rainbow spool rack
Shortly after I started sewing almost three years ago my clever man made me this pencil spool rack which has a prime spot in our living room and usually catches a compliment or two from first-time visitors to our flat. Needless to say I'm still terribly smitten with it no matter how many times per day I see it or how many times I've taken spools back and from its rainbow pencils. No wonder we thought that our friend who got my old sewing machine when I went Swiss last year (would it be of interest to some if I wrote a more detailed love letter review about my Bernina ?) would need a mood-enhancing spool rack to accompany her on future sewing sprees.
And so last minute, mere hours before our friend arrived for Christmas dinner, a spool rack was made. In case you want to build one yourself, or subtly make someone build it for you, here is how you could go about it:
Materials needed: 1) hammer, 2) drill, 3) paint, 4) wood rasp, 5) pencil, 6) saw, 7) coloured pencils, 8) paint brush, 9) nails, 10) measuring tape/rod, 11) wood glue, 12) lath.
Start by making the rectangle structure for the spool rack. Cut the lath in four parts, rasp the ends and hammer them together. Then you prepare the rows for the pencils. Cut as many parts as you want (my big version has 5, its little sibling only 3) and rasp them. Depending on how many spool you want the rack to hold, mark and drill little holes for the pencils. Next hammer (or drill) the rows inside the construction. Pick a colour that you like and paint the rack. You don't need much paint so any odd leftover will probably do.
And now to the spool pencils. Match pencils and spools. Cut pencils into your desired length and rasp carefully. If the colour on your rack is dry stick the pencils inside the little holes you've drilled. Many might stay fix and firm all by themselves, but a little glue makes matters more solid.
And you're done. Easy right? Although to be honest if I would attempt to make one it would probably look terribly tatty and fall apart if you did so much as shyly look at it, like one unfortunate bird house I made in third grade...
Share Article Print Article in handmade, tutorials 12 Comments Wednesday, January 11, 2012 at 11:26AM
Reader Comments (12)
What a darling husband you have! That's the coolest spool rack I've ever seen, and your friend is twice blessed to receive not only your old sewing machine, but also her very own uber-cool spook rack!
Wow! So clever! I love it!
This is so beyond swell. I love love love it. Now I have an even better reason to take up sewing finally!
This is the most beautiful spool rack I have ever seen. I pinned it to my sewing room inspiration board. I hope that's okay.
These spool racks are absolutely brilliant!! Clever husband you've got there! :)
What a clever idea! I'll ask my husband to make one for me :-)
I love this spool rack. I've been looking for ages for a wooden spool rack (as opposed to the plastic ones I keep finding) for ages with NO luck. This is functional and beautiful. Now on my to do list! Thanks so much for the little tute.
My husband made a thread rack for me too, to my design.
I don't know how to put a photo on here for you to see.
i love the look of the spool rack, very creative.
Gorgeous! I saw a picture of this on Pinterest, but didn't follow the link (even though I thought, "What a great idea!"). Anyway, I'm happy to see that it came from you. It's lovely!
Oooooh, snazzy! I need one of those!
I love this! You inspired me to make one of my own. Check it out on my blog: http://abletosleep.blogspot.com/2012/02/rainbow-thread-organizer.html