Thursday, February 26, 2009

Needle and Pin Keep

I think my Mom should have named me "Vintage". Anything vintage attracts me like a bee to honey and I find it difficult to unstick myself.

I've been thinking about needle and pin keeps a lot lately... the vintage kind. As a matter of fact, I had a difficult time sleeping the night before last, as ideas kept popping into my head. When I was designing in the decorative painting industry, I learned my lesson the hard way, i.e. no matter what time of the day or night, when an idea came into my head to get out my sketch book, do a quick line drawing and make a few notes. Too many times I said to myself that I'd remember it in the morning but alas, when morning came, I drew...literally...a blank.

Tuesday I found myself in the kitchen at 2:10 a.m. not to snack, but to sketch and make notes of my blossoming needle and pin keep. I love working with wool and cotton and that's where my thoughts were heading. Yesterday morning, bright and early, I found myself in my sewing studio measuring, cutting, and stitching, and this is what I ended up with at about 7:30 last evening.


My needle and pin keep! This is the outside front and the dimensions are 4" x 6". The birds were inspired by Ann Sutton's birds from the February block of her Tisket-A-Tasket BOM.


When you open it up, you can see a piece of vintage-looking (that word again) fabric which I sewed to the background wool, then frayed the edges to make it look...what else? Vintage! Then there's a piece of wool that I stitched onto the left side for pins and added a little pocket to hold "necessities". The dimensions when open are 6" x 8".


Then there's another wool insert that I stitched down the spine with another little pocket to hold more "needfuls". I ordered some vintage mother-of-pearl thread rings which will be sewn onto the black wool on the left to hold floss. Hopefully they'll arrive by Monday.


And finally, the heart scissors holder. I love my little needle and pin keep and I know it'll get lots of use. Happy stitching!

11 comments:

Pieced Pastimes said...

Sleepless nights filled with thoughts about a new project - sounds very familiar. Your 'vintage' pink keep is just lovely and I am sure it will get plenty of use.

Kimberly said...

So Kaaren, is this (or something like this) something you might be willing to make a swap out of? Or might it be for sale? It's beautiful! (Just a thought...)
Have a great day!

(And we got about 5 or 6 inches of snow by the end of it. For the Vancouver area, that's a bigg-ish one!)

Julie said...

wow kaaren, it's just adorable! love the colours & fabrics. while i like your little birdies, maybe you could make one with 'chooks' on the front too? LOLOLOL

julie x

Anne said...

That is absolutely adorable! What a creative gal you are! Good job! You should think about making a pattern.

Mel said...

Oh my gosh Kaaren, I LOVE how you used those darling birds in such a useful project!!

Thanks for sharing!

Mel said...

Oh my gosh Kaaren, I LOVE how you used those darling birds in such a useful project!!

Thanks for sharing!

Linda - Behind My Red Door said...

Oh this is is just the nicest little project I have seen in weeks! I am just amored of pin keeps like this. It is just yummy! I love the fabrics you chose and everything about it.

I got rid of my word verification totally months ago - I think back in October- and I haven't had any problems with comments so I don't see a need to put it back. It is others that I was having a problem with. And not just the kind you mentioned either - some like yours as well. Twice I actually had my hubby stand over my shoulder and watch me type in words because I thought I was going crazy -LOL! You know how your eyes sees one thing but it is really another? Well I typed correctly and it still failed. This morning, many seem to be working beter though.

Darlene said...

That's adorable, Kaaren!

Carrie P. said...

I have laid in be too just thinking of different things like that and then in the morning, blank. I need to have a sketch pad by my bed too except I don't think my husband would appreciate me turning on the light. Your little pin keep is great. Love the birds.

Deb said...

Your pin case was well worth the strategic planning in the middle of the night..it must be wonderful to be so talented..

ferne said...

The needle and pin keep is so cute! I have to ask where you find the wool? I am only finding ugly colors at JoAnn's. Also, did you make this stiff like a book would be or is it soft, if you know what I mean?