Hand Stitching a Needle Case – a new to me old craft

Just before all the wonderful excitement of the past few weeks, slows down a little, I do want to thank you on behalf of the M’s for supporting us all in the way you have. This little old family of mine has never known so much positive attention and we are all extremely grateful for your good wishes and love. There will of course always be more Belle to come, for now though I thought you might like to see and read of a new (to me) craft which is fitting in rather nicely in my routine. This week I take a look at a few simple stitches used to create a pretty needle case entirely by hand. I am regularly inspired by so many wonderful ladies I have ‘virtually’ met through Instagram and a few I have had the pleasure of meeting in real life too. Do join me today to see how I have been inspired with a few of my words and a colourful roll of photos …

Do you recall way back when I went here to learn how to sew and mend and decorate beautiful fabrics? Well I have been putting those skills to good use in between our exciting times with Belle and the Cottage Garden. Early in the morning before the house stirs and I have just The Spotty One and the birds for company, I’ve pulled up a chair near the window in our sitting room and stitched. This room in our home has little natural light and is shadowed by the imposing oaks in the woods we are tucked away in. I love looking out of this window watching the occasional dog walker and his four-legged friend stroll by, when the rest of the world is only starting to wake. I often wonder if anyone looks back and thinks what is the little old(ish) lady in the woods up to. She’s usually stitching these days.

Since that first infectious foray into visible mending with the lovely Karen @ostrichandsilkworm I have attended another inspirational and fun-filled day held at the most welcoming of venues ever @thecozyclubx where in Chris’ own words, you are a stranger only once. Under the expert tutelage of @suzihearts (one of the friendliest and welcoming of ladies I ever did meet) I had an insight into the art of turning beautiful fabrics and fine threads into a sampler I still struggle to believe I stitched.

So, armed with new and exciting skills and happy memories I set about looking at what fabric and thread I had and began collecting a few more pieces here and there. We have a fabulous emporium not far from where I live. @marmadukesantiques sells delightful and often inexpensive treasures. Nestled amongst one of the many stalls is a beauty bursting with every imaginable coloured thread there could be. Muted earthy tones find their space alongside vibrant cobalt blues and vivid reds and the struggle is real to choose just what you need. I dragged Mr M in there once for brown thread necessary for stitching tree trunks and branches. “Surely a brown is a brown” he said after we had been searching for ten minutes through baskets over flowing with their bounty. I’d narrowed my choice down to three shades and realising his attention was waning I purchased them all. This glorious stall also stocks delightful thrifty fabric, some of which I managed to get past Mr M’s gaze and into my bag. I combined it with my own stash to sew beautiful bunting for Belle.

That’s not todays craft though. Today’s stitching project was further inspired by another lovely lady I’ve ‘virtually’ met on Instagram, Kate @houseofsewinghappiness stitched a beautiful and delicate needle case for her sister some time ago and armed with a pretty picture of her achievement I loosely designed my own.

Oh I almost forgot: I thought you might like a little look at this. I’m building up quite a collection of gorgeous textiles and haberdashery and I’ve created a small sewing nook in my sitting room to keep pretty notions at hand. This small table is right behind a sofa, so much decoration on it is lost. I thought it the perfect place for my latest hobby without taking up too much space. The small pink drawers house pins and needles and tiny scraps of fabric and the larger pink box, keeps more fabric neat and tidy.

Back to today’s craft. I began by gathering all kinds of pretty fabrics, threads beautiful buttons and ribbons; some I’ve had forever and some bought from here and here.

Let’s begin with the inside of the needle case. The aged pink lining was originally a white linen shirt which I managed to somehow ruin with food or drink and sat in a what shall I do with this pile for some time. Reluctant to throw away yet not suitable for the charity pile either, dying seemed the perfect solution. I used avocado stones and skins (a blog for this fabulously easy dying technique will follow one day) for a number of different fabrics with pleasing results in varying hues of pink.

On the inside cover is stitched a scrap of lilac and green fabric creating a safe house for pins which came from an ancient stash of swatches collected many moons ago during my interior design days. I’ve added a small selection of needles to the lining itself too. I also formed an essential little pocket to keep safe necessary needle threaders (a revelation to me) and small lengths of delicate thread. A charming embroidered daisy stitched by following clear instructions from this wonderful book, adds to the pocket decoration. I’ve used nothing more tricky than running and blanket stitch to secure these parts. I also added two rag ribbons to tie the case together keeping everything inside safe.

The addition of rosy red buds on the dainty pocket, ties in neatly with the vibrant piece of old French quilt used to keep rose gold scissors safe. To create the knots used for the buds, I simply pulled the needle and thread through the fabric from the underside, wrapped the long thread thrice around the needle and keeping the thread nice and tight, pushed the needle back through the fabric the other way as close to where I began the stitch as possible.

I selected a robust French grain sack left over from this project as the cover of the needle case. For the front, more beautiful antique quilting (it would’ve been much simpler to sew this in place before adding the lining – note to self, involve Mr M in the process next time, before I get too excited and start stitching away) with tiny scraps of vintage cotton and linen layered and secured in the @chalcroftdesign manner, I have grown to love. I used my old typewriter to print the just create title and used naïve kisses to secure to the front of the needle case. A much-loved button provides the finishing touch to the front cover, whilst over on the back, my newly invented hand sewn signature hb completes the pretty needle case.

I am loving this new skill I’m learning. As far as I can see the sky’s the limit with this one. There are so many beautiful books out there to devour full of clear and detailed instructions and gorgeous photos and way too many inspirational Instagram accounts teaching me so much through their wonderfully creative squares. I think Mr M is rather fond of this new hobby of mine too. His relief at the return of the paint and brushes to the garage is palpable and he’s not in the slightest bit interested in a needle and thread. Yet.

Next week, again inspired by @suzihearts and yet another lovely instagrammer, I have a rather unusual decoration to show you. If you are not a sewer or a stitcher yet, you may be after that story. Until next week…x