I have a Styrofoam ball ( cut in half) and push the broken needles down in it. For years, to run thread to my machine from a large cone. I used a binder clip and clipped it to the actual spool holder shaft, set the cone beneath it on the table, and run the thread through the hole of the binder clip, then threaded the machine. My hubby paid attention to this and with his welding skills he made me a thread holder with a welded harbinger clip on it. He had literally looked at ones you could buy and mimicked it for me. That is real Love. :)
I can't believe I'm not the only one who's concerned about the old pins & needles (and rotary cutter blades) I've found my tribe! ;0) I collect them all in an old tin and then drop the whole thing into the metal recycling bin, and feel so much better about my world. Happy sewing everyone!
So I'm sitting here smugly thinking, "Well, I knew this stuff decades ago." Then I realize there are younger people coming up who may well NOT know these things that DO help make sewing experience better, and I had to learn them sometime, too. Then you mention the TicTac container idea, which IS new to me! I don't buy TicTacs, but I do have several small medicine bottles around that would work as well. Thank you for that idea! What I have done in the past is use a small piece of scrap styrofoam or, more commonly, a thickly folded piece of scrap denim or paper to hold "dead" needles and pins for disposal. Nice video.
That zipper tip is fantastic! Ive never been a fan of jow you see most ppl just zigzag at the bottom of thr zip. This is so near and so much mor3 secure! Thanks for all the great tips! 🙂
For large thread, I put it into a 1 quart, wide mouth mason jar. Almost all of the large thread I have will fit in one (except the vintage spools I've been gifted, those I have to put into bobbins to be able to use on my machine, but I like them more for hand sewing than machine) and the thread doesn't catch at the bottom of the spool where the sides of the cup touch the thread because the thread doesn't have to touch the sides of the jar. I do have a thread holder now, but exclusively used the quart jar method for years.
Bent pins and dull needles fit easily through the holes in an old spice container's flip/shaker top, too. It's a little bigger, but kids would be less inclined to open it looking for treats.
Those were such helpful tips. I especially liked the first one. I will definitely be doing that one. I put my needle in a old coke bottle with a cap on it. I got a spool holder as a gift but I use the cup when I’m traveling.
Hi from South Africa, thanks for this video. Again so delightful and educational. I quilt and your first tips is a quilters trick. I rejoiced the day I found a video showing how to keep those seems in line. Pattern Poole for quilters on RU-vid. The last tip, here's in South Africa we have people going through our bins so I put all steel in a old coffee tin, they get more money for those. 😊😊
Good tip about disposing of the needles! In Sweden we recycle all metal so putting the pins into a small metal box candy box (yes, they still exist!) would be ideal. Whole thing can be melted down. And yes, I can imagine quilters have dozens of good ways of making seams match up. Their work consists of seams!
Now why didn't I think of that! Tip #3 will save me a lot of time. I've been winding cone threads onto bobbins with my sewing machine then placing the bobbin in the spool pin for years! Thanks for the great tips!
I have been sewing 60 years and it's rare I hear a "new" sewing tip. Three of these were new to me and helpful!! I am impressed!! I have used the spool in a cup before but I did buy 3 cone holders on sale at a reasonable price.I don't understand the big deal about needle/pin disposal. I have of course, poked myself with stray pins but never anything that was a big deal. I just throw them in the trash. They are not contaminated "medical sharps" so no worries about contamination exposure if anyone would get poked.
Great tips......clear and useful! Only thing i do a little bit differently on zippers is to take a lighter and melt the teeth together. Sometimes folks can get a bit aggressive pulling the zip down lol!
Old prescription pills containers are great to dispose of needles if you have children as it's harder to open. These are great tips, thank you so much!!!
New subscribers here. Love the tips. Now I want to get to my machine and try them also I use an old medicine jar with a safety cap so my kids don't play with them. Thank you for your videos.
I keep old pins in a glass jar 😁👍 I like the thread in a cup version, I usually take an old biro, remove the pen inner/ink tube, and slide the pen casing over the spindle on my machine to make it taller.
Из-за моей запасливости, я коплю в старой жестяной баночке из-под леденцов старые иглы и обломанные лезвия канцелярских ножей. Меня не покидает мысль, что этот металл можно повторно как-то использовать😅 Я уже прикидывала, а не пойти ли к мастерам, которые делают украшения из обычных металлов. Попросить их переплавить весь этот металлолом и заказать какое-то памятное изделие. Наперсток, например, или простое кольцо😊
I especially like the tip about shortening the zipper. I use an empty plastic yogurt cup with a lid, using the small individual serving size cup. I cut a hole in the top with a hole punch to insert needles and pins. I use tape to seal the lid to the container so they don't accidentally spill. Thanks for your excellent videos!
I just happened to come across your channel and am so happy I did. I subscribed. I’ve known how to sew since I was young BUT I never went to school for it like you did. (I learned from my mother as she sewed a lot of mine & my sister’s clothes) Your techniques are so helpful. Thank you
Thanks for those tips. I'm going to use them I never thought of placing a cup and the large spool in it. That's a good idea. Here's what I do. I find a classic sized spool and put it in the bottom of the server spool. Then place it on the sewing machine and I have one like that on my machine right now. Now I will say not all spools fit as well as other brands but I have many different brands and it works. Just don't shove it in too firmly that you can't pop it back out if you need it elsewhere.
I use a recycled glass jar with a screw top to store my used needles, rotary blades and exacto knife blades. It is a small jar , doesn’t take up much space but will still take years to fill up.
I do the same! Except I drilled a little hole at the top so I can drop in pins/needles more easily. For disposal I will use a different recycled container.
Terrific video! I especially liked the way you finished a shortened zipper. I have always just tossed my old pins/needles into the garbage, and never even thought about it, but the Tic Tac box (or old pill bottle,as someone else has suggested) is a great idea. I can't believe I never thought of that; I was a nurse for 40 years and used sharps containers for used needles. I did think it would be great to have something like that for sewing needles/pins. I just never made the connection between an old TicTac bottle or pill bottle. I'll be using those ideas now. (I learned the hard way how to match seams exactly through years of trial and error though!!)
I never just throw them in the bin I usually wrap the tip with a couple of layers of sellotape or sometimes wrap a but of fabric round the tip and then sellotape. But the tic-tac-toe box, and ideas others have given here I will definitely use.
@@liverbird46 I feel bad now that I never did something like that either....I did worry about that kind of thing, but it just never occurred to me to put old needles and pins in something before tossing ... I suppose I just filed that kind of thing under the same heading as broken glass.
For needle disposal I use a wire cutter to snip off the pointed tip. I then place the needle and the pointed tip in an empty 250ml soup can. Once the container is full, I take it to the recycling depot along with other metal items that need to be recycled. It takes me 7 to eight months to fill a soup can with needles. I recycle anything metal including staples used in packaging and/or paper booklets that I receive in the mail. By the way, it takes just over 1 year for me to fill an empty 250ml tin can of staples. Just think, if everyone all over the world saved 250ml cans of staples for recycling the total amount would be enormous. It's worth it to recycle needles and other tiny bits of metal.
I too use an old prescription pill bottle for discarding pins and needles. And while not directly sewing related, it’s big enough to also add in discarded utility knife blades.
Thank you for the great tips! I've used the cup for large thread spools for years. Instead of a Tik Tak box, I use empty pill (medicine) vials. I use Altoids tins to store small sewing items for travel in my purse. It's a sewing kit! 🪡 Happy sewing! 🦋
I guess I thought everyone knew number 1. Maybe I didn't understand it right. I did buy a Mentos plastic container - gave my kids the candy and use it for my rotary cutter blades AND needles. So far, so good. They hold a lot. Nice video! Thanks!
This is a good video. These are good tips. I thought it was going to be just another click bait, but this is actually good. I'm a sucker for basting everything, but I don't usually baste the seem intersection. However, I think I will from this point forward. It just looked so nice and clean and tidy, and sharp. I stick my broken needles in a piece of cardboard, like I do with used box cutter blades. My favorite was matching the stripes.
In Australia, hospitals and most pharmacies have sharps disposal bins where people who use injectable medications can safely dispose of their used syringes. Sewing needles and pins can also be discarded there.
For used needles and rotary blades, I use an old jar (pimentos jar). The "mouth" is wide enough for rotary blades, needles and pins. It works great and I've been using the same one for a couple of years. Takes a while to fill it. I agree with being worried about disposing of sharp objects.
I’ve been using the same principle for disposing of needles and pins for years. Also into my waste pot (usually a recycled vitamin pot) go staples or broken or distorted nails and screws - for exactly the same reason as you - concern for the waste disposal operatives as they dispose of the rubbish.
That is a great solution! I mostly use industrial needles and they come in cardboard boxes, which are unfortunately as good for storage as the plastic cases for domestic sewing machine needles...
