A Make-Do Pincushion -~ A Useful Object Again

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Life for many of our ancestors was difficult with many of them living in very rural primitive settings . Living was sparse both in material items as well as friendship of other neighbors as many times neighbors would be quite distances apart. Even a small town may be a day's travel (or more) away. It is probably within this setting the make-do was born. Some out of necessity and other from "waste not".

What is a make-do? It is any object that had been broken, or unusable in its former usage, turned into a usable item again. Such as the broken trencher repaired by a metal strap to make it whole & usable again. The market basket with its broken handle repaired with wire, cloth or string . Other items might have been such as this make-do pincushion. The glass was once a goblet but broken. Selvaged for the base a handmade pincushion was added to make it into a usable object again.

I have seen other make-do pincushions made from lamp bases. Of course, each pincushion would be completely handmade making all of these objects one of a kind. Bits and pieces of fabric would be fashioned, stuffed & sewn. Embellished with embroidery or other needlework. Limited only to the imagination.

I doubt the meaning of the word "make-do" was an invention by our forefathers but a word creative by the antique collective world to encompass all those broken & discarded objects mended and made usable again. There are those collectors in the antique market that buy only make-do items still for other collectors it is a cross over. Regardless these items do take on their own charm not only for the way they are mended but the legacy they teach of generations past.