Needle holder aka lipstick

2-3 years ago, as one of my lipsticks wore down to the casing, I wondered if it would be possible to recycle it as a needle holder. These are handy. I have one (left) that had been given to me, and I use it.. 

The clean casings are no doubt purchased cheaply in bulk. I decided to give recycling a go.

Step one was to find the lip brush I knew I had. That done, I used it to apply the lipstick still in the lower part of the casing. It took quite a while, several years. For the last few months it’s the only lipstick I’ve used, so I could hasten the process. 

Today it was done. There was no longer enough colour on the brush to apply to my lips.That did not, however, mean the cavity was clean. Lipstick is persistent, sticky stuff. It clings to brushes, resists soap and detergents.

As I needed the casing to be as clean as possible, I used tissues and bamboo buds - a lot more than is pictured here.

I repeated the process over and over. I tried wet wipes. I tried detergent. Eventually I reached a point where tissue emerged almost clean.                                    

I hadn’t expected that lipstick would have found its way underneath the clear plastic casing in which it sits. 

While I could remove some of that with paper, some remained embedded below, impossible to get to.

When all accessible surfaces were clear of lipstick, I constructed an insert of wool fibre and a little lid from red velvet. Seemed appropriate. It was very fiddly to insert. 

I used Aquadhere around the edges - not a very exact process, given the space in which it is required.

It works. It is useful. Is it worth the effort? Probably not. 

My grandparent, and parents were adept at such conversions, using something that was to be discarded to create something useful, usually something they couldn’t afford. 

I don’t need to do that, but I do want to reduce waste, especially discarded plastic going to landfill. OK, it's small. but it's hard to recycle, and there are a lot out there.

I have another useful needle holder. I extended the life of lipstick that was perfectly good but needed a brush to access. However, in the conversion, as well as detergent, I used tissues and cotton buds (on bamboo sticks) in quantity. On balance I don’t think I did a lot to help the environment. 

Looks like I’ll have to find a cosmetic zero waste box in the unlikely event that I ever use up and discard one of my remaining 4 lipsticks!

Earring Organiser - no stitching required

I have been stitching. I'm a few days away from finishing the Christine Bishop Pulled Work Mat and will report on it within a week. I did, however, get carried away with another madwoman project on Saturday, and in the end it didn't require stitching.

Before I moved to the apartment where I now live, my earrings were stored on the inside of a cupboard door. The cupboard was an old one, made of boards. The doors were braced on the inside with horizontal wooden strips at the top and bottom. By tacking a piece of cotton fabric to these strips, stretching it between, I had a surface into which I could hook earrings. It was convenient and easy.

The cupboard was too big for my apartment, so I lost the earring hanger.

In the meantime, I bought an earring 'book' from the Innovations Catalogue. It worked OK for stud earrings, but was a messy solution for hooks, especially if the earrings had any length. It makes choosing earrings a chore. These days I don't wear earrings every day, but the effort of finding what I want is a disincentive, so I stick to a few I keep in a box near my bed.

 Early last week, when picking up a newly framed photo, I began to wonder if a frame would work in the same way as my old cupboard door. I got to considering whether I had anything I could adapt and came up with a scroll frame. It was for a particular project and I haven't used it since. I put it aside to think about and to look for fabric.

On Saturday morning, the Create in Stitch email advertised a shipment of stretcher frames (photo right from their email). I had rejected the one I have as being too small for the earring project, but the email indicated the shop now had stretcher bars up to 26". Wow! I headed straight there after my supermarket shopping.

In fact, they had them up to 28"! I came home with a set and got to work.

A hunt through my stash came up with a limited number of fabric pieces big enough. I found an accessible place I could hang it  on my bedroom wall, below a painting Brigid had done around 10 years ago. I rejected bright flowery prints and a dark green linen in favour of a pale, dusty pink double damask that complemented the painting.    

I haven’t used my staple gun for several years, but it was loaded with staples. I managed to staple one side, then pull the fabric tight, one side at a time, stapling the fabric to the inside of the stretcher, all without stapling my fingers. It took a while, and was tiring, but successful. 

I found a long braid I made in a lucet workshop and attached it under Brigid’s painting,  to the same hook. It hung well below the painting. I used a hook to attach the frame to the braid. My original thought was to stitch it, but Create in Stitch suggested a hook, and it worked.

Pretty well, I thought. 

Next was the hunt for my earrings. Many were in the earring book, but others had strayed. When I found them I sorted them. A few singles went into my oddments tin to use as embellishments or cord stoppers. I have a small box of pairs to be mended: a job for Beads on Parade    

 The remainder I added to the hanging frame. I kept back a  few small studs and hoops as too fiddly. I’m not sure yet if I will keep these in the earring book, or in a jewellery box beside my bed.

I probably could have managed with smaller stretchers - 24" maybe - as I'm not planning on buying more earrings. It doesn't, however, look out of place. I like the way it has turned out. It seems fitting: useful and decorative. It remains to be seen if it works.

 

Canvas Stitches on Linen Madness

On the last Saturday in August I attended a Guild Certificate Workshop on Canvas Stitches on Linen taken by Margaret Adams. I worked on some 22 count Permin, rather looser weave than the samples most worked on. I felt a bit regretful when I saw the quite delicate pincushion results of others. I had also picked dramatic rather than gentle colours.

Margaret provided heaps of information and samples. Her design left plenty of room for improvising and personalising.

I was having a fine time playing with the stitches and kept going when I got home. I found it hard to put it down.

It brought back to mind my High School Maths end of year activity - what our teacher called 'mathematical sewing'. We drew geometric shapes on card, marked the outlines in pinpricks every 1/8", then used a needle and thread to stitch from one hole to another - straight lines creating curves. This is essentially what we were doing here on linen. 

This is roughly according to Margaret's sample.

I checked out books I have on Bargello, canvas work and tapestry to fill in around the sample stitches.

I didn't need a pincushion, and this was getting too big and too textured. Obviously it needed to become a bag.

I added another border to make it easier to back. At the same time I hunted through my stash for lining and backing fabric, coming up with a shiny synthetic and a little bit of red velvet.

I couldn't decide between them, so took them along to the Junior Embroiderer' Group on Saturday and asked their opinion. They were really helpful - and quite clear. The velvet should be used for the back and it should be lined in shiny pink.

It took me a couple of hours of ironing, measuring and testing to get this done, but I got there. I had originally intended to close it with a zip, but changed my mind and designed a flap and looped fastener - using a good luck charm given to me by the monk Jim used to meet with to practice English and learn Buddhism.   

The pouch is for two of my red necklaces.

It's not perfect - but it's finished, I've learnt a lot, it uses thread, fabric and decorations with memories, I like it a lot and it has a use. My kind of result.

Thanks Margaret and JEMS.