Threads 84: Sewing Baskets

As we begin 2024, the question I ask myself is “Do we still need baskets?”. Will they become obsolete like corsets and coal scuttles and fountain pens? For that reason, I decided to look around my house and museum and feature a few baskets that I think we shall always enjoy and use. So in this Threads, we will look at sewing baskets.

To the left, is an indigenous birch bark, sewing basket with lining. This basket was given to the Museum, having been found at the reuse in McDonald’s Corners. The birchbark is very strong, and yet it has been carefully cut out using pinking shares.

The base and the lid are both made by cutting darts into the circular Centre and then stitching them to the rim or the wall of the basket. The flannel lining of the basket has been premade and then held in position by the top stitching of the rim. It is extremely strong and well-made. There are no indications of when or where it was made. But it is clearly very functional and very useful.

The Asian sewing basket. My son gave me this bamboo sewing basket found  in an antique shop  in Gloversville, New York. I love this basket because it speaks of the person who used it to keep her needle case, cotton reels, and pin cushion.   

The sewing basket on the left was probably made in the 1930s by my mother. It has a wooden base and is made of round reed with a braided top. It has been carefully lined on the sides. My sister still uses it in England.

This bath Willow basket was made by a Swiss basket maker who visited Canada in the 1980s. He gave it to the Museum before he left. He told me it was for sewing or knitting. It has a beautiful lid, which slips back to open, and then falls back into place to close. It is a treasure.