About a Sewing Box

My Dad's next-door neighbour sadly died on Friday morning.  I didn't know her well, but she was a very good friend of my Dad's.  She had no immediate family, so when she went into a nursing home last year, she asked my Dad to empty her house for her.

He mentioned to me that there was an old sewing box, in need of repair, and would I be interested in it.  Obviously, I said yes.  So a while ago I picked up the sewing box and brought it home.

It's got some staining on the lids and the old hinges on one of the lids were completely broken.

I bought some new hinges, slightly bigger than the originals, but the smallest I could find and then put them away and did no more.

So, on Friday afternoon, after hearing the sad news about my Dad's neighbour, I thought it would be an appropriate time to try and repair the sewing box.

I intended to replace all the hinges but it took me so long to replace the broken ones - dodgy screws, a broken drill bit and several attempts to line up the lid with the box.  Not the prettiest of D-I-Y jobs but I was happy just to get the lid securely attached.  I'll replace the other hinges another time and maybe sand and re-varnish the lid.

There's plenty of room in the sewing box for storage.  I kept hold of some of the original contents of the box - cotton reels, bandages and some Christmas decorations!

Then I remembered a selection of craft papers I had.

The sewing theme of the papers would make them perfect to use to line the trays of the sewing box.

And here it is with it's colourful make-over.

I added a little piece of paper with Friday's date on it - just to remember my Dad's neighbour.  The paper is pale lilac with a white polka dot pattern - totally appropriate for a lady called Dot White!

It feels good to be able to give a new lease of life to the sewing box.  Now I can't wait to fill and organise the trays with my crafting bits and bobs.