sewing Sewing is the craft of fastening pieces of textiles together using a sewing needle and thread. Sewing is one of the oldest of the textile arts, arising in the Paleolithic era. Before the invention of spinning yarn or weaving fabric, archaeo ...

and

haberdasher __NOTOC__ In British English, a haberdasher is a business or person who sells small articles for sewing, dressmaking and knitting, such as buttons, ribbons, and zippers; in the United States, the term refers instead to a men's clothing st ...

y, notions are small objects or accessories, including items that are sewn or otherwise attached to a finished article, such as

button A button is a fastener that joins two pieces of fabric together by slipping through a loop or by sliding through a buttonhole. In modern clothing and fashion design, buttons are commonly made of plastic but also may be made of metal, wood, or ...

snaps In the Nordic countries, especially Denmark and Sweden, but not in Iceland, snaps ( , ), among many nicknames, is a small shot of a strong alcoholic beverage taken during the course of a meal. In Denmark, a snaps will always be akvavit, althou ...

, and collar stays. Notions also include the small tools used in sewing, such as needles, thread,

pin A pin is a device, typically pointed, used for fastening objects or fabrics together. Pins can have the following sorts of body: *a shaft of a rigid inflexible material meant to be inserted in a slot, groove, or hole (as with pivots, hinges, an ...

s, marking

pen PEN may refer to: * (National Ecological Party), former name of the Brazilian political party Patriota (PATRI) * PEN International, a worldwide association of writers ** English PEN, the founding centre of PEN International ** PEN America, located ...

elastic Elastic is a word often used to describe or identify certain types of elastomer, Elastic (notion), elastic used in garments or stretch fabric, stretchable fabrics. Elastic may also refer to: Alternative name * Rubber band, ring-shaped band of rub ...

, and

seam ripper A seam ripper is a small sewing tool used for cutting and removing stitches. The most common form consists of a handle, shaft and head, although knife-like designs also exist. The head is usually forked with a cutting surface situated at the bas ...

s. The

noun In grammar, a noun is a word that represents a concrete or abstract thing, like living creatures, places, actions, qualities, states of existence, and ideas. A noun may serve as an Object (grammar), object or Subject (grammar), subject within a p ...

is almost always used in the plural. The term is chiefly in

American English American English, sometimes called United States English or U.S. English, is the set of variety (linguistics), varieties of the English language native to the United States. English is the Languages of the United States, most widely spoken lang ...

(the equivalent British term is

haberdashery __NOTOC__ In British English, a haberdasher is a business or person who sells small articles for sewing, dressmaking and knitting, such as buttons, ribbons, and zippers; in the United States, the term refers instead to a men's clothing store ...

). It was also formerly used in the phrase "Yankee notions", meaning American products. A fabric store will have a section or department devoted to notions, and a spool of thread is considered a notion.

History

Origins

The roots of notions trace back around 25,000 years to the discovery of bone needles, a crucial tool in stitching garments made from fur. These early sewers also utilized thimbles to guard against occasional finger pricks, as evidenced by ancient artifacts. The emergence of buttons and buttonholes occurred during the European

Crusades The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and at times directed by the Papacy during the Middle Ages. The most prominent of these were the campaigns to the Holy Land aimed at reclaiming Jerusalem and its surrounding t ...

, around 500 years later, as Christian armies encountered novel practices in faraway regions. The landscape of sewing changed dramatically with the introduction of machine-made cotton thread in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, approximately half a millennium after the Crusades, facilitating the craft on a global scale.

1700s

The 18th century stands out as a transformative period for notions. The first sewing needle factory opened in Germany in 1730, and the first mechanical needle was manufactured 25 years later. Although no surviving sewing machine from that era has been discovered, the groundwork for such a device was unmistakably laid.

1800s

Notions continued to evolve with the prominence of brass buttons as favored fasteners during the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States United States declaration of war on the Uni ...

, spurred by the establishment of the

Waterbury Button Company The Mattatuck Museum is a cultural institution based in Waterbury, Connecticut, USA. The museum's displays include the history, industries and culture of Waterbury and the Central Naugatuck Valley area, and art, including works about the state's ...

. The subsequent development of twisted cotton thread set the stage for the midcentury invention of the sewing machine. In 1851,

Isaac Singer Isaac Merritt Singer (October 27, 1811 – July 23, 1875) was an American inventor, actor, and businessman. He made important improvements in the design of the sewing machine and was the founder of what became one of the first American multi-na ...

marked a significant milestone by founding the Singer sewing machine empire. Today, antique sewing tools attract collectors due to their rich history and practical utility. Galleries frequently showcase vintage sewing artifacts from diverse corners of the world, providing opportunities to build captivating collections without a substantial financial investment.

As traffic generators in early department stores

Around 1900, the typical U.S. department store notions department consisted primarily of lace, trimmings, and sewing accessories. It was considered a seasonal business and received little attention. But some stores added accessories to their notions department, which they relocated to the ground floor. Accessories and notions had low price points, low margin, but high volume, and attracted casual shoppers in for a quick purchase. In a 1967 U.S. study, about half of all people in downtown stores bought something in the notions department and 84% of them went on to other departments, of whom almost half bought something else. The quick impulse buy in the notions department "softened up" the shopper and made them more open psychologically to buying things in other parts of the store. Still today, accessories such as costume jewelry and sunglasses are (as well as cosmetics and fragrances) usually placed close to main floor store entrances.

References

Sewing Retailers by type of merchandise sold {{Textile-arts-stub