Collection Item of the Week: Darning Egg Perched on the mahogany sewing table in Mrs. Kennedy’s boudoir on the second floor is a darning egg. Little used today by anyone but fiber artists and knitters, darning eggs were a common and essential household tool for over two hundred years. Used as a solid, round surface over which to stretch the heels of stockings, the elbows of sweaters and jackets, and other areas of clothing that develop holes, a darning egg was an important part of the patching process. One would stitch long, supporting threads across the hole using a needle and thread or yarn and then weave back and forth to create a patch. Unlike today when worn clothing is often discarded, a darning egg was an important part of extending the life of a stocking or sweater during a time when clothing was much more expensive to replace. First appearing in its most primitive forms in the 16th century, the look and shape of darning eggs varied widely. Egg shaped spheres, spheres with an added wood-turned handle, or darning mushrooms were prevalent by the beginning of the twentieth century. Some darning eggs were hollow and used for storage and could hold anything from pincushions, needles, and thimbles to larger items such as scissors. An incredibly popular item, between 1865 and 1956 the United States issued more than 100 patents for sock darners, including ones that lit up. Almost every woman’s sewing basket held a darning egg and styles ranged from plain and practical to more intricate and decorative. The antique wooden darning egg in Mrs. Kennedy’s office is rather simple with a turned handle and coat of black paint. While Mrs. Kennedy had the help of two live-in servants to do many of the traditional housework chores, some tasks still fell to Mrs. Kennedy complete. Darning stockings was one of those. She recalled, “In the big chair near the table, my husband sat every evening reading the papers, The Boston Transcript, in those days, and I sat opposite him, reading or sometimes darning stockings….” By 1920 Mrs. Kennedy had four active children under the age of five, and daily walks down to Coolidge Corner certainly contributed to the appearance of holes in their stockings. The vision she creates of weeknights with her family darning stockings is reminiscent of a period of domestic tranquility and paints a picture of an average family in early twentieth century America.
Posted on: Tue, 02 Sep 2014 14:00:00 +0000
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