Monday, February 18, 2013

Sewing for the Sewing Room

Don't make something unless it is both made necessary and useful;
but if it is both necessary and useful,
don't hesitate to make it beautiful.
~ Shaker dictum

I recently ordered some nice hand sewing needles and I wanted some way to store them.  I browsed a bunch of gorgeous needle books on Etsy, but just couldn't bring myself to shell out $10 or more for something that I could make so easily.  

Then I looked at free sewing patterns for needle books - and there are a bunch! (for starters, click here)  

In the end, I decided to just wing it.  If I can't make a needle book without a pattern, I have no business with a sewing machine!  ;)



So, I guesstimated how big I wanted my needle book to be, cut 3 rectangles (2 of fabric and 1 of batting) and stitched them up - with an elastic hair band for the button loop centered along one of the short edges.  



Then I attached a shank button and stitched some felt "pages" into my book.  


And, voila!  A cute little needle book.  :)

Probably the quickest sewing project I've ever undertaken.  I think the most time consuming step was settling on which fabric scrap to use...  ;)

The only thing that worries me just a tad is that the needles came wrapped in foil, with a note recommending that I leave them in foil to prevent rusting.  What do you think?  Am I going to be sorry that I took them out of the foil?  Have you ever had sewing needles rust on you?  

How about you?  Have you ever done any sewing for your sewing room?  What have you made?  

6 comments:

  1. I think the rusting is more common in a room with damp air perhaps? I've not had a needle got rusty really. I guess if you keep the book somewhere dry it might be fine :) ?

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    1. Hi Claire,
      Thanks for the advice! It's pretty humid here in Florida, but we are also super-air-conditioned, which dries out the air - so maybe I'll be okay... I will put some thought into whether or not I can establish a dry spot somehow...
      Fingers crossed! :)

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  2. I agree with Claire...it depends on your weather. I've had needles get rusty (overnight even!) but it's quite humid here in Sydney.

    BTW..I wish you'd consider getting rid of that dratted word verification. I've had three attempts so far at reading the rather blurry, small words and am still trying. Wish me luck!

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    1. Hey Alison! Your wish is my command - the word verification task is dropped. (I hate it too, when I have to do it on other web sites.) If I get blasted with too much spam I may have to rethink it, but for now, this blog is word verification free! ;)

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