Antique & Vintage
Sewing Birds / Sewing Clamps / Third Hands

BACKGROUND

Most of the antique sewing birds / sewing clamps listed on the different sale pages below originate from several long time collections of sewing birds / clamps and sewing accessories that we are helping the consignors sell after years of assembling and enjoying their collections.    

If you have a collection of similar pieces or even one great example of a sewing bird or clamp that you would like to have included for sale on this page, please Contact us

Antique sewing birds / sewing clamps have a special appeal and make for a great collectible.  There is no definitive record of when the first examples were produced but the idea of needing a "third hand" is as old as hand sewing and mending itself.  The first sewing clamps were created to fill a utilitarian need to make the seamstress' task a bit easier.  Later the idea and designs of the clamps evolved beyond the purely utilitarian and sewing clamps were given as gifts and designed to be decorative pieces of art as well as fill a need. 

Many highly ornate and highly decorated examples were given as tokens of love and admiration to the object of affection.  I have read that the advent of and introduction of the sewing machine was the end of these, but that is not quite true.  There was still a need, and a desire, and many fine examples were produced in the Victorian era and later. 

There is a collection of sewing clamps and birds at Brookdale Community College in Lincroft, NJ that numbers over 400 and there is an article on the internet describing it and mentioning several other collections, including the one we are now selling.   I have also written a short page concerning these interesting devices that can be found on our other site www.Antiqbuyer.com.

There is a near endless variety of different forms and styles of antique and vintage sewing clamps, and no one collection could probably ever have them all.  Sewing clamps can be figural, very complex, and decorative, or utilitarian, very plain, and simple.   One example can encompass all manner of forms in between as well.

Figural examples of antique sewing clamps are probably the most sought after and rarest, but different collectors or collections can focus on any type or design.   Some sewing clamps have storage drawers to hold thread or sewing accessories. Some have secret compartments, or hold pictures.  Others have thread winders or spool or thimble holders.  Unusual examples of sewing clamps can have multiple spool pins or winders.   Pin cushions are a common feature and acted as both a means to hold the material, or just to hold the pins and needles.  Still others have thread cutters, emeries, or scissor sharpeners incorporated into the design.  The list goes on and on. 

We have divided these antique sewing / needlework tools into separate pages, with each page focused on a different style, from figural birds or other animals, to those made of ivory, or those with just pincushions, and also multi purpose versions.  Please visit all the pages, and enjoy!!