Reduce, Reuse, Recycle - keeping the pointy bits where they belong

One of the little things I keep around my sewing room is a jar. Sounds exciting yeah? Well it can be.


I don't know about you but after a sewing machine needle gets dull and is done being useful I hate to throw it in the trash. I mean if I have to reach my hand in there later for something (like I accidentally threw away a bag of rubies and diamonds or a scrap of good fabric and later realized I needed it back) I wouldn't want to stick my hand in there knowing I might get poked by a needle too dull for fabric but sharp enough to draw blood. I really don't want to see blood while I'm sewing. I like to keep that stuff on the inside where it belongs.

This is where my "fancy" jar comes in handy. It was an old cleaned out spaghetti jar but really any jar with a lid will do. I tried to pick one with a pretty lid but you could paint the lid or decorate it however you see fit. To spiff up the jar itself, I made a modified version of a coffee cup sleeve to wrap around it. See? Pretty. Easily updatable. Then I got out my hand-dandy drill and drilled a quick hole in the top of the jar.


Now, whenever a needle goes bad, I just drop it through the hole. I don't even bother to take the lid off. If I accidentally knock the jar over nothing spills out and I don't need to take the lid off for any reason really, other then to take a picture showing you a few pointy needles at the bottom on inside. See? They're harmless down there!