Well I am much better today than last Saturday! but in between, there's been so much coughing and sneezing that knitting was impractical at best. So today, let's talk about sewing kits with Ricardo, my friendly fireplace rooster.
Isn't he lovely? He watches over all this stuff from his perch in the glass bowl behind him. It's worth noting while I'm here that a fireplace mantel is an excellent standing desk for small bouts of hand stitching.
A note too re. the pin cushion shaped like a cat. My mum made this for me when I was in my first grownup apartment and finally had the cat I'd always dreamed of living with some day. She was honouring my love of said cat without ever realizing I would be, you know, sticking pins in a *cat*! Still, I've always used it and always treasured it. I mean all that extra embroidery she put in there... Oh, I miss her, and not just because tomorrow is Mother's Day.
Okay, let's look inside the blue tin, which served as my aunt's sewing kit in the 60s and 70s:
A green seam ripper! I love it. And she kept her safety pins in a plastic case she picked up in New Hampshire. Probably there was originally a plastic raincoat in that little case, or at least a plastic rainbonnet. They used to sell those all accordioned into the box, and you could never ever fit them in again.
Here's my sewing kit, kept in a soup tureen gifted to me after another aunt passed. It's the best I've ever had - lift the lid, and everything I need is right there:
My seam ripper is red because that's my favourite colour. The pincushion lives in here too. There's so much you can cram inside because the lid is vaulted to accommodate whatever's sticking up.
Here's the absolute favourite though, a tiny gas-station branded kit my aunt picked up and never used:
The 'Esso' logo is printed on a tiny tape measure that sits atop a red thimble, over tiny wooden spools of black and then white thread.
Plus eight additional colours!
The pins are for emergency use only, folks. There are even tiny buttons and safety pins in the top. I wonder if it would all fit in again as neatly, if you ever took things out to use them?
Sadly I'll never know because the lid is jammed on so tight, then taped. I've never been able to get it open. It's the Time Capsule Sewing Kit.
Do you have a favourite sewing kit setup?
Thanks for dropping by today - hope you have a wonderful weekend and also, Mother's Day, if you are celebrating! See you next Saturday.
