This essay is an investigation of the material aspects of sewing by looking at the representation of needlewomen in the mass-circulation magazines, in the form of poems, short articles and stories, in the 1840s and 1850s. It does so by raising basic questions about how the practice of sewing underlies the material embodiment of exploited human labor within the context of Victorian fashion industry, as well as how needlewomen's production and making of material artifacts constitute the needs and practices that make up consumption. Special attention will also be paid to the way in which the distressed figure of the needlewoman reveals much about the cultural value of her contribution to the commercial world