Pins/Buttons/Snaps
The pin has been utilised in dressmaking for centuries but it was only in the early 1800s that the process for making pins was automated. By the 1840s the automated pin making technique had been perfected, but it was still some time until the packing of pins on paper with their heads all the same way was mastered! The safety pin was the idea of Walter Hunt, an American inventor, who thought up the idea in 1849. Hunt was at the time unable to pay a $15 gambling debt to a friend and in order to raise some money he invented the ‘dress pin’ or safety pin as we now know it.
Snap fasteners were first patented by German inventor Heribert Bauer in 1885 as the "Federknopf-Verschluss", a novelty fastener for men's trousers. Some attribute the invention to Bertel Sanders, of Denmark. These first versions featured an S-shaped spring in the top disc instead of a groove.
The Korbond range of pins are manufactured from high quality carbon steel to give a smooth non tarnish finish to prevent clicking and snagging of fabric. Korbond Berry Pins, with their variety of coloured heads, aid the dressmaker in identifying different sections of cloth. The ‘trusty’ safety pin, in both nickel plated and gilt formats, are an essential in every household for a multitude of uses.