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Sewing Utensils
Sewing was an important skill in colonial North Carolina, since almost all clothes were made by hand at home. Clothes were generally made from imported cloth made in England, but some households also produced their own cloth from wool. A list prepared in 1716 of items in the planter's house at the Eden House site included a spinning wheel, so it is likely that the women at the site were making some of their own cloth.
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Sewing machines had not been invented in the seventeenth
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Thimble and Buttons
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and eighteenth centuries, so archaeologists working on colonial sites generally find scissors, thimbles, and straight pins -- items used for hand piecing clothing, table linens, and bedding. Since making clothes was such an important activity, it was common for women, particularly the woman who ran the house, to carry her sewing equipment in a small bag attached to the front of her dress. Sewing utensils found at the Eden House site included scissors, straight pins, and thimbles.
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