Boxing Clever- Part Two

Do you remember this sewing box? I blogged about it here

I acquired it in July 2012, and asked for suggestions about refurbishment. It’s home-made [what Tim on Bargain Hunt refers to as ‘shed work’!] I decided that as the wood wasn’t of good quality, I would paint it, and then line the three trays with fabric. I had some blue paint out in the summer [for those garden chairs] and while I was in the garden repainting them, Bob took the box to bits.

I sanded it down and gave it a coat of primer, then painted it blue. Here it is at primer stage back in July 2013.

I found a lovely piece of fabric in my bag of bits from Rita and Sandie, which was an American patchwork piece. I carefully made patterns for the trays using thinnish card and worked out that there was just enough!

I cut out the pieces and sewed them by hand, using the card for stiffness, then dropped them into the trays, sticking them in place with a little PVA

 

The rectangles on the lids are padded slightly with a little wadding, so that I can pin needles and pins there. There’s a button in the centre of each lid. Two rather special Liberty buttons – I have another use for them on a particular garment I may make one day – but for now they are in use here, to remind me often of a special friend and a brilliant weekend we shared.

Here’s some of the pretty lining fabric close up –isn’t it great?

The original knobs were missing – but Bob drilled these two large 1960’s coat buttons – and put a nut underneath to raise them slightly. I’m really pleased with the project and my plan is to use it as my ‘Work In Progress’ box. I will keep basics in the top two trays [scissors, tape measure, pins, needles, a few spools of thread etc] and then an ongoing project [sewing or knitting] in the larger bottom tray

Thank you everybody for your earlier suggestions, and to R&S for fabric, M for buttons [and as usual, Bob for his practical assistance] I feel I should point out that when Bob dismantled the box, he painstakingly labelled the wooden struts 1,2,3…8 and marked their corresponding 16 screw holes on the trays. And then I painted over his numbers! Fortunately it didn’t matter too much and we were able to re-assemble without any problems.

Perhaps I should retitle this post Boxing Stupid?