thimbles too.  But we were there to see the needle making process. Who knew there were so many different types?  Think of a job and there seems to be a needle to fit!

I've not really given much thought to my humble needle, but there are at least 10 stages in the needle making process and that doesn't include the inspecting, packaging and labelling.  

Made in pairs (as they still are today) needle making was a time consuming and complex processes with needle pointing the most dangerous but highest paid. Each step was manually done, usually in a workshop but sometimes completed by outworkers at home - often by the women and children.

I wonder if everyone had this as an interview test?

There was lots of information and exhibits from darners to

 

book binders and

intricate displays of everything else inbetween - surgical needles (gulp), fishermen's hooks, needles for making horses' tack to name a few.

And this tin?  Nothing too exotic, but I now know that cotter pins are for holding your pedals on your bike!

On our way out I spotted this rather smartly decorated sewing machine.  Does anyone still use a hand cranked machine I wonder?

If you fancy visiting the museum then all the details can be found here: http://www.forgemill.org.uk/