Of course, there's always a bit of bad news...snow, rain, sleet and ice in this evening's commute between NYC and Albany. Not something that commuters want to hear...still the temperature will be hovering around the high 20's and low 30's!
I was checking out some blogs yesterday when I ran across one from Sweden who made a very interesting organizational item.
The blogger found an unusual cutting board from Ikea. This cutting board had sides on the bottom to elevate it several inches. It turned out to be just the right size for a lap. So, the blogger turned it into a tool to use when doing hand stitching.
I liked the idea so much that I made a similar item but with a few twists. First of all, instead of a cutting board, I used the front cover from a large book that was falling apart. It measures 10" by 14" and is much stronger than even three cardboard pieces glued together.
Next I selected some fabric from my larger fabric scraps. One piece had to be big enough to cover one side of the book cover and fold to the back side at least a couple inches.
I decided on how many and what size pockets to add. Using a contrasting fabric, I hand sewed two pockets...one to hold my scissors and short ruler and one to hold a magnetic container with needles and needle threader.
I also wanted to add a pin cushion but found that making a round one using a yoyo didn't work. So instead, I used four layers of a low loft piece of batting from my scraps.
Once the pockets were made, I hand stitched them to the large piece of fabric. What was nice about that is that it gave me two slots per pocket to place things in.
Once everything was attached to the large piece of fabric, I added two layers of low loft batting to the book cover and then placed the large piece of fabric over it folding the extra to the back, using tape to hold it. I then added a piece the size of the book cover to the back, again hand stitching the two pieces of fabric together.
Now I will be able to easily transport my hand stitched projects from the studio to wherever I want to sit. Check out the picture...
No more struggling to find a scissors or a place to secure pins and needles. I used to put them on my clothes and then promptly lose them!
I was thinking that I could adapt this idea for other activities like quilling or doodling or even making collages. The possibilities are really endless once you think about it. And it only took a couple hours of my time, some scrap fabric and batting, a book cover (which saved it from the landfill) and needle and thread! My favorite activity - making something from 'nothing'!
So have you made 'something from nothing' to help you organize...things like covering all sizes of cardboard boxes or creating pen and pencil holders out of empty tin cans? What's nice is that you can decorate these things to fit your style...and, of course, they cost next to nothing!
Have an extraordinary day today...
Talk with you tomorrow...