Sewing screw
The sewing screw or sewing clamp (sometimes also third hand ; English: often also sewing bird ) is a mostly turned , clamping screw with a semicircular pin cushion at the upper end.
function
The instrument, which is rarely used today, was used for darning and sewing as a base or holder for the fabric, which was attached to the pillow with a pin . The screw was used to attach it to the sewing table . In Biedermeier and ornate Nähschrauben cast iron were in use. One variant is the sewing stone, which does not require a fastening screw due to its high weight.
Turned sewing screw
Sewing stone from the Odenwald
history
Sewing screws were created towards the end of the 17th century. They came into vogue to make work easier in the 18th century. It was the first device that made it possible to move the fabric without loosening a clamp. They were popular as gifts in the 19th century, with young men giving their future brides ornate sewing screws as gifts.
Quote
- Theodor Storm : Pole Poppenspäler (1874): "at least it happened that one day the sub-rector , when I returned a not exactly flawless exercise, asked me, oddly enough, whether I might have turned another sewing screw for my sister's birthday."