Travel Sewing Kit

 Altered Mint Tin

My parents spend quite a lot of time in waiting rooms as my father, who has early-onset Alzheimer's, is on a new trial at Addenbrooke's hospital, Cambridge.  My Mum takes her knitting along with her, so I thought I would make her a little travel sewing kit ready for when she stitches up finished items.

I upcycled an old mint tin by colouring it with alcohol inks and then painting the lid with a coat of emulsion (vinyl) paint.  The next step was to stamp an all over flourish pattern using white StazOn ink.  The die-cut shapes were cut with my trusty Sizzix machine and I used the same motifs for both the paper and felt. The needlebook was cut using a 'Matchbook' die which gave it a lovely embossed line along the length of its spine.

The little needlecase fits neatly into the tin lid, leaving plenty of room for thread, scissors, thimble and other sewing essentials. 

My Mum also keeps various other 'essential' items in it including tweezers and nail-clippers, but I whipped these out of the way for this set of photos! 

The tin is lined with the same soft pink felt as I used for the pages of the needle-book. Once all the stitching and gluing was complete, I varnished the outside of the tin for a little added protection. 

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Finally, here's a couple of pictures from lunch on Easter Sunday, it's hard to believe it was just last week!  It was a bit chaotic once the guests arrived, so I only managed to get a couple of photos in the morning.  We seated thirty-one in total, one at each end with fourteen down one side and fifteen along the other.  The menu consisted of soup and bread for starters, jacket potatoes with salads for the main course and then a 'shared' (each family bringing a contribution) sweet trolley. Once we had finished eating the children had an egg hunt in the garden and then we 'geocached' around the local countryside.  

I had intended placing the egg cosies on the table as a place marker for each guest, however we then decided this was asking for them to get covered in food, so we popped them onto the windowsill instead.

If you fancy winning a pair of egg cosies, don't forget you have until midnight tomorrow to enter my Egg Cosy Giveaway.  To take part you simply have to leave a comment on this blog and sign up to follow it either through Blogger or Bloglovin'.  The winner will receive a handmade pair of linen egg cosies lovingly appliqued in any design or colour scheme chosen from these. 

Good Luck!