A moment of mad self indulgence came over me when we were in the market hall in Krakow this summer. One of the stalls had a mesmerising selection of sewing boxes. Because I already have sewing boxes with a light stain I went straight for the high gloss dark varnish.
Then I had to examine the lids and decide which design I liked best. These flowers and leaves seem to rotate, and they are outlined with an embedded metal inlay.
The curved sides to the compartments and the cream stripes are all so gloriously unnecessary. There is nothing quite like decoration for its own sake - reminiscent of many of the buildings nearby.
The box is now filled with all my stranded cotton embroidery threads. With a bit of luck keeping them in separate compartments will prevent them ending up in one great almighty tangle. They can become five smaller tangles instead.
Welcome to Maria, the latest follower - thank you for joining!
For some reason I have ended up with three sewing boxes. For years two of them have been in this state, next to useless. Every time a screw was replaced it would work itself loose. Eventually screws and washers would get lost.
The smallest and prettiest box is of a far more ingenious design.
The corners have a triangular wedge glued into them...
...and the compartments pivot on a rod of dowelling set through all three tiers.
This box has spent a bit of quality time in the shed with my husband. The annoying loose bars and screws have gone...
... and he has put wedges in the corners and dowelling.
The handles needed to have a small section shaved out to give the compartments room to swivel.
Now I can open up the whole sewing box at once. It is ideal for storing my quilting threads, because I can see them all at a glance instead of rummaging through a tin.
An added bonus is that the compartments can be lifted off the dowelling...
... so if I just want a few of the colours to hand, they are all together in their own little tray.
My husband offered to fill in the old screw holes and clean the box up to make it a bit smarter. No need, I said, I was too thrilled and grateful already.
Welcome to six new followers today - Martha Davis, Sharyn Mallow Woerz, Scrappy 101, M. Verheij, Laurel Braunstein and Gretchen. Thank you for joining!
Linking up with Connie's blog Freemotion by the River for Linky Tuesday
