The Australian War Memorial Collection. Test site
Olive green cotton housewife (sewing kit) made from herringbone weave fabric, with an internal insert made from plain twill weave. The ends of the housewife are folded over to form pockets. One pocket contains khaki darning wool and a woven cotton formation sign for 1 Infantry Brigade Group (of which 3RAR was a part). The other pocket is covered with a piece of dark blue wool fabric which would originally have held needles and pins. It contains assorted brown plastic buttons and oxidised brass Australian Military Forces buttons. The housewife is stamped in ink, inside and out, with the owner's name 'BULL H.G.'. The entire kit rolls up and is secured by two white cotton tape ties.
This housewife was originally issued to 23957 Private Henry George Bull, who was born at Abermain, NSW, in 1929. It was carried by him during his service in the Korean War with 3 Battalion, The Royal Australian Regiment (3 RAR), between 26 May 1951 and 28 May 1952. In common with most Korean veterans, Bull was required to hand in his kit on his return to Australia. This sewing kit was later re-issued to a school cadet.
Khaki wool housewife (sewing kit) with black tape ties. One end is folded to make a pocket which contains a small ball of grey darning wool. Attached to the pocket is a square of grey flannel which wo
Brown leatherette housewife lined with cream flannelette which folds in to protect the contents. One end is folded in to form a pocket, which contains khaki darning wool and a Bakelite thimble. The ot
Khaki cotton housewife with manufacturer stamp 'B MILBURN & CO. VICTORIA 1954 D[broad arrow symbol]D. The owner's label has '2768255 N D BARTY' written on it and another broad arrow symbol with the nu
Australian Army khaki cotton drill roll-up sewing kit, or housewife, which contains a grey cloth swatch with an assortment of needles. A yellow paper packet for 'Bell-Beauty' brand needles is stowed
Black wool housewife with rectangular pocket at one end with an attached piece of grey wool flannel (to hold needles) held in place by a binding of brown linen tape. A pair of black wool worsted tapes
Home-made housewife (sewing kit) constructed from two lengths of red cotton sateen ribbon (the width, 110 mm, suggests that it was once intended as a sash for a dress) sewn together to form a rectangl
