A Pinterest Pin Redone ~ My Great Granny Needlebook ~
Last week I found an adorable needle book on Pinterest. I pinned it right away, then clicked on the link to see if I could find out any more information. Bitty Bits & Pieces is where I found this cute needle book. And while there is no actual tutorial, she did give her finished measurements and the measurements of all the tiny blocks she used to make hers. I took down the measurements and got to work.
I kept with her original bitty block sizes and pulled scraps from my AMH stash. (Perfect scrap buster!!!) I moved around the blocks until I found a combo I liked then stitched them all together. I pressed my seams open which I think works better with such tiny blocks.
Once all the rows were assembled, I got out my 4″x4″ ruler and trimmed the excess down so I could decide how wide and long I wanted my borders. The measurements were not listed on her site, so I opted for 1 1/2″ borders. The linen I used was from my stash from Fabrics-Store.com.
Here is the finished front piece. To create a full front back panel piece, I took another piece of the linen at equal size and stitched them together 1/4″. Before I moved on to the interior piece, I cut a piece of cotton batting and used a little temporary adhesive on it so I could topstitch around the bitty block border and give the front some padding.
The Pinterest version had a snap closure that I used as well. I added maybe 1″ more to one snap piece so it could handle a larger tool or spool of thread. Just a personal preference. So with my exterior good-to-go I measured out a longer piece of linen that was equal to my front/back panel. I also took some of my AMH scraps and stitched a few together to make a scrappy panel for my small pockets. The pockets measured 2 1/2″ tall when finished and went along the whole length of the interior.
With both sides done, I stitched the front and back panels right sides together 1/4″ leaving an opening on the top back. I turned it out, gave it a good press, then topstitched 1/8″ around all 4 sides. To make the needle catcher, I cut 2 longer pieces of fleece and stitched them into the inside using the middle stitch marking as a guide. All done!
It’s projects like these that make Pinterest such a wonderful site! I’m so glad I found this pin and have it on my DIY Pincusions board to look at again when I need it. Have a great weekend everyone! Cindy