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.
I too inherited one of these baskets. Haven't used it in years. Think I'll try to find it and follow your suggestion. Instead of slits in a card, I use a hole puncher and put my floss through the holes. It doesn't fall out as easily that way. Good idea.
ReplyDeleteI think so, too :)
ReplyDelete