I like mesh bags. They keep crafting supplies together. They let fibers breathe. And you can see through the bag so you know what is in it. Hence, I was rather happy when I came across a nested set of three mesh zippered bags while cleaning out the house in Pennsylvania. The set included instructions to make a Threader Keep Adornment — a fob with a pocket. This project came from Napier Needlepoint in Stockton, California. The chart has a 1998 copyright date. I am not sure how this came into my mother's stash. Maybe it wasn't even one of hers? I don't recall my mother traveling to California.
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| Picture on the kit from Napier Needlepoint, Stockton, CA. Many options! |
The kit included a small piece of canvas, a chart, a needle threader, and a metal clip. The stitcher supplies the embroidery thread, needles, glue, ribbon backing, beads, and tassel. This is where what should be a quick project kept running longer and longer. It took me a couple days digging through what is now a much too large embroidery stash to decide. I originally thought about making my fob white and turquoise. But I had some turquoise and chartreuse threads from an old project. They seemed like a great choice!
The project calls for two threads — one shiny and one variegated. I used three different shiny Kreinik threads. The green is two different greens, size #4 braid. The turquoise blue is size #8 braid but it didn't cover the canvas as well as two size #4 braids did. I laid in a long piece and then worked tent stitch on top of it, which also added relief to make it stand out. The tassel is size 10 crochet cotton from the big box store. Beads came out of the bead stash. (How did I end up with so many beads in my stash? I don't remember why or if I bought them. Are they breeding?)
Assembling the whole thing took two trips to the big box store. The first trip
was to acquire ¾-inch ribbon to use as backing. When you assemble the fob
you fold the ribbon to create a pocket for a needle threader. The second trip
was to purchase the gold jump rings and lobster claw clasps. The little cord
in the picture is a Chinese crown knot worked with size 10 crochet cotton in
both turquoise and lime green. I've put lobster claw claps at each end so I
can unclip the needle threader if that makes it easier to use. If the bag is
full of items, it can be awkward to use a threader on a too-short tether.
Like the scissor case, this is one of those projects that probably took longer to assemble than it did to stitch. On the other hand, using up scraps was fun! The design is a sort of needlepoint doodle.
There are still unfinished embroidery projects from my mother's stash. At this
point, I've completed all the ones I thought of as almost finished. Everything
else has significant work remaining. And I need to recover my knitting mojo.
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