Superstitions: Sewing and Thread

Never Say P*G – The Book of Sailors’ Superstitions is the nautical reference book you never knew you needed. Compiled by R. Bruce MacDonald, he goes through the alphabet detailing on what provides good and bad luck at sea. Here’s a sampling from S and T:

Sewing
It is bad luck to do any sewing during foul weather as the bad weather will be sewn into place, and, conversely, it is good luck to sew in good weather for the same reason. The same stitch must be used in every seam to avoid the stitches becoming jealous of one another and pulling themselves apart.

Thread
Winding thread onto a spool after sunset was believed to throw a loved one’s vessel off course. In the early 1900s in England, there was an additional belief that if a wife did so, it portended that she would soon be sewing her husband’s burial shroud.

For more sage advice, click here.