THE POINTY END

Curved sewing pins have been used for more than 4000 years. Originally these were fashioned out of iron and bone and were used to hold clothes together.

Brass, a relatively hard and ductile metal, was used to make pins during the Bronze Age. This development was followed by the use of steel, which was much stronger but tended to rust when exposed to humid air. The development of inexpensive electroplating techniques allowed the steel to be plated with nickel. Nickel did not