According to Marjorie McLaren of Anchorage, Alaska, October’s What Is It appears to be a Victorian Sewing Bird “Third Hand” with a pincushion. The metal appears to be embossed brass (and might be a replica as it appears quite shiny). The bird clamps to a table with the beak facing the sewist. By pushing down on the tail, the bird’s beak opens for the sewist to insert a fabric hem or whatever needs to be stretched taut for sewing. The beak closes snugly on the cloth and acts like another hand holding one end of the cloth.
The cloth cover on the pincushion is likely velvet. The color pink/mauve was a favorite of the time. Some Sewing Birds had a metal cylinder needle-holder attached to the vertical part that sits in front of the table edge, thus keeping pins and needles at hand.
Thank you for an enjoyable issue! Winter has now arrived up here.
Terry Winbolt of Longmont, Colorado agrees with Marjorie. She adds, “The top would be the pincushion and the bird could hold small sewing implements such as needles. This design enabled the seamstress to keep her supplies close by without taking up much space.”
We had several other correct answers to our October What Is It. Annette Glaess of Westminster, Colorado; Dottie Unruh of Lakewood, Colorado; Leone McIntyre and Cheryl Miller of Ft. Collins, Colorado; Jacque Rutledge of Northglenn, Colorado; Terry Cook of Fort Morgan, Colorado; and Jerome McLaren of Conifer, Colorado all correctly identified the Victorian sewing bird.
Congratulations to our winners! You have all won a year’s subscription to the Mountain States Collector.
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