The Mission – Project #8 – My Embroidery Basket

My embroidery basket once belonged to my great-grandmother.  My grandmother, who never used it, kept it as a special remembrance of her.  When my grandmother passed away it became mine and remains a very special piece of my family heritage.

 

When I first got the basket I incorporated my things in with my great-grandmothers and have worked on various projects over the years.  I keep it neat, tidy and organized at all times and use it as much as I am able, which is not nearly enough in my opinion.  I hope to change that.

 

This is the contents of the quart size ziploc bag.

 

After removing the full skeins of floss I was left with this mess.

 

I had not intended to need to include the basket as part of my overall “mission” until I purchased that huge bag of assorted sewing and craft items at the thrift store.  Included inside was a plastic Ziploc bag filled with embroidery floss.  It was a bit of a mess, to say the least, but had a great assortment of flosses and colors.  My basket was getting a bit low on a few colors and after a lot of sorting, untangling and re-organizing I was able to fill it up pretty well.

Cards of neatly organized floss pieces ready for new projects.

I was pleased that I was able to salvage all but that small handful

of stuff (on the left).

I credit my sixth grade teacher, Mrs. Teich, with showing me how to embroider.  She also shared with me a great tip for storing your smaller pieces of used flosses.  Using an index card you cut slots, about a ½” long and ½” apart.  Wrap your flosses around the card and tuck the end in the slot.  I’ve done this ever since to keep my embroidery floss pieces organized.  It proved to be invaluable when I went through that bag from the thrift store. I didn’t have any index cards so I cut up a couple sheets of cardstock and it worked just fine.

I added quite a bit of floss to my basket.

 

Once all was said and done I was able to salvage pretty much all that was in that bag.  I tossed the wad of poly fill and a handful of short pieces.  I am now completely organized and restocked on a lot of the colors I was low on.  I will have plenty of flosses for future projects.

 

You may also enjoy revisiting Another Great Thrift Store Find.