Hobby · Visual Arts and Crafts

Parfilage

Parfilage is a historical French needlework practice, popular from the 17th through 19th centuries, in which old gold and silver embroidery threads, braids, or lace were painstakingly unpicked from worn fabrics and garments so the precious metal could be recovered and sold or melted down. It was often taken up as a genteel pastime by aristocratic women, sometimes even during social gatherings, and doubled as a modest source of income during periods of financial hardship. The recovered metal filings were known in French as "parfilure."

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