Essential information
| Type | Workshops |
|---|---|
| Location | |
| Date and times | Tuesday 2 December 2025 | 11am-1pm |
| Prices | Free, drop-in |
Create your own handcrafted sewing kit in this inspiring drop-in workshop, offering hands-on, practical instruction in a supportive and encouraging environment.
A hussif or huswif (short for housewife) was a case containing sewing supplies; some were rolled up and some were folded. During the American Civil War, women often made them for loved ones serving in the armed forces so they could sew on buttons and mend their uniforms.
During WWI and WWII, women’s sewing groups made and included these sewing kits in care packages, making them a popular item among soldiers. The 'huswife' became a standard army issue of the British Military to their soldiers and sailors up until the 1960s.
This workshop is suitable for all, regardless of experience, and will focus on ways to creatively combine pattern and stitch in pursuit of a practical outcome - with a little textile social history thrown in for good measure.
These sessions are run by Illuminated Arts. Your tutors will be textile-artist-historian Melissa Jo Smith and internationally recognised textile designer Rebecca Cole. They will guide you through each stage of the creation process, ending with a personalised, hand-crafted sewing kit to cherish.
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Sailor's Housewife (sewing kit)
This is a sailor's 'housewife' or sewing kit from the 1845 British Northwest Passage Expedition led by Sir John Franklin. The 'housewife' is made from two strips of ribbon woven with clover plants, oak leaves and acorns. A strip of blue velvet is sewn to either end. It contains a thimble, a quantity of thread, a ball of wool and a small package wrapped in cotton fabric held by a pin.
The sewing kit was found at the boat site in Erebus Bay by Captain F. L. McClintock's sledge team on 30 May 1859, as part of the search expedition. The site had been visited and partially investigated by Lt William Hobson on 24 May, but his report does not list everything he saw or removed. McClintock records ’a thread case' and 'a needle and thread case'.
© National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London.
The workshop is free and open to all. It is part of Illuminated Arts' current project to provide community workshops accessible for people with memory loss, Alzheimer’s and dementia.
This current community stitching project will culminate in a 'Pocket Parade' at the Queen's House in spring 2026.
What’s on
More events at the National Maritime Museum.
