Spool Organizer

Here is my new spool organizer that I also happened to finish this weekend (yay for weekends!).  I got tired of digging through various different plastic containers trying to remember where I stored a certain colour spool of thread or trying to find the matching bobbin.



I started with the following raw materials (mostly bought at Michael's):

- one 12" x 24" piece of plywood
- two 1/8" diameter wooden rods to be chopped down into 2.5" long dowels
- random rectangular wooden pieces
- two strips of magnets
- a little birdie tree ornament on sale for $1.50 that caught my eye while I was in line to pay
- fabric
- glue
- ribbon

My friend Rick helped me drill the holes for the dowels since I wanted all the holes at the same angle (approx. 30 deg. from horizontal) and didn't trust myself to do that consistently.  He machined a little plastic guide that he used to align his drill to and look how neatly all of those dowels stand up!

I originally planned to paint the left half of the piece of plywood but later opted for fabric because I liked the texture.  I left the right half of the board free of holes so I could sew in pockets for my other sewing accessories.

I upholstered the right half of the board with the same colourful fabric that I used for Mya Ella's Dress (isn't it cheerful?).  To give it a softer feel I included one layer of batting between the wood board and the cloth, and also behind each of the pockets.  Then I sewed some simple white ribbon/binding to act as a divider between tools and to join up the left and right halves of the board.

Next I glued on the rectangular wooden pieces right over the cloth and added the magnets for holding my bobbins. In retrospect I should have probably nailed the rectangular pieces into the board so that they would be more secure but I was afraid the strips of wood were too flimsy and might split on me. Besides glue is just easier!

Finally the finishing touch - the birdie ornament not only had the right "hand-made" feel to it but it was perfect for a pin cushion. Now I just need to hang this up on the wall above my sewing table and I'll be set!