a little book of needles

My mum always seems to have her sewing tin out about the house. As a rule it can be found on her bed. During my childhood mum used a family circle biscuit tin to put her sewing stash in. The tin was updated a few years ago and all mums sewing bits and pieces now reside in a gold coloured tin from Marks and Spencers. The tin is packed with bobbins of various shades, a mix of cotton and polyester threads, there are normally a couple of zips lurking in there and a selection of odd buttons. And there you will find the needle book. It has a woven black and white cover with a fringed edge, there are six or so soft white woven pages and every page is pricked with needles along with the occasional pin. I will ask my mum next time I am home who gave it to her, as I don't know for sure. My mum bought a sewing basket for me in 1981 that I still use today, but I have never owned a needle book. So I decided to make myself one while I had my sewing machine out. I have used bright pink felt from John Lewis, pink print cotton drill from Liberty and leftover red cotton drill from my knitting stash bag and needle case. I decided against attaching a button and loop of cord to form a fasten but might add this to other variations on the needle book theme; John Lewis had a great selection of coloured felt to choose from and I am tempted to make some more needle books for presents.

By the way I keep all my bobbins in a biscuit tin too - Baicoli, famosi biscotti Veneziani.