Beautiful hand-painted wooden darning mushrooms that would make the perfect tool for essential repairs to tops, trousers, knitwear, socks & more!
Each mushroom is hand decorated with the most beautiful designs from intricate painted floral designs to swirly marbled patterns in shimmery paints - a true piece of art.
Some mushrooms have a fixed stem (#1, #3 ) and all the rest have a stem that unscrews to reveal extra storage for a few needles.
A darning mushroom is useful for holding the fabric in place whilst you make your mend – it holds the fabric slightly taut keeping an even tension as you stitch and means you can put down your work whenever you need to with none of the repositioning faff when you’re ready to begin again. You also eliminate the chance of stitching two layers of fabric together and creating any loose thread tangles on the reverse side of your mend.
To darn a hole simply pop the mushroom under the hole (or damaged spot) and either hold the fabric in place under the cap. with your hand or wrap the elastic band around the stem to hold the fabric in place.
Suitable for:
darning most items of clothing.
mending holes, tears, threadbare spots and covering a stain.
patching and embroidery.
Carefully sourced by us from a vintage market 'cause second-hand is better than new in so many ways! Each one has a little 'character' - minor chips, surface scratches, dents, tiny holes and marks from their previous life but is still in usable condition with an authentic vintage feel.
Measurements:
Each one is a little different in size/shape.
The largest mushroom is #14 - Height = 12.5cm and Diameter of cap = 6.8cm
The smallest mushroom is #4 - Height = 10.5cm and Diameter of cap = 6cm
Preloved Handpainted Darning Mushroom
This darning tool was an essential item in 19th and early 20th century household as self-reliant women often had to make and repair all their clothing.
They were commonly made using wood as it was widely available and not too expensive, but following the invention of early plastic many were made using Bakelite.
They made it much easier to stitch a repair: not too tight and not too slack. The top part of the mushroom was placed behind the hole to hold the darning area taut for working. Its 'stalk' with the rest of the fabric around it was held in one hand and the darning needle was worked with the other hand.
Some are made with detachable handles so you can store a few needles and a small amount of thread which is easily to hand an emergency!
