Another day in the life of a sewer. I've been living in a tangled web of embroidery floss hell for a while now. I've tried everything.
This container and the little paper bobbins did not work. The paper bobbins are too small.
This container is supposed to hold the skeins that are not opened yet. There's another zip lock bag full of tangled mess. I'm not showing you that photo because let's keep the horror to a minimum.
One day this year I came up with a brilliant idea. (it felt brilliant then) Every time I'm done with the strands of working embroidery floss, I will stick them to a masking tape which I tape to the wall. That way, the next time I need to use any embroidery thread, all I need to do is scan what's on the wall and take what I need.
The problem with this idea? I just keep adding the orphan embroidery floss. Now the masking tape and the thread looks like a permanent home decor.
Last night I was in the middle of untangling a mess of floss when I came up with another brilliant idea.
See this old desk calendar? The paper is made of stiff card. I divide each page into little sections by cutting out small strips spaced out nicely.
I wrap the embroidery floss in 3 lots. The first one contains the unstranded skein. As I usually use 2 strands of floss, the middle space is for the 4 strands while the first slot is for the orphan 2 strands which I used to stick on the masking tape. To hold the start and end of the floss, I cut small slits on the paper.
This little calendar is definitely not enough to hold all my embroidery thread. But if the idea works out, I could easily make a batch of card stock. What do you think? Will this work?
Looks like a good idea to me--so much so that I might even try it myself. Not having the requisite old diary I'm thinking cards in a binder and being colour crazy I'm thinking in colour-wheel order. We'll see if I get past the thinking stage. Let us know how you get on with it!
ReplyDeleteI think it's a fantastic idea! Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteThis is a genius idea, Jane! I love it!
ReplyDeleteI have so much floss, I keep it all in drawers in four little cabinets made for nuts and bolts. I even spray painted them. I have a bit of each floss color taped to the front of its drawer. It works extremely well except when I don't put the floss back where it belongs. I try to make myself be good by pulling the entire drawer out and taking it along with me while I work. That way I don't have to search for the correct drawer to put the floss back in, All I have to do is put the drawer back. It's obvious where it goes because there is a hole there until I put it back. I love your idea, though, for smaller amounts of floss. You're so clever!
I love the wall decor! lol too funny ,,,, I use to cross stitch years ago. I still have all my floss and store each skein in these little ziplock bags that was purchased just for this. then I bought a tote with a handle and keep the bags organized by number. i write the number of the floss on the bag. i will take a pic of it and send today...I can just throw in the little thread pieces as well and not have to worry about them getting mixed up with other colors..
ReplyDeleteGreat idea! My (few) skeins of embroidery floss are untouched, mainly because I'm not sure what to do with the strands that I'll have left over. Must try your idea.
ReplyDelete