I’ve embroidered and assembled the Victorian pincushion on its turned spindle stand from a chart pack from Victoria Sampler, and now I’m starting to assemble the needlebook that will go with it.
First, I made a template of the front area of the needlebook from tissue paper by placing the stitching and the tissue paper on my light box and gently drawing the outline in pencil onto the paper.
Using the template, I cut the front and back stitched areas out (allowing a centimetre seam allowance on each) and a front and back lining piece from cream satin, again with a one centimetre seam allowance. I then cut two iron-on interlining pieces to the exact size of the template, and ironed them to the reverse side of each piece of satin. The inner page of the needlebook was cut from white felt to the size of the template and then trimmed to be an eighth of an inch smaller all round, so that it won’t stick out at the edges when the needlebook is closed. I also cut two thick card pieces to the exact template size, to stiffen the covers of the needlebook.
I temporarily tacked the seam allowance of the satin to the reverse on both lining pieces.
I laced the front and back stitching over the stiff card with strong quilting thread.
This is the back panel of the needlebook once laced over the card.
Placing the stitching and the lining wrong sides together, I slip-stitched them together all the way round.
Finally, I removed the tacking stitches from the lining piece.
Holding the back piece, felt inner ‘page’ and front piece together, aligned carefully, I threaded narrow silk ribbon through the three eyelets. The two outer ones I tied in a small bow, and the centre one I looped through, knotted three inches from the loop, and then tied a bow at the end.
This shows what I did with the ribbon:
The needlebook can now be opened, and needles placed in the ‘page’ inside.
This is such a pretty needlebook, which can now be hung on the pincushion stand from a pin placed in the cushion pad on the top.
Now I’ve just got the ‘strawberry’ to stitch and assemble, and the whole project will be complete!
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Janet Granger's Blog 
Wow! Great job. And I haven’t even started mine!
It’s a fairly quick project (if you haven’t got moving house to do in the middle of it, like I did!).
That is very sweet. Would make a lovely Christmas gift for needles or a tree ornament.
Yes, it would!
This is such an incredibly pretty and intricate little design. I love the close up stitching detailing and seeing the assembly process. Fascinating! 😍
Thea Dueck’s designs are very clever, and really pretty.
I LOVE THIS!
Such a shame that a) you can’t get the spindles anywhere (I searched for a few hours) and b) Victoria Sampler are shutting down. It looks lovely.
I think the spindles were only ever created specifically for this project, and available via Victoria Sampler, so yes, it is a shame if they are no longer available. Thea is retiring, but I don’t know if the website will be closing soon or not – I was under the impression that the other staff will keep going, for a while at least. It is always a shame when designers retire, especially if they are as talented as Thea! I have so many of her design booklets in my stash!