Vintage Sewing Box as part of Getting Organised with Eileen Hull Designs (including a crinoline flower tutorial)

Hi everyone and welcome. Well officially Spring has arrived, though I wish the weather would take note of that fact!!! Ignoring the snow and ice, I'm thrilled to have had a new Wendy Vecchi Spring canvas tutorial published on the Ranger Ink blog. It uses lots of the 2018 releases from Ranger including Wendy's new Archival Ink colours, Perfect Cardstock and the brilliant Detail Blending Tools. I would love for you to check it out HERE and let me know what you think.

Turning to today's blog post, and traditionally at this time of year our thoughts turn to Spring cleaning and clearing the clutter. For those of us with an ever increasing mountain of craft supplies keeping them in order is essential! So throughout March Eileen Hull's Inspiration Team are getting organised using Eileen's fabulous die designs from Sizzix.

Vintage Sewing Box

Whenever my sewing machine comes out there are a few essentials needed; reels of cotton with their corresponding bobbins, pins, un-picker, scissors, needles etc. Having been inspired by a small sewing box created by Jennalee Anderson I decided to make one of my own. I used Eileen's 'Trinket Box' Scoreboards XL Die from Sizzix to make the box - a tutorial for creating it can be found on my blog HERE. To add the pincushion part at the top I inserted a piece of felt from the reverse through the oval cut out, stuffing it with toy wadding before gluing in place the smaller lid pieces on the underside.

The Close Up Details

Looking inside you can see just how much this 'Tardis like' little box can hold! Yet its petite size (measuring just 5" x 3 1/2") means that this box can be stored on your sewing machine platform comfortably, meaning it will always be ready to hand when you need to get stitching.

Keeping the decoration relatively simple, the design papers from The Far East Stack by DCWV have been accented with some black lace trim and there are a few sewing themed embellishments on the lid. Alongside the little brass scissors and buttons I cut a 'spool' from card and wrapped cotton thread around it. The wire wool curls were shaped using Eileen's 'Twist N Style Tool' and I added a vintage style crinoline flower to complete the ensemble. For those who'd like to create their own flowers I've added a tutorial below.

Crinoline Flower Tutorial

My little flower was inspired by those created by Tammy Tutterow and Linda Coughlin. Here's how it came together;

Cut flower shaped from white crinoline using the die from Eileen's 'Stitchy Flowers & Leaf' Thinlits Die Set by Sizzix. You will need three flower shapes for each completed flower.

Spray each flower shape with Antique Linen Distress Spray Stain and allow to dry (or dry with a heat tool).

Give the flowers an aged watermarked feel by spritzing them with water, allowing it to react with the ink before dabbing with some tissue.

Whilst still damp scrunch each flower shape into a ball, clamp together with tweezers and dry with a heat tool.

Unfurl each flower piece and layer three together. Stitch the layers together in the centre to secure in place.

To finish, cut white centre stamens using the die from the same Stitchy Flowers & Leaf set (I used Sizzix Paper Leather for its durability but you could use card). Use strong glue to attach it to the centre of the flower, then add a bead of 'Onyx Pearl' Liquid Pearls from Ranger in the centre, allowing it to air dry. I have an idea for using more of these flowers so do stay tuned for that!

Well that's my sewing essentials taken care of, now my thoughts turn to dealing with some of my other crafting supplies! My team mates have been putting together their own organisation projects and I know it has inspired me to make more having seen what they've done. Make sure you check out Eileen Hull's website throughout March to see their clever ideas.

I'll be back again tomorrow with a new Frilly and Funkie DT project for the current challenge. Until then take care of yourselves and get creative!

Jenny xxx