There are various claims regarding the discovery of the earliest known needle. One is that the earliest known bone needle was found in Sibudu Cave, a Middle Stone Age site in KwaZulu-Natal province in South Africa and was 61,000 years old. Another is that the earliest bone needle was found in southwest France and is estimated to be more than 25,000 years old. Yet another is that archaeologists found 30,000-year-old ivory sticks with eyelets at a dig south of Moscow – the oldest known evidence of needles with eyes.
The first thimbles date back to about 30,000 years ago that were used when mammoth hunters sewed pearls onto pieces of leather. A Dutch metal worker made the first thimble as we know today in England around the year 1695. The dimples and grooves on a thimble catch the needle eye and keep it from slipping.
Antique wooden thread spools have some value.They are unique, well built and seem to last forever. A good wood spool doesn't lose its value once the thread is gone. At one collectible store, you can pick up wood spools and their accessories for between $27 and $200. In the early 1970s, thread manufacturers stopped using the wooden spools for their thread. This was strictly due to cost.
American Pam Turner invented Spiral Eye side threading needles, which she launched in 2008. You thread the needle by looping your thread around the eye of the needle then slipping it into the slot alongside the eye, up through the “spiral” and into the eye itself. This design prevents the thread from slipping out of the needle while sewing.