ABC Bloom Stitchalong Needle Roll

When I saw that Rebecca of Dropcloth Samplers @dropcloth was hosting a summer stitchalong, I of course, was interested. Then when I saw that we'd be stitching over a layer of silk organza, and that the finished sampler would be made into a needle roll, I was definitely in. Silly me, I didn't actually know what a needle roll was - a storage case, typically made of fabric, that keeps various needles organized and protected by rolling it up. Once I learned that, I placed my order for a kit.

The kit included a printed ABC Bloom Sampler, along with:

• One hand printed piece of silk organza
• Bias tape
• 1 vintage button
• Pendleton wool felt

Sorry I didn't get a photo of all the components, but you'll get a peek at most of them in the finished piece.

Once again, I used a double-thickness of Wonderfil #8 perle cotton to stitch the sampler. It was nice to know that it didn't feel much different stitching with the added layer of organza. I had backed my sampler with SF101 as Rebecca suggested and the sampler sandwich was quite comfortable to stitch. My particular piece of organza didn't have much printing in the center, so I lost much of the design one my sampler was trimmed. Oh well.

Rebecca posted instructions to construct the needle roll, if you're interested. Let me tell you, it goes together quite quickly. I had the trimming, backing, and machine stitching of the binding done in under 30 minutes, which included my making of my own double-fold binding. I just wanted something a little different than what was in my kit.

I did take the time to hand stitch the binding onto the front with a blind stitch. Then I just had to sew the button and ribbon/cord that would wrap around the roll. Rebecca used more of the binding fabric for hers, but I wanted something a little different there too. I went looking to see what options I had on hand, and found the thread braid I'd recently purchased. 

I pulled six colors of thread from the braid, then braided them together. I thought it was quite perfect, and it was just the right length to wrap around my needle roll a couple of times and then securing around the button.

This project is one of my favorites that I've made from the many Dropcloth samplers I've stitched. So fun to have a finished project that I can put right to use.