ClipArt ETC

The Spinning, Sewing, and Mending ClipArt gallery offers 39 illustrations of people engaged in these activities along with the necessary equipment and supplies.

"The house-wife plies her needle and her thread, / Long after idle people are in bed; / The rent is small, but she full well doth know, / That little rents to larger ones will grow."—Barber, 1857

A Stitch in Time, Saves Nine

"The house-wife plies her needle and her thread, / Long after idle people are in bed; / The rent is…

A single thread formed into a chain of crochet work

Crochet Work

A single thread formed into a chain of crochet work

A basic pattern used in cross-stitching.

Cross-Stitch

A basic pattern used in cross-stitching.

A life-size full or partial representation of the human body, used for the fitting or displaying of clothes; a dummy.

Dress Form

A life-size full or partial representation of the human body, used for the fitting or displaying of…

This frame was used to design and create different lady dresses.

Frame for Ladies Dresses

This frame was used to design and create different lady dresses.

An illustration of a young girl sitting in in a ornately carved chair needle pointing.

Young Girl Needle Pointing

An illustration of a young girl sitting in in a ornately carved chair needle pointing.

Girl sewing in silhouette.

Girl sewing

Girl sewing in silhouette.

"In the year 1589 the stocking-frame, the machine which mechanically produces the looped stitch in hosiery, was invented by the Rev. William Lee, a graduate of Cambridge, and native of Woodborough, near Nottingham. The fundamental principle of the apparatus consists in the substitution of a seperate hooked or barbed needle for the support and working of each loop, in place of the system whereby an indefinate number of loops are skewered on one or more wires or needles. At R is seen a thread of yarn passed over the needle stalks and within the terminal hooks. The yarn, it will be observed, is waved or depressed between each pair of needles, whereby sufficient yarn is secured to form the seperate loops of uniform size, and thus produce a regular equal fabric." — Encyclopedia Britannica, 1893

Hosiery

"In the year 1589 the stocking-frame, the machine which mechanically produces the looped stitch in hosiery,…

A girl knitting.

Knitting

A girl knitting.

The stitch or loop structure of plain knitting.

Knitting Stitch

The stitch or loop structure of plain knitting.

This sewing machine is a textile machine used to stitch fabric to other material together with thread.

Sewing Machine

This sewing machine is a textile machine used to stitch fabric to other material together with thread.

Elias Howe's original model of the sewing machine.

Sewing Machine

Elias Howe's original model of the sewing machine.

A basic knot used in lace-work.

Modern Crochet

A basic knot used in lace-work.

A needle used in sewing to pull thread through cloth

Sewing Needle

A needle used in sewing to pull thread through cloth

The plaiting or braiding of a sennit, a flat cordage used in crafts.

Plaiting of Sennit

The plaiting or braiding of a sennit, a flat cordage used in crafts.

Hands sewing with thread and needle.

Sewing

Hands sewing with thread and needle.

A sewing machine, 1903.

Sewing Machine

A sewing machine, 1903.

A machine for sewing or stitching fabrics, leather, paper, and other materials.

Sewing Machine

A machine for sewing or stitching fabrics, leather, paper, and other materials.

A detail of a Singer sewing machine.

Details of a sewing machine

A detail of a Singer sewing machine.

This early model sewing machine featured a chain stitch, the basic stitch of a modern sewing machine consists of two threads and is known as a lock stitch.

Early Model Sewing Machine

This early model sewing machine featured a chain stitch, the basic stitch of a modern sewing machine…

"Singer sewing-machine. a is the frame and cloth-plate or bed-plate; b, arm; c, treadle; e, pitman; d, main driving-wheel; f, band; g, small driving-wheel attached to shaft ... j, take-up lever with roller and stud; k, presser-bar carrying presser-foot; l, needle-bar; m, spool-pin; ... t, drawers." -Whitney, 1911

Singer Sewing Machine

"Singer sewing-machine. a is the frame and cloth-plate or bed-plate; b, arm; c, treadle; e, pitman;…

"Singer sewing-machine. a is the frame and cloth-plate or bed-plate; b, arm; ... g, small driving-wheel attached to shaft h; i, take-up cam with set-screw; j, take-up lever with roller and stud; ... m, spool-pin; n, shuttle-pitman taking motion from crank o; p, shuttle bell-crank; q, shuttle-carrier and shuttle; r, thread-guide; s, tension-disk ..." -Whitney, 1911

Singer Sewing Machine

"Singer sewing-machine. a is the frame and cloth-plate or bed-plate; b, arm; ... g, small driving-wheel…

Something sewn or to be sewn.

Machine Sewing

Something sewn or to be sewn.

A machine to sew on, of which there are many different makes.

Sewing-machine

A machine to sew on, of which there are many different makes.

A woman spinning.

Spinning

A woman spinning.

A woman spinning cotton on a spinning jenny.

Spinning Jenny

A woman spinning cotton on a spinning jenny.

An illustration of a woman using a spinning wheel. A spinning wheel is a device for spinning thread or yarn from natural or synthetic fibers.

Spinning Wheel

An illustration of a woman using a spinning wheel. A spinning wheel is a device for spinning thread…

A spinning wheel

Spinning Wheel

A spinning wheel

Flax spinning wheel.

Spinning Wheel

Flax spinning wheel.

A spinning wheel used for cotton.

Spinning Wheel

A spinning wheel used for cotton.

A kind of metallic cap or cover, or sometimes a ring, for the finger, used in sewing to protect the finger from the needle.

Thimble

A kind of metallic cap or cover, or sometimes a ring, for the finger, used in sewing to protect the…

To pass a thread through the eye of a needle.

Thread

To pass a thread through the eye of a needle.

An old spinning wheel used to spin cotton into yard.

Spinning Wheel

An old spinning wheel used to spin cotton into yard.

Spinning Wheel used to make thread.

Spinning Wheel

Spinning Wheel used to make thread.

A shadow of a woman sitting in a chair knitting a sock.

Shadow of a Woman Knitting

A shadow of a woman sitting in a chair knitting a sock.

An illustration of a woman mending clothing while sitting in a chair with a kitten playing underneath.

Woman Mending Clothing While Sitting in a Chair

An illustration of a woman mending clothing while sitting in a chair with a kitten playing underneath.

An illustration of a woman sewing.

Woman Sewing

An illustration of a woman sewing.

An illustration of a woman spinning thread.

Woman Spinning Thread

An illustration of a woman spinning thread.

An illustration of a woman standing next to a spinning wheel.

Woman with Spinning Wheel

An illustration of a woman standing next to a spinning wheel.