1. Sewed the buttons onto my cardigan. The buttonholes are tiny (even though I did follow the pattern instructions to the dot) so I had to make really small buttons, and still they’re quite fiddly to get through the holes. Either the buttonholes will stretch a bit with time, or I might end up not using them much.

I’m glad the cardigan is done and I can start using it when autumn comes.

2. Painted the second coat on the garden sofa. Looking good!

It looks like some spots (not in the photo) may need a third coat. The old dark blue colour is shining through a bit, because my first coat of paint didn’t adhere well. I guess I wasn’t aggressive enough with the sandpaper.

3. Sewed a needle book for rarely used and reserve needles. We have a pin cushion for the three or four needles we use most often for ordinary sewing, but all the others have been in their factory packaging (which is not made for long term storage and tends to fall apart with time) or stuck into loose pieces of paper or fabric. Now they’re all tidily stored: small needles, large needles, blunt-tipped embroidery needles of various sizes, and cutting point leather needles.

To be honest, tidying up the needles was just an excuse. It’s not been a high priority on my list. It really was just a way to find something small and useful to do with embroidery. I like small projects – a larger project can turn from fun into a must, but a small one that I can finish in one sitting is pure fun.

Wool felt is such a wonderful crafts material! It feels nice to the touch, it’s durable and dirt-resistant, and it is so easy to work with because it doesn’t fray. I bought a bunch of felt pieces for my advent calendar in 2011 and I still have some scraps left of that stash in odd colours. That’s actually why this needle book ended up being in green as well – I only had large enough pieces of felt in a few colours, and only the greens harmonized with each other. I was getting a bit fed up with all the green today so I compensated with extra colourful decorations not in green.

The embroidery is all chain stitch and detached chain stitch. I’m pretty pleased with how tidy I managed to keep the rear side of the front cover. I could have gone all fancy and added a lining to hide it but (a) I don’t want the added bulk, and (b) I like the raw edges.