Over the last couple of years we have looked at sewing kits from both Britain and India and looked at examples used in the Royal Navy and a sewing kit that was part of the 1944 pattern jungle equipment. Tonight we have a very different style of sewing kit, this time hailing from Australia, and my thanks got to Rene Roof for helping me with this one and posting it off to the Northern Hemisphere. These sewing kits seem to be pretty unusual in the UK, and certainly I have never seen another one here before. From the outside the hussif is of a fairly standard design, secured by two white tapes wrapped around:
Opening it up however reveals it to be of a radically different design to other examples used in the Empire:
The most obvious thing to note are the two long open ended pockets to hold the thread used to repair buttons and uniforms:
Certainly this is the first time I have seen this design feature and I suspect it may be unique to Australian manufacture or indeed to this one particular company producing the hussif. I am unsure if there were any particular benefits from making the hussif to this design, but equally it serves its purpose as well as any other design. A pocket at one end has room for a small greased paper packet:
This sewing kit is clearly unissued, but opening up the packet reveals spare buttons, a piece of grey flannelette and a selection of needles:
Also in the pocket is a small Bakelite thimble:
The sewing kit is stamped with manufacturer’s details and acceptance stamp:
Although it is hard to make out on this example, I have seen other examples from the same source and can confirm that the manufacturer is ‘Parkers Products Pty Ltd’ and the sewing kit dates from 1942. Examples exist from this manufacturer in both cotton drill like this and made from leather.
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Tales from the Supply Depot 