Tag Archives: creative storage solutions

I love buying vintage crochet cotton at the thrift shop. It speaks to me of the hands that it has passed through, and the pleasure it has brought to other thread lovers.

I like to use it in my weaving, crochet and tatting, as it gives me a sense of connection to needlewomen of the past.

BUT… storing balls of crochet cotton can be a problem. Those hollow cores take up a LOT of space!

So, for many years, I have been upcycling old credit cards or pieces of cardstock to make bobbins like this:

Because, storing yarn or thread on a small flat bobbin is so much more efficient than leaving it on the cardboard tubes:

Last night, I had insomnia, and was thinking about winding off a pile of vintage crochet cotton, when I had a flash of inspiration!!

Instead of making chubby little embroidery style bobbins,  if I made ‘dog bone’ shape bobbins, I could use my bobbin winder to speed up the process of winding them. AND, they’d take up less room, as it would be a longer, leaner shape.

I jumped out of bed, and started cutting the new shape bobbins:

And, winding up balls of cotton:

In a twinkling of an eye, I have compactly wound bobbins that won’t tangle with other bobbins, as the thread is taken through a slot and secured. Another bonus! No snaggles!

This shape of bobbin is great for warping the Mirrix loom, as it’s so compact.  Yep – it’s a win!

And, they can be easily stored in unusual containers, like this:

I made a video to show how quickly and easily this works:

I haven’t tried using these bobbins for tapestry weaving, but I will, and will let you know how I like them.

I love making tapestry bobbins from wood- especially upcycled wood, so I will be showing you how I do that in an upcoming post.

Happy weaving, and here’s to creative ways of storing yarn and thread stash! 😀