Sewing Rolls and other needlework toys

Historically small accessories for needlework were called "Toys". Today we sometimes call them smalls or even still call them toys. They can be things such as pin cushions, needlebooks, scissors sheaths, fobs, emeries or anything else that stitchers create, collect and use. Many times they are stitched but can also be made of fabric, paper, and Bristol board to name just a few of the materials but fabulous examples are created with Mother of Pearl, gold or silver. One of the very useful accessories is a sewing roll. It could combine a pincushion, a flannel piece for needles or pins and often has a pocket to store buttons or thread. It is then rolled up and can be placed in a pocket or bag. There are so many variations made from scraps of whatever fabric was available, sometimes it sould be a wonderul reminant of silk but even the last useable bit from the rag bag that was pieced and pressed into use. It is so much fun to imagine who it was for and who created it. I bought a barely started kit designed and created by Tricia Nguyen. It was a sewing roll called the Salem Sewing Roll. It is stitched on a lovely green linen with silk threads in pastel shades of yellow, pink, blue, green and tans. There was enough extra linen and thread in the kit so that I was able to create some "toys" to go with it. I used Tricia's original design for inspiration and created three more pieces to match. I did a scissors sheath, a combination needlebook and pincushion, and an emery. The first photo shows the outside of the roll and one side of the smalls.

This photo is of the inside of the sewing roll and the other side of the smalls.

Sewing rolls are fun to do. I designed and taught two of these sewing rolls in past classes. The last photo is of an antique piece that I own.

An army of goldwork frogs and a single robin

Last fall I took a class from Maria Clara Warschuer. It was a goldwork robin and was so much fun to do that I looked up her pattern for her frog in Inspirations magazine (#124). It is called Rana and worked in shades of green. I decided that since I love to look at poison arrow frogs becuase of the wonderful colors, I would create my own colorful batch of frogs. I went to my stash of colored purls and bullions to see what I had. Turns out that I have more than enough colors to make a huge army of frogs - who can resist purchasing assortments of colors from time to time. I ended up chooseing six colors. Each frog takes 2 colors - one for the body and one for the back. I used Clara's design for the back of the blue frog but played with other designs for the other five. I put pin backs on them so I can wear a cluster on a jacket.