I continue my tour of discoveries made during my road trip in France and Spain. One of our stops was the visit to the last workshop making pins and needles in France, a true French national treasure, known as the Bohin companies.
I had received an invitation to visit their workshops during my participation in the Burda contest last February. I patiently waited for the reopening to visits to show you this magnificent factory.
Bohin is a family business open since 1833 in the village of Saint-Sulpice-Sur Risle; and has been a mark of quality ever since.
Originally, a wooden box manufacturing company; today, a company producing billions of needles and pins annually.
Yet, this company still works semi-traditionally. Indeed, many steps are necessary to make pins and needles and require human intervention.
Would you have imagined it takes 27 steps to make just one needle and 2 months before it appears in stores for sale?
The first step is choosing the steel wire. Bohin selects a fine carbon steel.
In the past, to ensure its supply, Bohin had its own production factory not far from its needle factory. Today, Bohin has stopped this activity and uses carbon steel alloy wires from England and Germany.
To start needle production, the wire will be straightened to initiate the needle's straightness and cut into segments the length of two needles.
Each of the two ends of the segment will be tapered to create the needle point. This step is called pointing. This step is crucial to ensure the needle "pricks" properly. An operator will carefully check this step and discard any that do not meet the expected quality level.
After making the needle point, the eye will be made.
To do this, a machine is used to mark the location of the eye on the two needles of the segment. The two eyes will then be drilled.
After this step, the two needles will be able to be separated and the excess material on the eyes will be removed.
The needle has taken its final shape but many steps still remain!
In particular, this step gives the hardness but also the flexibility needed for using the needle: quenching and tempering, which are heat treatments involving oil.
After degreasing the needles, they will be polished to allow them to “slide” through the fabric. This polishing lasts between 3 and 4 days and is the longest and most costly step in the manufacturing process.
Finally, the needles will be nickel-plated to protect them from oxidation, make them shiny and smooth.
After the final cleaning, the needles will be stored and especially aligned to be packaged.
Once all placed parallel, they will be sent to the sorting and packaging workshops.
Sorting is necessary to separate the needles by length; this is called the sizing step.
Next, they need to be arranged in the same direction (eye side/point side); this is the pairing step.
Finally, an operator will manually check the straightness of each needle. It takes years of experience to be a skilled and competent worker. Indeed, millions of needles pass through their hands every year, and they manage to spot defective needles in record time.
The needles that pass this quality test will be pinned on a ribbon and packed in beautiful, so recognizable Bohin pouches.
After the visit, you can go to the lovely shop where you can restock.
I fell for the pins; I had wanted some super fine ones for delicate fabrics and “good” needles for a while. After all, it’s pretty classy to have Murano glass-headed pins!
I’m not disappointed with my purchase and even less with my visit; it was fascinating!
I have wonderful memories of my visit to this French sewing landmark, and for sure, I will come back to visit the factory on a weekday when the workers are at work.
I invite you to do the same!
And for the occasion, I wore my new Divina dress from La Maison Victor.
Let me know if you'd be happy to find a selection of Bohin pins and needles in my shop c'est du joly.
To get there and discover a bit of French heritage, head to: 1 Le Bourg SAINT-SULPICE-SUR RISLE 61300 France
