fibres and "needle" could then be used to sew items together. Sewing needles are an application of wire-making technology, which started to appear in the second millennium B.C. Some fine examples of Bronze Age gold torques are made of very consistent gold wire, which is more malleable than bronze. However, copper and bronze needles do not need to be as long: the eye can be made by turning the wire back on itself and redrawing it through the die. Later sewing needles The next major break-through in needle-making was the arrival of high-quality steel-making technology from China in the tenth century, principally in Spain in the form of the Catalan furnace, which soon extended to produce reasonably high quality steel in significant volumes. This technology later extended to Germany and France, although not significantly in England. England began creating needles in 1639 at Redditch, creating the drawn-wire technique still in common use today. About 1655, needle manufacturers were sufficiently independent to establish a Guild of Needlemakers in London, although Redditch remained the principal place of manufacture. In Japan, Hari-Kuyo, the Festival of Broken Needles, dates back to the 1600s. See also Needle threader Needlecase Sewing machine needle Thimble Treen Hari-Kuyō Notes External links Sewing equipment Embroidery equipment Egyptian inventions Upholstery