This needle case has been made by assembling fragments of rich silk dress silks and ribbons. The maker was thought to be a resident of the West Country, and ribbons would have been readily available in the surrounding area, where highly skilled weavers were producing English silks throughout the eighteenth century. Measures of coveted French silks were also stocked by traders and retailers in the major towns, as well as by pedlars who made regular journeys to and from London.

In the eighteenth century, women of all classes of society would have created needlecases in this style. The materials used varied in accordance with their financial resources. The expensive French and English dress silks evident here suggest a family with access to luxury goods, either through direct involvement in the trade, or through conspicuous consumption.

Both practical and decorative needlework played an important part in women's lives at this time; in the management of households and in the making, mending and decoration of clothes and household furnishings. Steel needles were essential equipment, and beautifully crafted and embroidered needle cases were the perfect depository for one of the main tools of daily life.