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Tools and Equipment

Sewing Needle

Needlework and Sewing Tools

A sewing needle, used for hand sewing, is a long slender tool with a pointed tip at one end and a hole, or eye, at the other to hold the sewing thread. The earliest needles were made of bone or wood; modern needles are manufactured from high-carbon steel wire, plated with nickel or 18-karat gold for corrosion resistance, while high-quality embroidery needles are plated with an alloy of two-thirds platinum and one-third titanium. Needles have traditionally been kept in needle books or needlecases, themselves often objects of adornment, or in an etui, a small box also used to hold scissors, pencils and tweezers.

Facts
Introduced When (Circa)
circa 61,000 years ago (earliest probable bone sewing-needle point, Sibudu Cave, South Africa), with earlier bone awls from circa 73,000 years ago at Blombos Cave 1
Origin
The earliest needles were bone or wood points used with animal-skin thread; high-quality steel needle-making technology reached Spain from China by the tenth century, and England began drawn-wire needle manufacture at Redditch in 1639. 1
Connections

Used In

Sewing, Crafts

The needle is the basic implement of hand sewing, drawing thread through cloth.

Source Sewing Needle (Wikipedia)
Additional Source Sewing (Wikipedia)Sewing, Tools section
Sources
1. Sewing Needle (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia Foundation
  • History, Prehistoric sewing needles section
    A point that might be from a bone needle dates to 61,000 years ago and was discovered in Sibudu Cave, South Africa.
  • History, Later sewing needles section
    The next major break-through in needle-making was the arrival of high-quality steel-making technology from China in the tenth century, principally in Spain in the form of the Catalan furnace, which soon extended to produce reasonably high quality steel in significant volumes.
  • Lead paragraph
    A sewing needle, used for hand-sewing, is a long slender tool with a pointed tip at one end and a hole (or eye) to hold the sewing thread.
  • Used In: Sewing, Lead section
    A sewing needle, used for hand-sewing, is a long slender tool
  • In Group: Hand Sewing Needles and Needle Holders, Lead section
    A sewing needle, used for hand-sewing, is a long slender tool with a pointed tip at one end and a hole (or eye) to hold the sewing thread.
View the Source
Sewing (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationUsed In: Sewing, Sewing, Tools section
Quote, Used In: Sewing, Sewing, Tools section
Sewers working on a simple project need only a few sewing tools, such as flexible measuring tape, needle, thread, cloth, and sewing shears
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