THE WORK-BOX.
“Your thimble gone? Your scissors, where are they?
Your needles, pins, your thread, and tapes all lost.
Your housewife here, and there your work-bag tost.”
—POEMS.
The next thing which will come under our observation is the work-box,
or basket, and of this it may be useful to say a few words, as much of
the comfort of a good workwoman depends on the choice and arrangement
of her tools (if they may be so termed) and materials.
A work-box, or basket, should be large enough to hold a moderate supply
of work and all its requisites, without being of such a size as to be
inconvenient to carry about, or lift with ease. There should be in it
divisions or partitions, as they assist in keeping it in order; but
some persons are apt to run into the extreme of over-partitioning their
boxes, which defeats its own purpose and becomes troublesome: this
should be carefully avoided.
A work-box should contain six or eight of the useful sized white reel
sewing cottons, black cotton, and silks, white, black, and coloured,
both round and for darning; a few useful tapes, bobbin, galloon,
buttons of all kinds, including thread, pearl, metal, and black; also,
hooks and eyes. An ample needle-book, containing a page of kerseymere
for each sized needle, not omitting the darning, glove, stay, and
worsted or carpet needles.
There are various kinds of scissors; the most useful are,
A large pair, for cutting out linen;
A medium size, for common use;
A small pair with rounded points;
A smaller pair with sharper points, for cutting out muslin work, &c.;
Lace scissors with a flat knob at one of the points;
Button-hole scissors.
A pincushion, an emery cushion, a waxen reel for strengthening thread,
a stiletto, bodkins, a thimble, a small knife, and a yard measure, made
like a carpenter’s foot rule, only with nails instead of inches marked
upon it: for a further description of it, see explanation to Plate 24.
These complete the list of things necessary for a good workwoman; other
things, as shield, tweezers, which are often added, may be considered
as superfluities.
It is a good plan to fit up a square basket for the use of each working
servant in the house, as for instance, the lady’s-maid, the nurse, the
housemaid, the laundry-maid. These baskets should vary sufficiently in
form and size to be easily distinguished one from the other; the kind
usually sold for babies’ baskets is the most convenient, being large
enough to hold plenty of work, and yet shallow, so as easily to search
for things at the bottom.
To these baskets should belong, a small tin box for buttons, hooks and
eyes, bodkins, &c.; a large pair of scissors and sheath tied to each
other, and fastened by a long string to the handle of the basket. A
heavy pincushion, formed of a brick or piece of iron or lead, placed in
a bag full of bran, padded with flannel, and covered over with print
or calico. A large needle-book. A bag to contain tapes, silks, darning
cottons, &c. It is advisable to mark the scissors sheath, needle-book,
pincushion, bag, and even basket, with the initial of the maid by whom
it is used, as H. B. for housemaid’s basket.
A rag bag is a desirable thing to have hung up in some conspicuous part
of the house, into which all odd bits, and even shreds, of calico,
print, linen, muslin, &c. should be put; as they are useful to come in
when a gusset or chin-stay, or other small article is wanting. Those
bits too small for this purpose may still be used by school children,
for practising stitches of needle-work upon; or, at all events, may be
disposed of to the rag merchants, and thus prove of some value at last.
Another family bag, for the purpose of containing stray tapes, or shoe
strings, hooks, eyes, odd buttons, pieces of silk, or bits of ribbon,
may be kept with advantage; especially where there is a large family of
children, whose demands for these small articles are daily and constant.