george wilson
12-26-2011, 4:58 PM
So,what's an equipage? It is a set of sewing accessories that a lady would clip onto her apron string when sewing.
This has been an ongoing project for many years. I started by making the heart,which has a clip on its back. It has small engraving around the edges. I made the chains to hold a few tools. Over the years she asked for this or that to be added to the equipage,such as thimble holders,sewing needle case,etc.. I am sure that this outfit is still not quite complete. Things have been added,or subtracted over the years.
The scissor case is the only thing I did not make. It is 18th.C.,however,I have made about 4 pairs of scissors which fit exactly inside it,so that no rattling is heard when the case is shaken. The scissors are patterned from an 18th.C. catalog of scissors which I furnished her with so that she could choose what she liked. The catalog had dozens of pairs of scissors on each page,and the stack of these pages was about 3/4" thick. Note that these are left handed scissors: The blades lap the opposite way from the usual.
I settled upon using acorns as the theme for holding the thimbles somehow. These were all turned freehand except for cutting the threads. The knurling around the tops of the acorns is filed in,not knurled in. The acorns would not have taken the pressure of being knurled into them.
Scissors are one of my least favorite things to make. She lost the first one during a bad rain storm one night going to the King's Arms Tavern in Williamsburg. I got thoroughly soaked the next day looking for them because I did not want to make more! No avail. There were puddles 2 or 3 inches deep everywhere,and the scissors could have been picked up by someone meanwhile. The pair of scissors is about 3" tall.
She is an extremely thorough person,and ordered 3 more scissors that fitted exactly into the case,as insurance against being without a pair if she lost another.
The small thimble was a challenge to make. The original was dug up at the Geddy site,and obviously fitted the finger of a small girl. It was about 3/8" tall. My copy is exactly like the original,but about 9/16" tall,made of silver. I had to space all of the punch marks very accurately. The most challenge was in making those angular chisel cuts just like the old one. They look "hand cut" like the original. The end of the thimble had large,rather crude punchings in it to catch the needle. They were spaced very random,out of keeping with the very careful work every where else on the thimble. I wish I'd made a photo of the original. It was well preserved for being in the ground 200 years.
The peculiar looking thimble in one of the acorns is a different pattern thimble,and is 18th.C.,except that I had to make it larger by adding 1/4" of silver,and managing to punch and engrave the original decorative pattern into it,and getting it to all "line up" and blend. I must have gotten lucky,and did accomplish this,while enlarging the thimble just right to fit her finger. The enlargement is undetectable. It mimics the somewhat LACK of precision in the rest of the pattern.
The ball has a ring made from iron,turned with moldings on it. The straight pins are ones I made like 18th.C. straight pins: The heads are made of wrapped tiny wire,welded or soldered onto the shank. I must have made over 100 of these pins for her by now. She did the needle point work,and stuffed it,fitting it to the ring.
The chain is all hand made,by wrapping iron wire around a mandrel,after which it is squeezed oval in a vise,then sawn through with a jeweler's saw to separate the links. At least,I did not have to weld those links!217239217240217241217242217243
I also have made her a few acorns from ivory,which she kept her pills in. When the number of pills grew,she had me make 2 little screw top round ivory boxes for them. I have no pictures of them,or,indeed,for most of the work I have done for her.
P.S.: The keys go to her sewing box.
This has been an ongoing project for many years. I started by making the heart,which has a clip on its back. It has small engraving around the edges. I made the chains to hold a few tools. Over the years she asked for this or that to be added to the equipage,such as thimble holders,sewing needle case,etc.. I am sure that this outfit is still not quite complete. Things have been added,or subtracted over the years.
The scissor case is the only thing I did not make. It is 18th.C.,however,I have made about 4 pairs of scissors which fit exactly inside it,so that no rattling is heard when the case is shaken. The scissors are patterned from an 18th.C. catalog of scissors which I furnished her with so that she could choose what she liked. The catalog had dozens of pairs of scissors on each page,and the stack of these pages was about 3/4" thick. Note that these are left handed scissors: The blades lap the opposite way from the usual.
I settled upon using acorns as the theme for holding the thimbles somehow. These were all turned freehand except for cutting the threads. The knurling around the tops of the acorns is filed in,not knurled in. The acorns would not have taken the pressure of being knurled into them.
Scissors are one of my least favorite things to make. She lost the first one during a bad rain storm one night going to the King's Arms Tavern in Williamsburg. I got thoroughly soaked the next day looking for them because I did not want to make more! No avail. There were puddles 2 or 3 inches deep everywhere,and the scissors could have been picked up by someone meanwhile. The pair of scissors is about 3" tall.
She is an extremely thorough person,and ordered 3 more scissors that fitted exactly into the case,as insurance against being without a pair if she lost another.
The small thimble was a challenge to make. The original was dug up at the Geddy site,and obviously fitted the finger of a small girl. It was about 3/8" tall. My copy is exactly like the original,but about 9/16" tall,made of silver. I had to space all of the punch marks very accurately. The most challenge was in making those angular chisel cuts just like the old one. They look "hand cut" like the original. The end of the thimble had large,rather crude punchings in it to catch the needle. They were spaced very random,out of keeping with the very careful work every where else on the thimble. I wish I'd made a photo of the original. It was well preserved for being in the ground 200 years.
The peculiar looking thimble in one of the acorns is a different pattern thimble,and is 18th.C.,except that I had to make it larger by adding 1/4" of silver,and managing to punch and engrave the original decorative pattern into it,and getting it to all "line up" and blend. I must have gotten lucky,and did accomplish this,while enlarging the thimble just right to fit her finger. The enlargement is undetectable. It mimics the somewhat LACK of precision in the rest of the pattern.
The ball has a ring made from iron,turned with moldings on it. The straight pins are ones I made like 18th.C. straight pins: The heads are made of wrapped tiny wire,welded or soldered onto the shank. I must have made over 100 of these pins for her by now. She did the needle point work,and stuffed it,fitting it to the ring.
The chain is all hand made,by wrapping iron wire around a mandrel,after which it is squeezed oval in a vise,then sawn through with a jeweler's saw to separate the links. At least,I did not have to weld those links!217239217240217241217242217243
I also have made her a few acorns from ivory,which she kept her pills in. When the number of pills grew,she had me make 2 little screw top round ivory boxes for them. I have no pictures of them,or,indeed,for most of the work I have done for her.
P.S.: The keys go to her sewing box.