This is my vintage needle collection.
First, my favourites, the Flora MacDonalds:
Darners, sharps, and crewel embroidery needles in 2 sizes
I’ve yet to figure out what Flora Macdonald has to do with handwork, but I’m a big Flora fan, and a big needle fan, so it works for me.
Flora in tartan
Besides, how cute is she? The back of the packets are lovely too:
Over a century of reputation
And the trademark is adorable:
Crossed foxes! I love it!
I also have some not-quite-as-exciting needles:
Blue Dorcas
The colours are all lovely though: orange, red, teal
Scientifically shaped eye!
And another great trademark:
Three pins tied with a bow!
The colours and graphic layouts of these two are very striking:
Just sew and sew
Redditch must have been an important needle making centre.
I'm not sure if Woolworths even exists anymore. At least not in NZ.
Not my favourite, but possibly the most fantastic, is this one:
A happy home...is one where women sew...and go gaga over it
I crack up every time I see it. Everything is so dramatic!
The selection of needles on the inside
Those are awesome! I love the “Floras”–Flora is one of my favorite historical women–such a crazy-interesting life! Maybe she has namesake needles because she was so “sharp” (harhar)? Honestly, I don’t know of any connection, either…aside from dressing Bonnie Prince Charlie like a dame, no sewing stories come to mind, and that one’s kind of a stretch!
Lovely collection. If you’re such a fan of needles. Do you know the needlepackets and needlebooks by Maison Sajou? They are based on vintage one and absolutely beautiful. A bit costly though.
I have the Happy Home Needles too!!! They were my bf’s grandmother’s sewing needles. I don’t know if they were ever used, they’re all there 🙂
Woolworths (aka Woolies) is alive and well in Australia! I’ve seen it in NZ, too (it’s partnered with Countdown). I almost gasped when I saw it the first time, as I remember when it went bankrupt in the U.S. when I was a child. There used to be a similar type of store called Benjamin Franklin, too. Ah, memories!
I have several (hundreds) of different size Flora MacDonald needles if anyone is interested in buying some!! Original packaging, unused, and ready to sell them.
My family has run a reweaving business since the 50’s and I found a box of unused needles that we don’t really use for reweaving.
give me a call at +619-757-8110 if interested.