Municipal budgetary educational institution

children's and youth center "Prometheus"

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Master Class

"The Story of the Pincushion"

Prepared by:

additional education teacher

Galina Vladimirovna Podmogaeva

Practical work" href="/text/category/prakticheskie_raboti/" rel="bookmark">practical work; exhibition of works.

Tools and materials: ready-made salt dough, scissors, brushes, stacks, modeling board, glass of water, thick cardboard, technological map.

Master class plan:

1. Organizational moment.

2. Main stage:

2.1 Theoretical part.

2.2 Practical part.

3. Stage of consolidation of knowledge.

4. Reflection.

Progress of the master class:

1. Organizational moment

Good afternoon, dear guests, dear colleagues! My name is Galina Vladimirovna

2. Main stage:

2.1 Theoretical part

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Handmade pincushion, always one of a kind and original. Having tried to make such an interesting little thing with your own hands once, you will certainly want to try to make a second, third. In any case, this is a very necessary thing.

So, what is a pincushion?

https://pandia.ru/text/78/394/images/image016_40.gif" alt="AN_001_l" align="left" width="197" height="244 src=">!} History of the pincushion

Most people perceive a pincushion as a small, everyday item that does not have any special meaning. The very origin of the pincushion is shrouded in mystery, but one can trace the main stages in the development of this accessory.

The history of the origin of the needle case goes back to those distant times, when fabric just began to appear, and needles were considered a luxury, so there was a need for their safe and careful storage. The first needle cases were made using paper and any fabric, they were transferred among themselves. However, only rich people allowed themselves to have such pincushions.

In later times, pincushions were made from ivory wood or metal..gif" align="left" width="177" height="185">

One of the main occupations of women in Rus' was needlework. Each girl had a chest or box filled with all sorts of little things for sewing, and one of the most irreplaceable was the needle bed. In some houses, rag dolls, such as Paraskeva, acted as pincushions, but it was still considered wrong to prick rag dolls-amulets with needles, so hand-made rag pincushions embroidered with braid or decorated with embroidery were often used.

IN 15th century Containers made of silver and ivory appeared. At the same time, needle cases began to be stuffed with wool and covered with multi-colored fabrics.

IN 16th century It has become fashionable to attach pincushions to silver or wooden stands.

Pincushions 17th-18th centuries were made from high quality fabrics: linen, satin and decorated with embroidery.

Pin with pincushion approximately XIV-XVII centuries.

Pincushion and thimble made of silver, Purse and pincushion England, 17th century.

late 18th century, Great Britain

Where do you think the ladies of high society put the necessary little things in the 19th century?

Until the mid-19th century, it was fashionable to carry a handbag in your hand - a reticule. Typically, women kept threads, needles, embroidery, a mirror, perfume and other feminine accessories in a reticule. And the most necessary attribute in the reticule was a needle case.

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Antique pincushions made of German porcelain

Beginning of the 20th century

Pincushions come in different styles and shapes, and they can be made from various materials: in the form of geometric shapes, hearts, figurines of any animals, handbags, hats, in the form of cakes and flowers; made of fabric, yarn, cardboard, foam rubber, sewn or knitted.

Homemade needle beds can be decorated with embroidery, applique, sequins, beads and ribbons.

To fill the needle bed, you can use any sponge made of dense foam rubber (household or bath), padding polyester or cotton wool.

Altar" href="/text/category/altarmz/" rel="bookmark">The altar was laid with magnificent bread wreaths, decorated with lush ornaments.

Among the Indians, such dough figures used to have a symbolic or mystical meaning. In China, starting from the 17th century, puppets were made from dough. Large dough paintings were popular in Eastern European countries. Among the Slavic peoples, such paintings were not painted and had the usual color for baking, which was considered very attractive. In Russia, at Christmas in the Vologda, Arkhangelsk, Olonets provinces they baked “cows”, “bulls”, “cockerels”, “pigs”, “goats” from wheat dough as a sign that there would be more “little animals” in the yard. These cookies were given as gifts to relatives, neighbors, and as decorations for windows.

Materials and tools for kneading, making and coloring salt dough products

v To knead the salt dough you will need: shallow cup; salt (fine or medium grind; coarse salt is not recommended, since the dough can tear when modeling, and crack when dried in the oven.); spoon or wooden stick (for mixing the components of the salt dough); water.

v Modeling tools: modeling board, wooden rolling pin, stacks, soft brush, glass of water, aluminum foil, fork, nail scissors, toothpicks, garlic press, flat comb, various cookie cutters and various additional materials (beads, buttons, flowers, leaves, etc. .)

v Tools for painting products: paints - watercolor, acrylic, gouache; soft brushes (round and flat - “squirrel”, “pony”) of different sizes from No. 1 to No. 6; a glass of clean water; PVA glue, “Moment”; varnish; dry napkin or cloth.

Method for preparing salt dough

Salt dough recipe: 1 glass of salt (200 g), 2 glasses of flour (200 g), 125 ml glass of water, 1 tablespoon of oil (sunflower).

Wheat flour can be used to make salt dough (products made from wheat flour will turn out light, milky in color, it is easier to paint them after drying) or rye flour (rye flour gives the dough a brown tint, vaguely reminiscent of the color of clay; after drying, the product must be primed with light paint). You can also mix wheat flour with rye flour in a 1:1 ratio.

Dough made from rye flour alone is less elastic than dough made from wheat flour.

(When kneading salt dough (when you mix flour with salt), you can add 1-2 teaspoons of dry wallpaper glue, previously diluted in a small amount of water. Wallpaper glue added to salt dough increases its strength and gives greater elasticity when modeling. In addition to wallpaper glue, you can use starch, but you will need more of it in proportion.)

Remember! In no case should the dough be kneaded by eye, since an excessive amount of salt makes the products fragile, and with an excessive amount of flour, the crafts do not hold their shape well.

Mix salt with flour, dilute the mixture with water at room temperature. Knead the dough, as for dumplings or noodles, not too hard, but so that it does not stick to your hands. The main thing is to knead and knead the dough well until it becomes elastic. The readiness of the dough is checked by tearing the dough into small pieces, while no grains of salt should fall out of the dough. If the dough is too hard and it crumbles, add a little flour and knead it again. It is important to knead the desired composition of the dough; when it is kneaded correctly, it is a pleasure to work with

Remember! If children will be working with the dough, it is necessary to knead it more firmly, because in children’s hands the dough will too quickly become soft and sticky, like plasticine (children knead it very carefully before molding something).

The surface of the table for kneading and rolling out dough should be smooth and even. No dents or other surface defects, as everything will affect the quality of the manufactured products.

It is best to sculpt with dry hands so that the dough does not stick, but if it still starts to stick to your hands, just dip your fingers in flour. Since the surface of the dough dries quickly in the air, you need to store it in a bag or tightly closed jar (each time take out as much dough as you need for a given part, and immediately remove the excess).

You can imprint various objects on the surface of the dough, for example, beautiful embossed buttons, shells, the end of an empty ballpoint pen, etc. This must be done immediately after modeling, otherwise the dough will become crusty and instead of imprints you will get unsightly breaks. Prints of textured fabrics look very impressive. Before printing, lightly moisten fabrics and objects with vegetable oil to prevent them from sticking to the dough.

To glue parts, you need to moisten the brush in water and rub it along the side to be glued. All decorations - beads, blades of grass, twigs, flowers, seed beads, plant seeds, etc. are connected using PVA glue - this guarantees that these parts will not fall out of the dough during drying in the oven.

Drying, dyeing and storing salt dough products

There are two types of drying of salt dough products: natural and oven drying.

Natural drying. Leave the finished product in a warm place, in the air. When drying this way, cracks sometimes appear on the product, because it dries more slowly inside than on the surface. The cause of cracks can be a draft or high humidity in the room. In summer, you can put the product out to dry in the sun.

If the product is too thick, then it is better to dry it immediately in the oven, because for 1 mm of thickness one day of drying is needed. And the greater thickness of the product will lead to the fact that it is more likely to become limp from the inside before it dries.

Drying in the oven. The finished product must be dried in air and then fired in the oven at a temperature not exceeding 100° - 120°. When pre-dried, crafts better retain their color and shape (especially sculptures). Hollow figures do not have pits or irregularities. The salt does not have time to dry inside the craft within a day, which means it will melt when fired in the oven and will not only play a protective function - saving from rodents, but will also give the products strength.

The finished product is dried in the oven until it begins to brown. As soon as the product begins to brown, there is no need to worry, it will no longer be deformed. If the product begins to swell, immediately reduce the gas flame, otherwise deformation is inevitable. When drying, you can open the oven door slightly and thus regulate the temperature inside.

If the product is completely dry, it can be easily removed from the baking sheet. To make sure that the product inside is not damp, you can lightly tap it with your index finger: if the sound is loud, then it’s ready, and if the sound is muffled, then the product is damp inside, and you need to let it dry for a while.

After firing, dough products can be painted and varnished. You can paint both the already dried product and the dough itself before modeling. Painting the entire product after drying is the simplest, but at the same time time-consuming option. Acrylic varnish is used for varnishing. It is water soluble, non-toxic and dries in 6-8 hours.

Unfortunately, it happens that a piece breaks off from a product, what should I do? It is necessary to coat the glued surfaces of the product with liquid PVA glue or universal glue “Moment” and press them tightly against each other. It is advisable to leave the product alone for 24 hours in a dry, warm room so that the product finally “sets.”

After firing and drying, the dough products harden and can be stored for as long as desired. Products made from salt dough should be stored in a dry place: moisture can damage your crafts irreparably.

Appendix 3

Technological maps

Modeling the main elements

Ball- Pinch off a piece of dough, remember it well and give it a spherical shape. Then place the dough on your open palm, cover the dough with your other hand and roll into a ball in a circular motion. Be sure to check if it is even. If cracks or folds form, it is better to re-roll the ball. The part should be even and smooth in shape. If you do not pay attention to the defects, then later, when drying and painting the product, this may become even more noticeable and even lead to the product breaking. The ball can be rolled with one hand.

A drop- Roll a small ball, then roll it with your index and middle fingers on your thumb so that the piece takes the shape of a teardrop or drop. If you slightly flatten the part you will get a petal.

Sausage- Pinch off a piece of dough and give it an elongated shape. Place the dough on the table and start rolling it back and forth. The long sausage needs to be rolled with both hands from the middle to the edges. You can roll in parts, ensuring the same thickness. If the sausage begins to tear, squeeze it along its entire length with your fingertips and roll it again. If you try, you can make the sausage very long or very thin. To make a sharp tail, you need to roll the sausage with increased pressure on the edge.

Cake- Pinch off a piece of dough and shape it into a ball. Place the ball in one palm and crush it with the other.

To make the base of the needle bed you need:

Roll out the dough into a layer 0.5 cm thick, cut out a circle and a rectangle from it. Close the rectangle into a ring and coat the seam with water.

Dry the parts. Then connect the parts together by gluing a roll of salt dough inside.

To make a ball-pincushion you need:

From the border, cut out a circle twice as wide as the neck of the needle bed. Select threads to match the fabric and sew the circle along the edge using a “forward needle” seam, retreating 5mm from the edge.

Pull the circle a little around the edges and place the filling inside - padding polyester. Form a tight ball, pull the thread and make a knot.

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Oval leaves - roll into a ball, make a cake out of it, give it a droplet shape. Use a stack to push through the strips - “veins”. Gather two or three leaves together and glue them to the base of the needle bed.

Carved leaves - roll into a ball, make a flat cake out of it, give it the shape of a drop and cut the edges in stacks. Glue the finished leaves to the pincushion.

Flowers from flatbreads - roll several balls of different sizes, make flatbreads out of them and put them on top of each other according to the pattern.

Round flowers - roll into a ball, flatten it slightly and press strips using a stick. In this way, make several large and small flowers.

Glue the flowers to the pincushion. Glue a small ball into the middle of the large flowers. For small flowers, make a hole with the back of the brush.

Crackle effect. Cover the product with black acrylic paint. Let it dry for 1 hour, and then cover the needle bar with the forming solution and dry for 1 hour. After the pincushion has dried well, paint it with white acrylic paint and leave for another 1 hour. Then use acrylic paints to slightly tint the leaves and flowers to enhance the antique effect. Glue white mother-of-pearl beads. Sew a pincushion ball.

Technological map "Poppies"

Equipment: salt dough, modeling board, brush, glass of water, stacks, scissors, acrylic paint, wire, black beads, red fabric and sewing thread, padding polyester.

Poppy petals - roll 5 balls from the dough, give them a droplet shape and press them into thin flat cakes. Center of the flower - roll into a ball and press strips using a stick Attach the petals to the core, lubricating them with water to hold them together. Using a garlic press, we prepare the “fringe” - the stamens and glue it around the center of the poppy.

Poppy leaves - roll into a ball, make a flat cake out of it, give it the shape of a drop. Use a stack to push through the strips - “veins”. Glue the finished flowers and leaves along the entire perimeter of the pincushion (not forgetting to coat everything with water)

Bee. First, make the wings: roll a ball, make a thin cake out of it and give it a droplet shape. The wings need to be dried in the oven or naturally so that they are firm. Body: Roll into a ball and give it a pear shape. Insert the finished wings into the body. Cut two pieces of thin wire - these will be the bee's antennae. Secure them to the head area. Roll two small balls and glue them in front of the wire antennae - these are the bee's eyes.

Paint the finished product with acrylic paints. Attach black beads to the edge of the antennae - wires. We string the bead onto the wire and screw it on. The antennae are ready. Sew a ball - a pincushion - from red fabric.

Technological map "Fruit garden"

Equipment: salt dough, modeling board, brush, glass of water, stacks, scissors, clove seasoning, varnish, beaded fabric, sewing threads, padding polyester.

Apple - roll into a ball, flatten it slightly and stick cloves into the indentations: on one side with the stem inward, on the other - outward. Pear - roll a ball, stretch it slightly, giving it the shape of a pear and stick cloves: on one side with the stem inward, on the other - outward.

Plum - roll into a ball and press a strip in the middle with a stack. Make flowers from balls of the same size. Leaves - roll into a ball, make a cake out of it and give it the shape of a drop. Use a stack to push through the strips - “veins”.

Glue fruits, leaves and flowers onto the water along the entire base of the pincushion. Dry the product well. Coat the finished product with varnish. Sew a pincushion ball from the border.

Appendix 4

Crossword "Needlecase"

1. I am an artist in your hands -

I love to embroider and sew!

But be careful with me

How offended I’ll prick. Needle.

2. It will smooth out all wrinkles.

Just don't touch him

He's hot like fire. Iron

3. Any pine needle

I would need it for a seamstress.

But something is missing from her

For responsible work. Ear.

4. It lives on the tip of the thread and holds it so that it does not jump out of the fabric.

5.It is obtained on a loom by interlacing the warp and weft threads.

6. On one finger,

The bucket is upside down. Thimble.

7. He will curl up like a cat,

It will stretch out like a path. Thread.

8. Experienced tool -

Not big, not small.

He has a lot of worries:

He cuts and shears. Scissors.

9. Iron bug,

There is a worm on the tail. Pin.

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Pincushion "Golden Egg". Brass. Russia, second half of the 20th century

Pincushion "Golden Egg". Brass. Russia, second half of the 20th century.
Height 6.5, diameter 4.7 cm.

Pincushion (Beads, wood - Russia, 19th century)

Pincushion. Wood, beads. Russia, XIX century.
Length 9 cm, thickness 1.5 cm. The pincushion case opens in the middle, inside there is a hollow wooden rod.

Set consisting of a writing set in a case, a pincushion and a knife for papers. Metal, wood. Western Europe, early 20th century

In a wooden case covered with fine fabric, there are three wooden objects with skillfully carved handles:
pencil (with retractable lead), length 16 cm, diameter 1 cm,
penknife with metal blade: knife length 16 cm, blade 3 cm,
spatula knife for cutting pages: length 15.5 cm.
There is also a metal pincushion: 8 cm long with a ball-shaped top.
The condition is very good.

Paper cutter, wood, white metal. Caucasus, early twentieth century.
Length 28 cm, width 2 cm. The handle (14 cm) is covered with skillful inlay with white metal: on one side, dotted inclusions of metal form a fancy pattern, on the other side there is the inscription: “Caucasus 1913”.

Pincushion. Bone, carving. East, early 20th century

Pincushion. Bone, carving. East, early twentieth century.
Length 5.5 cm, width 4.5 cm, height 2.8 cm.
The creamy ivory color sets off the dark burgundy velvet inside the pincushion. The needles are inserted through many small holes that make up a decorative pattern.. The ornament is made with miniature carvings reminiscent of lace.

Pincushion. Tree. Russia (?), early twentieth century

Pincushion. Tree. Russia (?), early twentieth century.
Length 6.7 cm, diameter 1.3 cm.

Pincushion. Bone, mother of pearl, turtle, metal. Russia (?), early twentieth century

Pincushion. Bone, mother of pearl, turtle, metal. Russia (?), early twentieth century.
Length 8.5 cm, diameter 1.7 cm.
Chips of the paint layer on the central rim, cracks on the bone ends. Loss of two mother-of-pearl inserts, chips on the other two inserts.
An elegant accessory for an elegant ladies' activity - needlework. Made from expensive, noble materials, in an original design with a checkerboard pattern.

Beautiful pincushions and their history

Every home has a large number of sewing needles, although often we are not professional seamstresses. But no one can do without them, and therefore they must be stored correctly so as not to search for the right needle every time. You can make a beautiful pincushion to store needles. It can be simple in appearance or, with some imagination, it can be decorated so that it will be a beautiful interior decoration.

One of the most indispensable things for sewing and needlework is a pincushion. This is a case or cushion for needles and pins used in sewing. In ancient times, when fabric just began to spread, needle beds were made using any fabric and paper that were interchanged. But only rich people could afford them. Later, pincushions were made of wood or ivory, and between them there was velvet material where pins and needles were stored. Later, when people learned to melt metal, the base for pincushions was made of tin, silver, gold, which only wealthy people could afford, while the poor made pincushions from scrap materials.

Pincushion cushions are often created by handicraftsmen for decorative purposes. They can be of a simple shape - a square, a circle, a heart - or complex: in the form of a handbag, an animal figurine, a flower. A simple homemade needle bed can be made from cardboard, printed material, such as cotton wool or foam rubber, or fabric. Pincushions are decorated with embroidery, appliqué, and knitting can be used instead of fabric.

Pincushion "Flower"






Pincushion "Hat"

You will need: a piece of cotton fabric: chintz, calico, linen; padding polyester, thread and needle for sewing, lace, ribbon for decoration

Progress:

Cut two circles with a diameter of 11 cm and 5 cm from a piece of an unnecessary plastic box (for example, packaging), or from any thick cardboard. In order to carefully circle the circle, you can use an ordinary tea cup

Cut out the pieces from the main fabric.

To do this, attach the cut cardboard circles to the fabric and add hem and seam allowances. You should get two pieces of fabric with diameters of 19 cm and 13 cm.

Filling and shaping the craft.

Gather each of the circles along the edges with a thread and tighten slightly. Pay attention to how the assembly is distributed - thicker at one end and less dense at the other.

Place padding polyester into the smaller piece. And in the larger one, put a circle of plastic or cardboard.

Pull and tighten the threads so that a flat lower part of the needle bed head and an upper volumetric filled part are formed.

Decoration and decoration of the “hat” pincushion

Connect, sew and decorate the seam line (the connection between the top and bottom of the hat) with lace and a ribbon on top in a circle.

Next, make a rosette from the ribbon, twisting the bottom edge of the ribbon and, as it were, tucking in the top. Or you can use a small ready-made decorative rose made from ribbon with green leaves.

Fold a bow from a thin satin ribbon and connect it together with a rose and sew it to the “hat” - a pincushion.

Another pincushion "Hat"


Pincushion "Pumpkin"

Take: fabric, padding polyester, needle and thread, scissors

Work process:

Cut two circles with a diameter of 6 - 9 cm from the fabric. You can first draw a circle on paper or cardboard to make a neater circle.

Place the pieces right sides inward and stitch around the circumference, leaving an opening of about 2 cm.

Turn out and stuff tightly with padding polyester. Sew up the hole.

Using a long needle, starting from the middle, sew and tighten the pad.

It’s better to divide the pillow into 8 segments and you’ll get a small pumpkin like this.

Pincushion "Jar"




And a few more beautiful pincushions

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Slide captions:

“Making a pincushion-hat” Technology teacher, OGBOU “Boarding School No. 18”, Ryazan Zhikhareva Irina Yurievna

Riddle: say the word. Little things are stored in it - Those that are very prickly; For some - on a carnation, for me - on a shelf. Skilled schoolchildren and schoolgirls make Soft ……… pincushions for mother’s holiday

Pincushion A pincushion is a case or pad for storing needles and pins, used in sewing to prevent their loss. What does the word NEEDLE CASE mean?

A pincushion is the very first and most valuable thing for a tailor

From history The history of needle beds goes back to ancient times. Pincushions were made from fabric and paper, which were imported from abroad and were very, very expensive. Only very rich people could afford such a luxury.

Later they began to make pincushions from a variety of materials and different bases - wood, ivory.

And when they learned to melt metal, the base of the pincushions was made from tin, copper, silver and even gold.

Needle The needle - the nurse - was kept very carefully. She fed and clothed. The needle is a symbol of the feminine

Pincushions can be of simple shape

An old but beloved cup will continue to exist in the form of a pincushion, decorated to taste with ribbons, lace, and accessories

On the topic: methodological developments, presentations and notes

Art of the peoples of the North Topic: Sketch of a pincushion “NAMT”

Introducing students to making a pincushion. The sequence of work, decorating the middle and edges of the needle bed. Develop a sense of rhythm and color. Vocabulary work: “namt” - needle...

Technology lesson. "Making a flower pincushion"

Technology lesson "Working with paper. Making a flower pincushion" Ryabova Tatyana Nikolaevna technology teacher Lesson objectives: 1) Educational: teach students how to make a pincushion: develop students' skills...

Please rehabilitate me for the previous topic. I found a neutral topic – pincushions.

I don’t sew myself - it’s not my thing. And my friend sews. So, I’m walking around the net and suddenly I come across a photo of a very comfortable, in my opinion, pincushion that fits on your hand. I searched again and... found it. I bring to your attention a small pile of cute pincushions. But first, a little history.

The most ancient invention of man is the needle. She is perhaps older than the wheel! Primitive clothing made from thick, poorly dressed skins was sewn with animal sinews, thin plant vines or palm leaf veins, as in Africa, and ancient needles were also thick and clumsy. Over time, people learned how to dress hides more finely, and they needed a finer needle. They learned to mine metal and needles began to be made from bronze. Some of the samples found are so small that something like horsehair was apparently inserted into them, because not a single vein that could withstand the load would simply fit into them.

The first iron needles were found in Manching, in Bavaria, and date back to the 3rd century BC. It is possible, however, that these were “imported” samples. At that time, the ear (hole) was not yet known and the blunt tip was simply bent into a small ring. The ancient states also knew the iron needle, and in Ancient Egypt already in the 5th century BC. Embroidery was actively used. The needles found on the territory of Ancient Egypt are practically no different in appearance from modern ones. The first steel needle was found in China; it dates back to around the 10th century AD.

It is believed that needles were brought to Europe around the 8th century AD. Moorish tribes who lived in the territories of modern Morocco and Algeria. According to other sources, this was done by Arab merchants in the 14th century. In any case, steel needles were known there much earlier than in Europe. With the invention of Damascus steel, needles began to be made from it. This happened in 1370. That year, the first workshop community specializing in needles and other sewing items appeared in Europe. There was still no eye in those needles. And they were made exclusively by hand using the forging method.

Starting from the 12th century, the method of drawing wire using a special drawing plate became known in Europe, and needles began to be made on a much larger scale. (More precisely, the method existed for a long time, since ancient times, but was then conveniently forgotten). The appearance of the needles has improved significantly. Nuremberg (Germany) became the center of needle craft. A revolution in needlework took place in the 16th century, when the method of wire drawing was mechanized using a hydraulic motor invented in Germany. The main production was concentrated in Germany, Nuremberg and Spain. “Spanish peaks” - that’s what the needles were called at that time - were even exported. Later - in 1556 - England took over the baton with its industrial revolution, and the main production was concentrated there. Before this, needles were very expensive; rarely did any master have more than two needles. Now their prices have become more reasonable.

Since the 16th century, an unexpected use was found for the needle - etchings began to be made with its help. Etching is an independent type of engraving in which a design is scratched with a needle on a metal board covered with a layer of varnish. The acid in which the board is then immersed corrodes the grooves, and they become more distinct. Then the board acts as a stamp. The needles that were used for this type of art are similar to sewing needles, only without an eye and their tips are sharpened in the form of a cone, blade, or cylinder. Without strong steel needles, etching would hardly have been born. Thanks to the needle, the world in the 16th century recognized such German artists as A. Dürer, D. Hopfer, in the 17th century - the Spaniard H. Ribera, the Dutch A. Van Deyak, A. van Ostade, the greatest of the etchers, Rembrandt van Rijn. A. Watteau and F. Boucher worked in France, F. Goya in Spain, and G. B. Tiepolo in Italy. A.F. Zubov, M.F. Kazakov, V.I. Bazhenov worked in Russia. The needle was often used to draw popular prints, including folk pictures from the time of the Patriotic War of 1812, glorifying, for example, the cavalry guard maiden Durova or the partisan poet Denis Davydov, illustrations for books, and caricatures. This technique is still alive today and is used by many contemporary artists.

But let's return to the sewing needle. Real mechanized production opened in 1785, Europe and America were flooded with new needles. Fun fact: Treasure seekers recently discovered a huge wooden chest with the inscription "San Fernando" on the Florida coast under a thick layer of sand. They looked up the archives and discovered that such a ship actually sank on the way from Mexico to Spain in the middle of the 18th century. On board, judging by the inventory, there were goods worth about 150 million silver pesos - a fabulous sum at that time. When the chest was opened, an unexpected sight was revealed to the greedy eyes of the treasure hunters: the chest was full of tens of thousands of sailor needles for patching sails.

In 1850, the British came up with special needle machines that made it possible to make the familiar eye in a needle. England takes first place in the world in the production of needles, becomes a monopolist and for a very long time has been a supplier of this necessary product to all countries. Before this, needles were cut from wire with varying degrees of mechanization, but the English machine not only stamped needles, but also made the ears itself. The British quickly realized that good quality needles that do not deform, do not break, do not rust, are well polished, are highly valued, and this product is a win-win. The whole world has understood what a convenient steel needle is, which does not touch the fabric with its homemade eye in the form of a loop.

A needle is that thing that has always, at all times, been in any home: whether it belongs to a poor man or to a king. During the numerous wars in which our planet is so rich, each soldier always had his own needle, rewound with thread: sew on a button, put on a patch. This tradition has survived to this day: all military personnel have several needles with different thread colors: white for sewing on collars, black and protective for sewing on buttons, shoulder straps, and for minor repairs.

Literally until the 19th century, everyone sewed clothes for themselves, because everyone knew how to do needlework, regardless of class. Even noble ladies considered it obligatory to come to visit with handicrafts - embroidery, beads, sewing. Despite the invention of the sewing machine at the beginning of the 19th century, hand sewing and embroidery continued to remain incredibly popular; works of sewing art created in the literal sense of the word never cease to amaze us with their beauty even now.

Many paintings by famous artists are dedicated to needlewomen. Suffice it to recall “A Peasant Girl Embroidering” by A.G. Venetsianov, a number of paintings by V.A. Tropinin - “Gold Seamstress”, “Beading Stitches”.

By the way, the first steel needles appeared in Russia only in the 17th century, although the age of bone needles found in Russia (the village of Kostenki, Voronezh region) is determined by experts to be approximately 40 thousand years. Older than a Cro-Magnon thimble!

Steel needles were brought from Germany by Hanseatic merchants. Before this, in Rus' they used bronze, and later iron, needles; for rich customers they were forged from silver (gold, by the way, has not caught on anywhere for making needles - the metal is too soft, it bends and breaks). In Tver, already in the 16th century, there was the production of so-called “Tver needles”, thick and thin, which successfully competed on the Russian market with needles from Lithuania. They were sold in thousands in Tver and other cities. “However, even in such a major metalworking center as Novgorod, in the 80s of the 16th century there were only seven needle holders and one pin maker,” writes historian E.I. Zaozerskaya.

The own industrial production of needles in Russia began with the light hand of Peter I. In 1717, he issued a decree on the construction of two needle factories in the villages of Stolbtsy and Kolentsy on the Prona River (modern Ryazan region). They were built by the merchant brothers Ryumin and their “colleague” Sidor Tomilin. Russia by that time did not have its own labor market, since it was an agricultural country, so there was a catastrophic shortage of workers. Peter gave permission to hire them “wherever they find them and at whatever price they want.” By 1720, 124 students were recruited, mostly townspeople's children from craft and trading families in the suburbs of Moscow. Studying and work were so hard that rarely anyone could stand it.

There is a legend, passed down from generation to generation in the factory working environment (the production of needles still exists in the old place), how Peter, having once visited the factories, demonstrated his blacksmithing skills to the workers.

Since then, the steel needle has firmly entered the life of the poor, becoming a real symbol of hard work. There was even a saying: “A village stands by a needle and a harrow.” What a poor man! These needles were also used by Peter’s unfortunate wife Evdokia Fedorovna Lopukhina, who whiled away her time embroidering during her almost thirty years of imprisonment in the monastery of the Shlisselburg fortress. When the queen gave her grandson Peter II a ribbon and a star on the occasion of her release, she said: “I, a sinner, brought it down with my own hands.”

After the invention of the neck machine, a need arose for machine needles. They differ from hand needles primarily in that the eye is on a sharp tip, and the blunt tip is turned into a kind of pin for securing it in the machine. The design of machine needles changed with the development of the design of the machine; along the way, various additions and improvements were made, such as the grooves in which the thread is hidden. Nowadays, only a few countries have established mass production of machine needles. A few kilograms of this high-quality product can cost more than a luxury car! And making an ordinary needle is not an easy task, despite all the achievements of civilization.

The needle has become part of everyday life so long ago and firmly that it even began to carry a certain sacred meaning. It is not for nothing that so many signs, fortune telling, prohibitions, fairy tales and legends are dedicated to her. And there are many more questions about the needle than about other items. Why is Koshchei's death at the end of a needle? Why has the needle never had a decorative function, like most items of clothing and accessories, including a pin? Why can’t a needle be inserted into clothing that is currently being worn? Yes, our grandmothers forbade sticking needles into anything for storage! Why can’t you sew up your clothes, but must be taken off first? Why should you never pick up a needle on the street, and why is it generally not recommended to use someone else’s? Why are love spells cast and the most terrible damage inflicted using a needle? Why does any housewife carefully store and hide her needles, even though she has dozens of them and they cost pennies? There are a lot of these “whys”, if you bring them all, and even remember the signs with dreams, no blog will be enough.

There is one amazing Buddhist ceremony in Japan called the Broken Needle Festival. The festival has been taking place throughout Japan for over a thousand years on December 8th. Previously, only tailors took part in it, today - anyone who knows how to sew. A special tomb is built for needles, in which scissors and thimbles are placed. A bowl of tofu, ritual bean curd, is placed in the center, and all the needles that have broken or bent over the past year are placed in it. After this, one of the seamstresses says a special prayer of gratitude to the needles for their good service. The tofu with the needles is then wrapped in paper and lowered into the sea.

Nowadays, every housewife has a lot of sewing needles, and they are all different, have different sizes and shapes depending on what they are sewing with (there are twelve sizes in total). There are needles not only for sewing and embroidery, but also for saddlery, furriers, sailing: For ordinary sewing and basting, long thin needles are used; gold-plated ones are well suited for embroidery - they literally “fly” through the fabric.

For those who embroider with both hands, there are very convenient double-ended needles. They have a hole in the middle and allow you to pierce the fabric without turning the needle over. To embroider with floss threads, the needle must be chrome-plated with a gold-plated eye, so that, thanks to the contrast, it is easy to thread colored threads. The eye for such needles is made longer so that the thread slides freely when sewing and does not fray when passing through the fabric.

For darning, needles with a long eye are also used, but they are much thicker and always have a sharp tip. For sewing wool, the tip is made blunt so as not to tear the thick fibers.

For beads and bugles, the needle should have a thickness of almost a hair and it should be the same throughout its entire length, and the needle for leather should be thick and with a triangular sharpening of the tip.

Tapestry needles are made with a large eye and a rounded end, which does not pierce, but pushes the fabric fibers apart. Similar needles are also used for cross stitch. The thickest (from 2 to 5 mm) and longest (70-200 mm) are “gypsy” needles, also known as bag needles, used for coarse fabrics such as canvas, burlap, tarpaulin, etc. They may be curved.

There are special needles used in the manufacture of carpets and non-woven textile materials. It is no coincidence that one of the methods for obtaining them is called needle-punched.

There are needles for the visually impaired; they are very easy to thread, because... The eyelet is made according to the principle of a carbine. Even so-called “platinum needles” appeared, made of stainless steel and coated with a thin layer of platinum, which reduces friction on the fabric. These needles reduce sewing time and are resistant to oils and acids, so they do not leave stains.

Because People constantly used this item and came up with various superstitions about the needle.

• Pricking a finger with a needle was considered a way for a girl to listen to someone’s praise.
• If a person has lost a needle without a thread, he will have to meet his loved one, and if the loss was with a thread, he will have to part with him.
• If you hold two needles crosswise at the level of your heart, this will protect you from the evil eye and damage.
• Stepping on a needle is a bad omen: you will be disappointed in your friends and quarrel with them.
• Accidentally sitting on a needle means experiencing love disappointment and someone's betrayal.
• Needles cannot be given as a gift - to a quarrel; If you still give it, lightly prick him in the hand.

Whether you believe in omens or not, everyone believes that a needle is an irreplaceable thing in our home.

Machine needles do not lag behind simple ones and are also divided not only by thickness, but also by purpose. There are regular, universal needles, and there are also special needles for sewing denim, knitwear and leather. Their noses are sharpened in a special way for this purpose.

However, it would be wrong to think that needles are only for sewing. We talked about some - etchings - at the beginning. But there are also gramophone ones (or rather, there were), which made it possible to “remove” sound from the grooves of a record: There are needle bearings as a type of roller bearings. In the 19th century there was even a so-called “needle gun”. When the trigger was pulled, a special needle pierced the paper bottom of the cartridge and ignited the percussion composition of the primer. The “needle gun,” however, did not last very long and was supplanted by the rifle.

But the most common “non-sewing” needles are medical needles. Although why not sewing? The surgeon uses them to sew. Not just fabric, but people. God forbid that we get to know these needles in practice, but in theory. In theory this is interesting.

To begin with, needles in medicine were used only for injections, starting around 1670. However, the syringe in the modern sense of the word appeared only in 1853. It’s a little late, considering that the prototype of the syringe was invented by the French mathematician, physicist and philosopher Blaise Pascal already in 1648. But then the world did not accept his invention. For what? What microbes? What injections? Devilishness and nothing more.

The injection needle is a hollow stainless steel tube with the end cut at an acute angle. We all received injections, so everyone remembers the not very pleasant sensations of “acquaintance” with such a needle. Now you can no longer be afraid of injections, because... There are already painless microneedles that do not affect nerve endings. Such a needle, as doctors say, is not something you would immediately find in a haystack, but even on a smooth table.

A needle in the form of a hollow tube is used, by the way, not only for injections, but also for suctioning gases and liquids, for example, from the chest cavity during inflammation.

Surgeons use “sewing” medical needles for stitching (“darning” in their professional slang) tissues and organs. These needles are not straight, as we are used to, but curved. Depending on the purpose, they are semicircular, triangular, semi-oval. At the end there is usually a split eyelet for the thread, the surface of the needle is chromed or nickel plated so that the needle does not rust. There are also platinum surgical needles. Ophthalmic (eye) needles, which are used to perform operations, for example, on the cornea of ​​the eye, have a thickness of a fraction of a millimeter. It is clear that such a needle can only be used using a microscope.

It is impossible not to mention one more medical needle - for acupuncture. In China, this method of treatment was known even before our era. The meaning of acupuncture is to determine the point on the human body that, according to projection, is “responsible” for a particular organ. At any point (and there are about 660 of them known), the specialist inserts a special needle up to twelve cm long and 0.3 to 0.45 mm thick. With this thickness, the acupuncture needle is not straight, but has a helical structure, perceptible only to the touch. The tip, which remains “sticking out,” ends with a kind of knob, so that such a needle reminds the pack of a pin, and not a needle.

So smoothly we moved on to another sewing item - a pin. Over the centuries, humanity has invented quite a lot of pins. They are all different and have different purposes and histories. First, we'll talk about sewing pins, which look like a needle with a ball or eyelet head. In the form in which they are familiar to us, they have been known since the 15th century. Nowadays, tailor's pins have not only a metal ball, but also a bright plastic ball. These pins are especially convenient for sewing. There are also so-called “carnations” - pins for packing men’s shirts. They are similar to ordinary ones, only shorter and their metal ball is very small.

In principle, the history of a needle and a sewing pin are very similar in their stages, because Tailors always felt the need for pins when they needed to pin together pieces of clothing for fitting or sewing, which means they needed both needles and pins at the same time. The history of the pin used for sewing is, of course, shorter than the history of the needle, because... ancient people did not feel the need for pins due to their simple cut and simple sewing technology. The need appears in the late Gothic period, when clothing became tight-fitting to the body, and therefore required a precise cut. This in turn changed sewing technology: it became difficult to hold numerous cut pieces while sewing them together, and pins were required.

Another thing is curious: neither the guild communities of the Middle Ages for making needles, nor the factories or manufactories in the future, ever paid attention to the requests of tailors. They made pins, but for other purposes: decorative (we will talk about them in the next issue), pins for fastening papers, for fastening clothes (in a sock), etc. For some reason they were not interested in tailor's pins, and the tailors were forced to use them according to the “residual” principle: whatever fell apart, they were content with that.

The situation improved gradually. In the middle of the 18th century, the French made the first modern type of pins. England, which by that time had become the main supplier of needles, did not lag behind. In 1775, the Continental Congress of the North American Colonies announced the establishment of a prize that would be awarded to the person who could produce the first 300 pins equal in quality to those imported from England. But only in the 19th century, with the development of the fashion industry, the industry began to make sewing pins, as they say, personally for tailors.

As for pins for “paper” purposes, the need for them became acute at the beginning of the Renaissance, when scientists and writers appeared, and they had a lot of papers that required temporary fastening (as opposed to traditional stapling - after all, there were no binders in those days ). Pins were made by stretching metal bars into wire, which was then cut into pieces of the required length. A metal head was attached to the resulting blanks. With the invention of a special drawing board, work went faster, and about 4 thousand pins were produced per hour. The work was stalled due to the fact that the packers could not keep up with the machine - they only managed to pack about one and a half thousand pieces a day. There was an urgent need to come up with something. And they came up with it. The principle of division of labor. (This principle was later used as the basis for the conveyor line). The eminent 18th-century economist Adam Smith once calculated that if not for this principle, only a few pins would be produced per day. This calculation of his was later included in textbooks on economics and some other disciplines.

Throughout history, only a few pin making machines have been invented. The most successful one was invented by physicist John Ireland Howe, the namesake of Elias Howe, one of the creators of the sewing machine in America. This was not his first invention; before that, he experimented in a completely different area - with rubber, but failed there. He was inspired to invent the pin machine by hard work in an almshouse, where he made pins by hand. The first machine turned out poorly (not very lucky, apparently, there was an inventor). But with the help of the second, 60 thousand pins were produced per day. Immediately there was a need to invent a machine that would immediately pack pins (in those days they were pinned to cardboard sheets).

It is curious that humanity has constantly experienced a shortage of pins. Henry VIII even issued a decree prohibiting the sale of pins every day, special days were set aside for this. This did not improve the situation with the shortage, on the contrary - confusion, crush, bustle, queues began (!); The decree had to be canceled after some time.

Analyzing this situation, you come to completely unexpected conclusions: can you imagine what kind of thirst people had for knowledge and learning if pins for fastening papers were in such a terrible shortage?!

It’s clear that there simply weren’t enough pins for tailoring needs and no one thought about tailors. Pins were not only scarce, they were of great value and were expensive. A set of pins was such a necessary thing that it served as a wonderful gift for almost any holiday. The reverent attitude towards pins has survived to this day - we carefully collect scattered pins and put them in a safe place.

A little more history

Thimble. In China in the 3rd century BC, the thimble was invented. The very first thimbles were made from thick leather. Later they began to be made of copper and bronze. Wealthy people ordered gold or silver thimbles for themselves. Interesting fact: one of the professional awards in the fashion industry in France is called the Golden Thimble.

And just ideas