Needlework Tools and Accessories: A Dutch Tradition--Made in Holland

Kay Sullivan's interest in needlework tools began at an early age when she spent many hours in her father's bespoke tailoring workshop just outside London, making new clothes for her dolls. Her father discouraged her from taking up sewing as a profession and she consequently studied English language and commercial subjects. After moving to Holland to be with her Dutch husband, she took a degree to enable her to start her own business, specialising in antique needlework tools and accessories. In the early 1980s, encouraged by collectors and friends, she issued a quarterly Magazine for collectors of thimbles and associated sewing tools. De Vingerhoed was published for ten years and achieved a worldwide membership. She has travelled in Europe and America, giving lectures to thimble, sewing tool and handwork societies. Today, she is considered an authority on the subject of needlework tools and runs a business from her home just outside Amsterdam.