Needlecase: Part 1

About a year ago, I decided that the time had come to stop storing my needles in one large bundle in a sterile drape box my mum had used since she first qualified as a nurse. I was fed-up having to rake throught them all to find a matched pair and wanted to devise an alternative system.

I went through my fabric stash (something that existed long before I even thought about knitting as a hobby), set up my sewing machine and came up with this...


A fabric needle case with three tiers of pockets for long needles, medium needles and DPNs and crochet hooks.


It rolls up for storage and fastens with a loop of elastic secured round a button.


The edges are all bound with seam tape and there is some medium weight wadding between the outer shell and the inner lining to keep the needles snug. It's not the best sewing job I've even done but it has been in use constantly since it's conception and I wouldn't be without it (thought the old sterile drape box is still somewhere in my stash storing needles that I have many duplicates of - my granny had a real thing for old UK size 11 and 12 needles (3mm and 2.75mm) which I don't really have the patience for).

I absolutely loved the fabric at the time (fairly recent furnishing fabrics from John Lewis - all odd remnants) and still do, but it's perhaps not the most practical choice for something that is stuffed in bags and rolled out on the floor etc as it's getting a bit marked now. I do however learn from these errors in judgment as Needlecase: Part 3 will show...