Several months ago, houswifs (or housifs, hussifs, housewifes, housewives, etc) started popping up on my Instagram feed. They're roll-up sewing kits that have been used by both men (in the military) and women since at least the 1800s. Soldiers' seem to be made of more practical, durable materials, while women's were often made of scrap fabric and could be made of pretty silks or printed cotton.
At the time, I was still living in my dorm and keeping my sewing supplies in a little cardboard box. Making myself a houswif seemed like a quick project and a much prettier storage solution than that poor, beat up box, so I scoured Pinterest for inspiration and gathered up my supplies.
I used a light purple broadcloth, a fat quarter of dark red quilters cotton with a tiny floral print, 1" grosgrain ribbon in a similar red, and some matching red thread. All of it came out of my stash! The printed cotton became the outside and the pockets, while the purple cotton became a lining of sorts.
I started by deciding how long and wide I wanted my houswif to be and cutting pieces that size from both fabrics. Then I decided on pockets. I had seen some examples that just had 3-5 simple pockets, but I had also seen some that included pincushions, scissor holders, and needle books. I opted for one simple pocket, one "envelope style" pocket, a holder for my thread snips, and a pincushion.
As I was attaching the pockets, I realized that my lining wasn't as stiff or sturdy as the printed cotton, so I took a brief break to quilt the two layers together using a running stitch in a simple diamond pattern. It's nearly invisible from the outside but looks very striking against the light purple lining.
Pockets and scissor-holder in place, I rolled a few inches of the end in on itself. Then I used the grosgrain ribbon as a binding to finish the sides. After I attached one side, I used wool scraps to stuff the rolled end to form the pincushion, and bound that side, leaving a long tail of ribbon at the opposite end as a closure.
My finished houswif measures about 18.5" x 7", but something larger could hold more supplies or something smaller could be better suited for travel or keeping in pockets. Mine holds a lot as it is, and it's only got two pockets! No word yet on whether it fits into 18th century pockets, but I'll keep you posted.
At the moment, both Willoughby & Rose and Lady Detalle are selling houswifs and/or houswif kits. And if you're looking for supplies with which to fill your kit - my thread snips and beeswax cake both came from Penny River Costumes, and I've got my eye on thread winders and bodkins from Burnley and Trowbridge. (None of this is an ad, I just know other people have had good experiences with their products and it's important to support small businesses!)
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