If you’re like me, you have few different sewing projects going at the same time – a knit dress, button-down shirt, skinny pants… you get the idea. With different projects comes the need to switch to different needles depending on the type of fabric being sewn, and sometimes it’s hard to keep track of which needle is which, which one has been used, etc.
My trick – I use a tomato pincushion to keep track of the different needles I use. Each section is designated for a specific type of needle – on this pincushion, I have a section for universal, topstitching, ballpoint, stretch, and hand sewing needles. With a Sharpie, I mark the name and the size of the needle, too, so I know if it’s the right size when I’m looking for a needle to use. You may find that for your personal use, you need more than one section for ballpoint or universal needles because of the varying sizes – I have two sections on this pincushion to keep my universal needles organized, for example.
I also go one step further and mark down on a Post-It I stick to my machine the date I began to use a particular needle in this pincushion and what projects I used it for. This is a handy organizational tool when a needle isn’t used a lot, and isn’t quite ready to be tossed out for a new one.
Tomatoes are so great for needles! And the little strawberry attached is filled with emery dust and can be used to clean and sharpen pins and needles.
You are a genius! I have been pondering this very same issue for months now. The tomato pincushion is perfect. I am totally nicking your idea now.
OK that is brilliant! I have been using a scrap of muslin with the deets scribbled on them, but this is much neater/prettier!
I also use the post-it idea, but I write it on a bit of washi-tape instead (the length of time it takes me to get through something I think the stickiness of a post-it would be gone! lol) 🙂
This is how I do mine too!
This is a great idea. I leave them out near the machine and then get confused.