See a pin and pick it up,
all the day you’ll have good luck.
See a pin and let it lie,
luck will surely pass you by.
Never give a present of scissors or the friendship will be cut. Scissors should always be sold, they should never be given.
It is bad luck to sew clothing while some one is wearing it unless the person in the clothes holds a thread in their mouth.
Always sew a pillow case on New Years Eve to hold all of your troubles.
Never leave sewing undone on New Years or it will stay that way for the next year.
Never sew on Sunday because you will have to rip out all of those stitches when you get to heaven. There is harm in sewing on Sunday if you do not use a thimble.
You will ‘cut off’ your fortune if you use scissors on New Year’s Day.
Dropping a pair of scissors is said to warn that a love is unfaithful.
A bride must sew a swan’s feather into her husbands pillow to ensure fidelity.
Don’t was clothes on New Year’s Day or someone in your family will pass away.
To upset a box of pins for tells a surprise as long as some of them are left in the box.
If you mend your apron or dress while you are wearing it someone will lie about you.
White sewing on a garment should you sew it to your dress by mistake, as many stitches as you take so many lies will be told about you.
If you break your needle while making a dress you will live to wear it out.
If you tear a hole in a new dress the first time wearing it you will have a new one before that one is worn out.
Never start a garment on Friday unless you can finish it the same day.
Breaking one blade of a pair of scissors is an omen of quarrels and discord. If both blades are broken at once a calamity is to be feared.
If you make a quilt or spread be sure to finish it or marriage will never come to you.
When you are sewing and your thread knots and tangles, someone is talking about you.
If you put your petticoat on wrong side out and wear it that way all day, you are alright. If you change it you will have bad luck.
In Scotland it was once believed that a witch could conjure a strong wind by dipping a cloth in water and whacking it against a stone three times.