Dawn Cook Ronningen

Dawn Cook Ronningen

Dawn Cook Ronningen is the author of Antique American Needlework Tools (Schiffer, 2018). She is a collector, needleworker, teacher, and lecturer. She can be found on Instagram and Facebook sharing her collections and travels. Learn more at collectorwithaneedle.blogspot.com.


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A Sweet Bodkin Holder

Stitch a small bolster pillow to store your tools in.

The Indispensable Bodkin

Looking for a tool to pull a ribbon through stitching? The bodkin is your answer.

Timeless Tools: Thimbles

Thimbles are highly prized by collectors and stitchers alike and loved for their practicality, beauty, and infinite variety.

Antique Needlework Tools: Buttonhole Scissors

In the 19th century, patents for buttonhole scissors began to be filed at the United States Patent Office, and some of these designs are still in use today.

Is it Antique or Vintage?

Whether an object is “vintage” or “antique” might depend on whom you ask.

20th-Century Embroidered Pincushions

Embroidered pincushions are further embellished with coordinating pins for a beautiful and practical sewing aid.

The History of the Louise All-In-One Sewing Aid

A look at female inventors who've created tools to assist them with their tasks.

Artful and Practical: Fabric-Covered Needle Books

Not only are needle books beautiful and functional, but their construction did not take a large amount of fabric or time.

Nineteenth-Century Collectible: Sewing-Thread Trade Cards

Before magazine advertising became popular, collectible trade cards marketed consumer products, including sewing thread, to the public.

A Needleworker’s Companion: A Friend in Need Book

When Dawn bought her first antique friend in need book, she was attracted to its sweet, sewing-themed pockets, which are finished with braid trim on the pocket flap edges and labeled for the various contents held inside.