Have you ever wondered how stork scissors ended up in our sewing box?
Well back in the the 19th century midwives used little clamps to stop the blood flow in a newborn babies umbilical cord after birth and as storks have long been associated with babies, they were in the shape of a stork!
These original clamps were 4-6 inches long and their heads mounted at a 45 degree angle. The beaks were the clamp bit, so were blunt and some even had little babies hidden inside the stork that would appear when the clamps were opened!
How did they end up as sewing scissors? Well as there is often a lot of waiting around with childbirth and labour can take hours or even days, midwives often took with them their embroidery basket as well as their birthing kit, so both were on hand and would fill in the time stitching.
Over time, the clamps began to change in shape & size and today, the stork-shaped scissors are a pretty big collector’s item.
Have you got some in your sewing box?
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