Hussifs

Men going to sea or joining the military miss women... for so many reasons.  But when they wear a hole in their socks or tear their pants, it's the "feminine" art of mending that they most require!  And, since there are no women about, the men have to learn a little handwork.  I remember listening to my uncle, a US marine (there's no such thing as a former marine), tell me with pride how he learned to keep his clothes nice, how he wouldn't trust his wife to properly launder his uniforms, and how every stray thread had to be clipped close to the fabric in a procedure called "Irish pennanting". 

Sewing kit, or hussif, belonged to NZ41868 Flying Officer Derek Vaughan Bullock, 218 Squadron, Bomber Command, WW2. Auckland Museum [CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

In the military, there is no women's work, only work.  In order to do the little repairs that their uniforms or bags might need, men had simple sewing kits called "housewifes" or "hussifs".  In the military, hussifs may be issued by the government, but they might also be made by the man himself or by his wife, mother, or sister, to send him on his way with a tangible reminder of love.

In this moving blog post on Hands Across the Sea, Tom Suddes, formerly of the British Royal Navy, reminisces about his initiation in the 1960's, and shows off his military-issue, but hand-embroidered, hussif. The act of chain-stitching over his name was an early test of his willingness to learn new things, his dexterity, and his patience, and so it became part of his military training. 

THE NAME

"Housewife" is the usual term, an obvious allusion to what the men thought a flesh-and-blood housewife was for: mending clothes.  (For such lack of imagination, they can be forgiven... many joined the service young and didn't know any better!  Fifteen year old girls probably think husbands are for opening tight jars.)  Englishmen, with cavalier disdain for consonant clusters, pronounced "housewife" as "hussif", and that spelling is also attested.  Many may have spelled it "housewife" and pronounced it "hussif", in the same way they'd spell "gunwale" and say "gun'l" or spell "forecastle" and say "foc's'l".  It can also be called a sewing kit or a needle book. 

MEN'S vs WOMEN'S

Of course women had sewing kits, too!  And many would have made their own, as a nice use of scrap fabric, a reminder of the stitches in their repertoire, or just a useful item.  However, women's kits tended to be larger and more comprehensive than men's, since sewing was an occupation not an occasional need.  And they wouldn't call them hussifs, but kits or baskets. 

WHAT GOES IN A HUSSIF?

The basics:

• a roll of fabric, ideally something waterproof or water resistant, like leather or oiled canvas. 
• needles, ideally stored in a fold of unwashed wool or a cushion stuffed with unwashed wool.  Wool with the sheep's oily lanolin still in it would prevent the iron needles from rusting.  (Modern needles are stainless steel, so these waterproofing measures are less important.)
• thread
• spare buttons

Also good:

• scissors, but since men always had knives and teeth, they were not necessary
• pins (a bit of a luxury)
• beeswax for waxing the thread (a waterproofing as well as a detangling measure)
• scraps to use as patches
  

Military sewing kit or housewife (hussif), 1NZEF, WW1 sewing kit of brown suede with three reels of cotton, buttons, thread and needles comprises holder, cotton reels, seven metal buttons, three plastic buttons, wad of thread, and needles. Auckland Museum [CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

In this video, Keith H. Burgess shows his hussif which he uses for historical reenacting (New England Colonial Living History Group, 1680-1760).  He has a long preamble; skip to 3:58 if you just want to see him display it and talk about what's in it.  Since he roleplays an early settler, his hussif contains sinew for mending moccasins. 

MY NEEDLE BOOK

Here is my own needle-book.  Since it's not complete with scissors and notions, I don't think of it as a hussif.  I've designed it with a tri-fold, with sharps on the far left, ball-point (or just dull) needles along with pins and safety pins in the middle, and specialty needles on the far right.  I keep my Tulip brand hand-sewing needles in the little plastic tubes they come in because they're double-plus-special! 

A HUSSIF FOR A FRIEND

Several years ago, I made a hussif for a friend.  Unlike me, he does not have a whole dang room filled with sewing stuff, so he just needed something to hold a few basics.  He has kindly shared some pictures for this blog.  The $10 bill is there for scale. 

The fabrics I used for this were all from stash, and were in some cases such small bits that creative piecing was needed.  I chose a blue cotton (rayon?) chambray and a blue brocade for the outside, and a buff colored canvas for the interior.  Black faux fleece functions as a needle-holder.  Some moire taffeta furnishes the inside with ribbony strips, and blue embroidery floss highlights details in the construction.  I made the whole thing by hand.  The next several pictures show what you discover when opening the hussif.

Opening the top fold, you see the needles on the left, in a flap of synthetic fleece.  It's attached to the hussif only at the top, so that the canvas underneath can also be used.  I put a few bobby pins in there, too, since they make useful clips for thick fabrics or leathers.  The little scissors are on the right, in a pocket that hides their sharp points. 

Opening the next fold reveals the pin-cushion and another ribbon band holding safety pins on the left, and a hand-embroidered monogram on the right.  I matched the thread of the monogram to the canvas interior fabric.  I positioned the pins below the monogram to limit snagging. 

Opening the hussif the rest of the way shows several pockets: the black pockets hold thimble, needle-threaders, and seam ripper, and the corner pocket is for whatever else (thread?). 

And here's the outside:

It has been a long time, so I can't remember now whether I interlined it with anything for body, but I suspect I used more of the black "fleece".  Seems like something I would do. 

MODERN USES AND SIMILAR OBJECTS

In the modern day, I use my hussif/needle-book all the time for storage.  I also bring it whenever I attend a wedding or go camping.  Invariably, somebody will need something fixed, and the girl with the hussif might as well be wearing a cape and flying in with a theme song! 

The idea of a roll of fabric holding useful items is also still widely used, in tool rolls, and make-up brush kits, and paintbrush holders.