The Cotton Barrel

In the early 1800s a woman might use a cotton barrel to keep her thread clean.

and if she had money she might have a fancy sewing chest as this one below to keep the cotton barrels in

A typical Victorian sewing box would be just big enough to keep all of a woman’s sewing tools. Inside, you’d find a needle book with a large range of sizes, along with an assortment of thread made of cotton, linen, and silk, plus buttons formed from shells, acorns, wood, and metal. Sewing implements included different types of shears and scissors, a pin cushion and needle emery, a jar of beeswax, and a folding measure or measuring tape. Some boxes even housed tools to make lace or square cords. In the 1880s the bamboo sewing basket became popular and were used thru the 1930s