Result and explanation guessing plate
Yesterday's guessing plate shows buttonhole scissors. Jolande and Natuurfreak had the right answer. They have received their 100 YP in the meantime.
How does it work?
Today, most buttonholes are made with the sewing machine and cut open or cut only after sewing. It used to be done in reverse order and the buttonhole was finished by hand. It was quite an art to make all buttonholes the same length and at the same distance from the side. The buttonhole scissors was a handy tool. The completely finished side of the sewing work is pushed all the way into the scissors after which only the front part of the scissors is cut. There are buttonhole scissors that are not adjustable, but most have a screw or cog with which the cut length and thus the length of the buttonhole can be adjusted.
I've just been able to find out when the first copies came on the market. At the end of the 19th century, they were presented in a large number of newspaper advertisements.
