Needles and Pincushion SURPRISE!!!

Last week I sorted through my pens and pencils. Today, it's my pincushion that's driving me nuts, along with my jumble of needles, so many of them never used and so many of the same kind, that I'll never use anyway. So ... here we go!

I bet most of you have a tomato pincushion, although there are plenty of cool novelty shaped one now a days.  Do you know why the traditional pincushion is a tomato?  Well, I heard that long ago (colonial or pioneer times) it was considered good luck to bring a tomato for a house warming gift, but those fresh tomatoes didn't last too long, so people started bringing fabric tomatoes which, I guess, became a good place to keep loose pins and needles.

Anyway, every 5 or 10 years I get a new one and cut open the old one.  They are filled with sawdust and it is really easy for needles to slide to the inside. I found about 20 needles inside this one, not very many actually.  One time I did this, I must have found at least 60!

Do you know what the different parts of a pincushion are supposed to be used for? The green part at the top is for needles. It is stiffer and it is much more difficult for a needle to go all the way to the inside if stuck in that part. The main red part is for straight pins and any other kind of pin (hat pin, T-pin, safety pin). AND the little strawberry dangling from the top is filled with emory. Use this to sharpen and smooth out your needles.  You can sometimes save a sewing machine needle if it has gotten a burr in it ... sometimes ...

Here are the rest of my needles.  Over the years, I've just accumulated all these, buying them myself, or being given old packages from time to time. I have so many now, I don't know what I have. Time to purge.

I have some specialty needles that I need to keep, even though they are rarely used now. These are doll needles that are used when doing soft sculpture. That's when you sew all the way through a doll or toy to make dimples and knees and toes. Think about a Cabbage Patch Doll's knees and toes.  You can see the one on the left is slightly bent. I've used these a lot back in the day.

Here is another set of specialty needles. They can sit for years, but when you need one, you need one, so good to have on hand.

Now, these are the needles I will toss. First, I've never had luck with self threading needles. For me they are self UN-threading needles. Fortunately I don't have any trouble threading needles.

Teeny tiny needles I will never use ... so out they go. 

I have some very interesting old needle packs, but mostly they are a mishmash of needles I won't use, many very small ones.  These I will bundle up and give to my thrift store. I guess I don't do much fine, fine needle work.

Here's a pack of needles ... looking brand new, that I think I will use. I like needle with long eyes, so easy to thread especially if you are using thick thread or doubled thread.


I have multiple packs of Tapestry needles I will be giving away. They are like a crewel needle but larger and I don't need 8 packages of them.

So I have sorted through all my needles and this is what I'm keeping. I though I was going to have to buy some "sharps",  but I found a pack of those that look in pretty good shape.  These should keep me for a while.  And now I know what I have.


I am going to try and only keep 4 or 5 needle, maximum in my pincushion at any time. They rest I will pin to some felt and keep them in this box AND I will clip the thread short once I am finished with a project, so I don't end up with a mess like the first picture above.

Here's to new beginnings!