Posted in Past Generation Repurposing, Projects to Make | 3 Comments »
Repurposed Sewing Kits from our Grandmother’s time
May 7th, 2006
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Repurposing (the process, not the word) is not new. (I do think the word “repurpose” as I use it here, came about just a few years ago.) My good friend, Kit Cassingham, shared some repurposed treasures that her Grandmother made years and years ago – two different styled sewing kits. One made from a repurposed pill bottle, and one made from (believe it or not) a lipstick tube! I thought these were just too cool! (Click on the pictures for a bigger view.)
Let’s look at the contents of the pill bottle sewing kit. The base of the kit is a piece of felt, cut in a rectangle the same width as the pill bottle, and about three times as long. The length would be determined based on how much felt will fit in the pill bottle once rolled up, jelly-roll style.
Grandma added the following to the sewing kit:
* 3 safety pins
* 9 straight pins – 1 a long hat pin
* 3 white buttons (different sizes) sewn to the felt
* 3 dark buttons (different sizes) sewn to the felt
* 3 sets of hooks and eyes (two silver, one black) sewn to the felt
* 3 snap sets (two black and one silver) sewn to the felt
* 1 needle with white thread wrapped around it. I would have added a second needle and dark thread. (To see this, click on the picture for a bigger view.)
That is indeed a really thorough set of sewing supplies!
The second sewing kit, the one made out of a lipstick case, is really, really unique. This one was made from a metal lipstick case. Once the lipstick was cleaned out (I use a lip brush to finish the lipstick inside my case), here’s what can go inside:
* Needles, safety pins, straight pins, snaps, hooks and eyes, and buttons can all fit inside the lipstick tube. 
* Thread can be wrapped around the tube
* In this one, a thimble fit on top of the lipstick case
I would love to hear if you’ve found anything repurposed from past generations. Sometimes I feel that that was a time when so much less was wasted and people RELIED on creativity to repurpose things into items they needed and wanted. Less was thrown away AND less was bought. Sigh…
Your Frugal Decorating Diva,
Nancy
Sally Gregory on 15 Jan 2007 at 12:41 pm: 1
My grandmother used an old wine bottle as a rolling pin. Her “rolling board” was a piece of 1/4 inch plywood. The board was probably sanded down back in the day, but had been used so many times that the flour worked its way into the crevices which made it very smooth. I have good memories of her baking and making dumplings using her bottle and board.
nancy on 15 Jan 2007 at 1:00 pm: 2
You know what! I really LIKE what your grandmother did. My chief complaint with rolling things out is that they STICK to EVERYTHING I have tried to use. I bet with that flour in the wood grain, it was a DREAM to work on. I want to try making one of these!
Daniel on 21 Sep 2007 at 2:37 am: 3
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