There is no telling how old this beautiful wooden sewing caddy might be,
for as long as I can remember my Oklahoma grandmother had this in her home.
Interesting I have no recollections of watching her do needlework,
but after she died my mother entrusted to me all my grandmother's crocheted and tatted works.
I had no idea she knew how to crochet much less tat!
Isn't it nice...
...until you see the top...
...it's approximately 5 1/2" deep...
...the wooden handle moves easily on the little wooden pegs...
...this definitely needs a new updated top...
...the pieces were barely held in place by 3 small tack nails...
...I still held my breath taking it apart as this wooden band is a little brittle...
Wonder how many times this has been recovered?!...
...I decided to keep the old batting...
...it's old but no odors and looks pretty good...
...I did add a smaller loft batting to the top to try and 'even' everything out...
...I love this blue toile...
...the hardest part was choosing which 'scene' to center on the new top...
...chose this one because it would fill the space on the lid nicely...
...plus I like sheep and it's a pleasant farm scene...
...I quarter-folded my old fabric top to get my true center point...
...then placed that in the center of the picture I wanted on the new fabric top...
...carefully opened it up....
....pinned in place....
...cut it out...
...re-assembled everything back together....
...carefully...
....kept the little nails and nailed them very carefully in the same holes....
I am looking forward to using it to hold my knitting and small crochet projects....
...and....it looks nice in our home....
...a nice reminder of my grandmother.
~LisaPostscript Update to this Post 3/8/2012: After thinking this was simply my grandmother's sewing caddy/box all these years, I now believe this was a cheese press prior to being 're-purposed' some time between 1950-1953 to be a sewing box for my grandmother. Click here to read more about my detective work and conclusion.
I just love toile fabric. It looks great as a replacement in your grandmother's sewing cabinet.
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful job you did of updating this piece! Your fabric choice made it, no question about that. Such an improvement!
ReplyDeleteHi Dayle ~ I just stopped by your blog and your photos are lovely and your writing pulls a reader in. Hope you and your husband are enjoying your trip to Florida.
ReplyDeleteHi Mama Pea ~ this toile is my new 'favorite' fabric for the moment! I've never used toile before and am really enjoying the 'look'.
Thank you Dayle & Mama Pea for stopping by!