In the past, before there were plastic bins and a variety of tins in which to store sewing supplies, needle books were a common way to organize all the needles a sewer owned. And for those of us who like to take our mending projects outside, a tiny organizer like this is very helpful.

For years now I have been making sewing kits ((which you can see in my previous posts & on my blog)) but now I think these little needle books are my favorite portable crafting tool. This blog post is a little gallery of the needle books I have made of late using only fabric from my scrap pile.

A needle book is much like a glossary of pins and needles. The book typically consists of a few pages, each page dedicated to a specific size or type of needle. As I aim to take my needle book with me everywhere and use it in my clothes mending tasks I also added a couple of pages with patch fabric as well as a pocket at the back for buttons and foldable thread scissors.

Online there are a lot of different tutorials on how to create a needle book. Many suggest using specific materials like felt for the pages but, personally I tend to go with the items I have on hand and that can be upcycled. So, instead of using felt I sewed together flannel and jean, or cotton quilting fabric to add some fun textures. In the future I plan to create a line of more standardized needle books made with new fabrics and off cuts from a local sewing supply shop, to be sold alongside the sewing kits I already offer on Etsy. And in the mean time I am having fun working with the materials overflowing from my craft box.

Here I leave you all with a few inspirational needle book pictures and tutorials from Pinterest:

Happy crafting everyone!

— Chloe Calendula