Double-Decker Floss Bobbins

I LOOK AT ALL OF YOUR BLOGS. HOWEVER

MY BLOGGER WILL NOT LET ME COMMENTS
ON YOUR BLOGS. NOW I GET A DIFFERENT KIND
OF MESSAGE THAT SAYS "I DO NOT HAVE ACCESS
TO VIEW YOUR BLOGS". WHATEVER DOES THAT
MEAN? IF ANYONE KNOWS HOW TO FIX THIS
PROBLEM I SURE WOULD APPRECIATE THE ADIVCE!

THANK YOU.

I hope that all of you had a very

nice Halloween. Now that its over we await

Thanksgiving and Christmas. I have always combined

both of these holidays together ever since my hubby

and I have been married. I enjoy that season very

much because at those times I am not in the bed

dealing with environmental allergies.

There are all kinds of bobbins to hold floss. Everyone

is familiar with the small cardboard or small plastic

bobbins that is generally used in all of those plastic

boxes. But have you ever seen these?

 I found them this past Spring at the Thrift Store.

Someone definitely decided that they did not want

to cross stitch anymore. Anyway I have searched

in vain on the internet looking for these double-decker

floss bobbins. I cannot find them. I do not know if

someone made them or if they were bought this

way. I have never seen anything like them in all of

my years of cross stitching.

 So nicely wrapped. They have never been used.

 Look at the pile. All of these double-decker floss

bobbins were on huge rings. These bobbins are made out of

plastic but the plastic is not a thick plastic. Also the

plastic seems to have an almost glitter glow.

I will make a pattern for this double-decker

floss bobbin and post it next week for you. I will also

give you the dimensions of the pattern so you can be

sure to print it out in the right size.

 Take a good look and let me know what you think.

 These are not the same bobbins as I have above. These

bobbins are the large bobbins that sell online. These

do come in double-decker. However I have seen these

online and they do not look like the ones I have above.

 Thread Savers is also a source of floss bobbins.

These are very nice and made of wood. The directions

tell you how to use these. Arent these nice.

Of course if you still like to put your floss on those

small cardboard or plastic bobbins then thats okay.

You can keep these bobbins and glue scrapbook

paper on them. You can use pink paper for pink floss,

blue paper for blue floss and etc...

But if you are looking for an inexpensive change you can always

convert those bobbins to the Singer Sewing Machine metal

or plastic bobbins. These bobbins are not very

expensive and look so cute. You can nearly always

find those sewing machine bobbins at thrift stores.

Have a nice day and thank you for visiting

me

Hopblogger

If you dont like

displaying your floss on rings & hanging them because

it looks too messy or busy for you - then perhaps the answer

is to use 2 wooden cup holders. Having both of them the same

color helps to unify the team. Later I plan on fixing the tops of both

of these cup holders. Maybe I will paint them - who knows!

by Hopblogger

Another use for a COUNTERTOP CUP RACK??

Sorry it has taken me so long to post. My new hutch that my

DH put together - is finished and

now sits on top of my sewing table.

The only thing left that it needs is the trim put on. It is taking a while

to organize everything. Still I am not through so bear with me.

I will post pictures of what everything looks like, later on. Most people

like the plastic bobbin boxes. I dont like all of that winding. By the time

that you wind it all you could have already been stitching. The idea of

placing floss on rings is not a new idea but my idea is!

I hope that you like my new IDEA this week about the

COUNTERTOP CUP RACK. Surely you used to have

one or perhaps you still have it. Take yours or someone else's!! And

display it as a FLOSS HOLDER. Yep, thats right. Its perfect.

First: sort your colors by grouping together color families.

Reds & pinks, yellows & oranges, blue, purples etc... That is how

I have seen others doing it.

Second: thread all of your floss onto a shower ring or floss ring. Mine

is threaded on the large metal floss rings by DMC.

Third: once floss is on the rings then place it on the cup hooks.

You can easily find your color that you are looking for in 2 ways. Either

you know what number each color is or you be sure to

download DMC's color chart and place the chart close to this idea.

That way you will always know what color is in what family.

Also, when the floss becomes too small to hang from the ring - then

wind it on a bobbin & put in a plastic floss box if you like. Or you can

put the leftover pieces in a pile & save it for all of those odd jobs where

you need bits and pieces. The 4th photo shows the top where you

can store extra rings. Look at that, everything is together!

The last photo shows the floss cup rack on my new hutch. By the way

my mothers jewelry box that turned into a floss box is still just that.

Only now it stores specialty threads like the linen floss & variegated flosses.

Hope you like this idea.

by Hopblogger

Plastic has already

left the building!! Take a look at my OLD & NEW wooden

floss box. The first 3 pictures is a gentle reminder of how the jewelry

chest looked inside & out. Moma's chest measurements

do differ from Herrschners so therefore not all 450

threads are going to fit into mine. Each of my drawers will only

hold about 83 floss bobbins - but it doesnt matter because

I dont have all of 450 floss colors. I will get them as I need them

just like everyone else does. My husband helped me clean

out the inside of each of the drawers. We found that

the inside cloth was unsalvageable. It must have been dry-rot

because some of it pulled right up out of the drawers.

It only took us about a

couple of hours to clean it out & to sand down the outside.

Thanks hubby!!

As you can see the box is so pretty now. I applied 2 coats

of black paint on it & now it has a rich look. Dont you agree.

I cut 4 pieces of cardboard for each drawer from cereal boxes

& covered them with a pretty cream linen with blue flowers.

The fabric feels so good between your fingers.

When I finally got to the last drawer - I was so excited

that I decided to lay it on top of the chest. Excitement

drove me to start putting the floss bobbins inside before

the box was completed. All of the floss fit into 3 of the

drawers - with the exception of 34 which will go into the last drawer.

Couldnt help myself!!

Below is also a pict of the plastic fishing tackle box

that my sis gave to me full of bobbin floss. Look at all
of those pretty colors - they look even better inside of the

jewelry chest. Thank you momma for the chest & thank you sis

for all of the floss!

I didnt have any need for a jewelry chest - you have to own

jewelry for it. I am so happy with this wooden floss box - so happy

that I am hoping that it can be handed down into the family to

future generations. The cardboard dividers that I put inside

each drawer to divide the floss bobbins are not glued in just in case

one of my descendants decides to use it for its intended purpose. That is

the reason for not covering the cardboard dividers with fabric.

Keep an eye out for a large jewelry chest or several chests the same

size - do a remake,remix,reuse with your jewelry chest. If you dont need

a floss box - why not remake it over into something that you

could use. On the outside of each drawer stencil each

drawer lace, ribbon or beads! These drawers are deep

enough to accomodate ribbon boxes. Hey

you can even reuse it as a sewing box - & number the drawers 1 to 5 or name

those drawers needles, scissors, threads, & pins. If the drawers are

wide like mine try dividing some of the drawers in half or 4ths or 8ths.

Have some fun & break away from the plastic box!

by Hopblogger

Herrschners craft catalog

came into my snail box last week. It is the first magazine that I have ever

received from them. Of course I immediately opened it up & thumbed

through it - loving everything that I saw - as usual.

On page 17 was a very nice 6 drawer walnut floss cabinet for $200.00. Kind of

steep price. So pretty it is......well I cant pay that. Eventually

I put that magazine away & tried to forget about that cute little

floss cabinet. On saturday I went to my grandaughters

house & helped her clean out her room. She gave me back my

mothers jewlry box stating that she would never have

any jewelry to put inside. Hesitantly i brought it back home & put it on

my sewing table - thinking that perhaps

my momma wanted me to have it back.

It was only the following day when I looked thru Herrschners again

that I had a bright idea!!

The first cabinet below is from the magazine & it holds about 75 floss

bobbins in each drawer. The 2cd box has a different

style altogether but that is okay. It is or shall I say

WAS my mothers jewelry chest

& she has owned that box for about 36 to 38 years. In fact I gave it

to her! It was so pretty when it was brand new & all she ever

put inside it was costume jewelry. Anyway the box

is a little beat up & has seen its better days - time for a makeover!

by Hopblogger

DO YOU REMEMBER THAT...

yellow & blue CD case (or whatever it was) a few postings back -

well look at it now. They were not all that

difficult to cut - so I cut the back pieces into cartonnettes. They

are 6 inches high & 4 & 1/2 inches across. The cartonnettes are

different & colorful & really very sturdy with or without the

lace wrapped around them. These book or CD cases would

be very pretty in your floss box as floss bobbins or simply wrap lace or

ribbons around them. So pretty the colors are! I hope that

you can find these items to REMAKE those cases. Keep an eye out for them!

by Hopblogger

I really cannot remember

where I found these at or how long that I have held onto them.

I cannot even remember what their original purpose was for??

Have you ever seen any of these before?? Do you know what they

are?? I believe that they once held CD's - or perhaps some kind of a

thin baby book.

Well, whatever their function was before - I know what you can do

with these if you happen to find any of them. Try to find alot of them

if you can because this idea you might really like! Click on the photo to see

the texture a little better. Sorry guys about the photos but it has been hard

to capture the images as they are light colored. As you can see I also had a blue one

that I already cut to pieces. This book or CD case

is sturdy enough & flexible enough to use. Take an empty

plastic floss bobbin & use

it as a pattern - draw around it onto the plastic & cut them out. You can

even cut the slits at the bottom to hold the floss in. Voila - so easy

& you just might be the only ones to possess colored

floss bobbins. Another great idea is to cut a bigger floss bobbin

from the back - put a slit in it & wind your laces or

ribbons around it. I think I will do that since I dont need

anymore floss bobbins. Once I finish this then

I will post you a photo of it. Also do not throw away

any of those little pieces - you could cut out little

stars & use them as buttons. I hope that you can use this idea. Enjoy

this one.

by Hopblogger

DISPLAY OR NOT.....

How do you store your Embroidery Floss, Buttons, Lace &

Ribbons? Do you store them in glass jars, boxes,

dresser drawers & closets. Do you enjoy beauty or

hard working functionality? I happen to like both of

these. Are your collections

small or large? I love all of that stuff & have a hard time deciding

on how to store it. So, it all boils down to display it or not.

Dust - a common allergy dictates most of that decision for me.

Space dictates the other.

Organization is hard in a small space.

Function - I like simple, easy, reusing, remaking it & mixing

it all up. I also like for it to be pretty!

The picts below are only 2 of my flatware chests that I have kept

for many years stored in my attic - not knowing what

I would use them for.

But because they are nice wood - I havent

been so eager to toss them out!

It finally dawned on me what to remake with them

after looking at many of the French blogs concerning

their cardboard boxes - which I find them to be beautifully handmade

with exceptional quality. Oh! how I desire one of them!

I am in love with cloth covered cartonnage - the

french word for cardboard.

Sorry guys - I had already stripped the inside

of the flatware boxes & applied

one coat of white paint on the inside of one of them before I

took these photo's. The other

box will be covered in cloth on the inside.

These boxes would be great for storing

lace & ribbons on cardboard holders which is what the

french call cartonnettes. Have you seen the wood boxes

that hold embroidery floss? They are expensive, beautiful & by me

unattainable!

Well thats exactly what

my 2 flatware boxes are going to hold. They are going to

experience & begin a new life

for holding embroidery floss bobbins! Check out those French

blogs & look at the cardboard dividers they cut from

cardboard & cover with cloth.

One of these boxes will be

going to my daughter. I will post the picts when I am finished.

The only problem - is deciding if I should paint or cloth the outside

of the boxes.....decisions, decisions.

by Hopblogger