Needle Organizer For Leather Sewing Machine Needles

[msdeluca]

I needed to find a way to organize and keep track of my collection of leather sewing machine needles.

The problems were that the packets ended up all over the place, what to do with a needle that is still good but not new, and to identify which needle is currently in the machine.

I created this little needle wallet. It fits the 10 pack of needles packets plus each pocket fits one additional needle. In this way, a needle that has been used but not worn out can be easily identified and stored for future use. I cut a plastic rod from a q-tip to insert in the pocket where the needle came from to identify which size is currently in the machine. I suppose one could use different colored rods to identify needles being used in multiple machines.

Hope this helps.

Edited September 25, 2014 by msdeluca

[Big Sioux Saddlery]

That is a really good idea! Just the other day I cleaned off the table of my Cowboy 4500. I bet there were at least 20 needles of 3 different sizes and 2 different points. Some were burred on the end and needed to be touched with a dremel. Others I just got lazy and in a hurry when I changed needles and didn't put them back. I don't know why, but I don't think I've burred as many needles on all my other machines combined as I've burred on the Cowboy in the year and a half that I've had it. Haven't broken one yet though. Anyway, thanks for the tip, I might try it one of these days. That won't cure me getting lazy or in a hurry, but it will make it easier to organize them.

Sharon

[Tannin]

That's really nice. When I started recently, I needed something similar for my hand-sewing saddlers needles. My needle holder evolved...

First I bought a small vintage needle-wallet*. I like the design but it was much too small for the leather needles. So I made my own, much larger version from an old belt. Initially I used white muslin "pages" at the suggestion of a dressmaker. But they were too flimsy for the heavy leather needles, so I replaced them with felt (which is also what my small vintage wallet uses) - much better

Then I added small pocket inside the cover to store some needle threaders - shown above (I needed the threaders before I got an eye test and new reading glasses recently :D !).

But then, like you, I decided that I wanted to keep new needles in their original envelopes. So I added a shallow pocket to the outside back cover and strap higher up to hold the long thin envelopes. - made from left-over pieces of another belt. It's not fancy but I'm really pleased with it, it is very practical - made specifically for my needs I suppose

I would now like to keep my little thread clippers with this, so I might add something to hold that later.

*The small vintage needle-wallet has a leather cover, white felt pages and pop-fastener with a 'B' on it. It is the small wallet shown alongside the much larger leather-needle wallet I made for myself, which now has black felt pages.

Edited September 27, 2014 by Tannin