I needed some thread to tweak the belt loops on a grey pair of pants. Grey has all the primary colors mixed in, so that means three variables instead of two, so it’s harder to match the color.
I looked for a thread in Grandceil’s cunning sewing cabinet that I believe my step-grandfather built from a kit.
If it looks a little wonky, that’s because the wood glue I assume he used to adhere the dovetailing sublimated long ago, and every few years I have to hand-squeeze it back into right angles, and the squeezing is overdue.
I found the closest grey thread and 1) noticed it was strong – didn’t snap when I tested it — and 2) noticed I didn’t need any help from spit or a needle-threader. Not fuzzy at all.
When I looked, I noticed one more thing: it was one of her five remaining original spools.
(Don’t look at my nails. I was not expecting company.)
The bottom of the spool says it cost fifteen cents, which (along with the apostrophe-s in “Clark’s” visible on the bottom) dates it to (… researching …) mid 1950s. That thread is as old as my husband.
All I can say is “Mercerized” thread must be immortal or something.
(Researching again … )
No, but it’s been stretched and treated to be stronger, and let me tell you, I recommend 70-year-old cotton thread over today’s fuzzy cotton thread any day of the week.