Hey everyone!
This is our first ever blog post and it's a bit exciting! I've spent hours reading the blogs of all the amazing creative ladies out there but never imagined writing my own, eep! I thought it would be a nice Christmas gift for all of you if I made a little tutorial for you to make your very own thread rack and ribbon dispenser :)
Anyway, I've been super jealous of all the gorgeous thread storage ideas all over Pinterest and I decided to hop to it and make one for myself! I loved the idea of this amazing thread holder, so sort of based my idea on that!
Lots of blogs seem to be based in the US which sucks for us as all of our timber in measured in millimetres rather than inches :( So I thought I'd give you the exact measurements so you know exactly what to ask for to make your shelves super easily!
I got all my supplies from Bunnings and they were excellent! The best part is that they cut all of your timber (I was told off for calling it wood, apparently that's very embarrassing...) so it's all perfect and saves you hours of cutting time at home!
What you'll need to make a finished thread shelving unit measuring 60cm x 90cm and a matching ribbon dispenser measuring 60cm x 38cm is:
4 x Premium Grade Dressed Pine - 64 x 19mm (2.4 metre length) - $6.38 each
4 x White Oak Flower Moulding Wall Trim - 33 x 10mm - $15.69 each (there were cheaper, plainer mouldings available and you can easily make the shelves without any moulding, but they look so pretty!)
1 x MDF White Melamine Sheet - 3mm x 900 x 600mm - $5.40
1 x 100 Pack Long Thread Timber Screws - 8 x 30mm - $5.40
1 x 100g Pack Bullet Head Bright Nails - 12x1.0 - $4.24
1 x Dulux 250mL Sample Pot - $6.95
1 x Paint Brush - 25mm Utility - $1.98
1 x 8mm Tasmanian Oak Dowel - $2.48
Drill (I bought a cheap Ozito cordless drill for $34.97, it was pretty good but did take a long time to drill the larger holes - I would recommend borrowing one if you can!)
3mm Drill Bit (I had one of these already, but they are around $3 from Bunnings)
8.5mm Drill Bit - $6.58
Phillips Head Screwdriver
PVA Craft Glue
Water Based Putty (I already had some, but I think it costs about $5 for a big tub)
Fine Grade Sandpaper (About 60c a sheet usually)
Small Hammer
Long Nose Pliers
Step 1:
Print off the list above and head off to your local hardware store. Don't be afraid to ask for help as it can be a bit tricky loading the big long lengths of wood into your trolley! Once you get your timber at Bunnings, you can take it to the 'Cut Shop' where they will cut it up into your specified pieces.
You want to get your Pine cut into:
581mm pieces x 12
900mm pieces x 2
Once they have cut these pieces from your 4 lengths of wood, you will be left with 3 small pieces about the size of the palm of your hand and one longer piece. Get the longer piece cut in half, which will be 315mm.
You should then be left with:
12 x 581mm pieces
2 x 900mm pieces
2 x 315mm pieces
3 x small off cuts
KEEP THE OFFCUTS! and load all the pieces back onto your trolley.
You want to get your White Oak Moulding (or whatever your chosen moulding is) cut into:
581mm pieces x 12
900mm pieces x 2
Once they have cut these pieces, there will be one long off cut remaining. Get this cut in half which will be 315mm.
You should then be left with:
12 x 581mm pieces
2 x 900mm pieces
2 x 315mm pieces
Don't worry about keeping any small off cuts of the moulding.
If this is confusing, just hand the above measurements to the person at the cut shop and they'll figure out what to do :)
Get all the rest of your supplies from Bunnings (make sure you have everything!) and go home and set up.
Step 2:
Lay out all your supplies on an old table outside (or a new table covered with newspaper) and double check you have everything.
Now take your 2 longest pieces of pine and lay them out vertically in front of you, parallel to each other like the number 11.
Take 2 of your 581mm lengths of pine and place them at the top and bottom of the 11 to create a rectangle.
Then take another 581mm length of pine and place it horizontally inside the frame to create a shelf.
To determine the width apart for your shelves, take 2 of the small off cuts you saved and place them as shown.
See how they make the perfect sized spaces for your threads? I mainly use Birch threads which fit perfectly, but I also tried a Gutermann thread in there and that slipped in perfectly too!
(I have no idea why this picture won't post the right way up, sorry!)
(I have no idea why this picture won't post the right way up, sorry!)
Remove the spacer blocks and place them on top of the first shelf in order to position the next shelf perfectly.
Continue positioning the next 6 shelves in the same way. Then measure the remaining space which should be 260mm from the top shelf to the inside of the frame.
Place the last shelf in the middle of this measurement - the middle of the shelf should be at 140mm as shown.
Once you are happy with the position of your shelves, mark them in with pencil.
Step 3:
Take the bottom piece of pine and one of the side pieces aside to a comfortable workspace. Hold the pieces tightly against each other and use the 3mm drill bit to drill a hole from the side piece right through into the other piece of pine as shown.
Repeat on the other side so you have 2 holes drilled.
Add a small amount of PVA glue to the side of the pine that is to be attached to the other piece (you only need a really small amount!)
Firmly press the pieces against each other. Switch to a Phillips Head Drill Bit in your drill and take one of your screws. Place the screw into the first hole and firmly push with the drill to secure the 2 pieces together.
Repeat with the other hole. The drill I used was not really powerful, so my screw heads were sticking out a bit after I had drilled them in.
Just take your Phillips Head Screwdriver and hand screw them in until they sit about a millimetre below the surface of the wood (this will ensure a nice finish later!)
Repeat the above steps to drill, glue and screw together all 4 corners of your frame. It will look like this:
Make sure that the top and bottom pieces (shorter pieces) are inside the 2 longer pieces as shown. You can check if everything is going okay by measuring now. If the top is 600mm and the sides are 900mm then you're doing great!
Now take your first shelf and 2 spacer blocks. Place them as shown to ensure that your shelves will be the right space apart.
It might be a bit tight when you insert your shelf inside the frame, but this is a good sign, so just gently push it down (or give it a little tap with the palm of your hand).
Now drill 2 screw holes on either side and screw the shelf in place as you did with the frame. Don't worry about gluing as the shelf will be nice and tight already.
Move the spacers to on top of this shelf to position the next shelf and drill and secure with screws again.
Your screws don't need to be perfectly even on the sides, but if you're worried about them lining up, use a ruler to make sure they are lining up with the shelves.
Continue spacing, drilling and screwing all your shelves.
Remember that the top shelves for your overlocker threads have to be measured!
The middle of the top shelf should sit at 140mm down from the top.
Your shelves are now fully constructed! You could leave them like this if you'd like, but the mouldings make it look so much prettier and also create an edge on each shelf so your threads don't fall out!
Step 4:
Lay out your mouldings on top of the shelves you have created. They should fit perfectly! Make sure that you have the pattern the right way up on all of them.
Some of your edges might look a bit rough like this:
Wrap your piece of sandpaper around one of your off cut blocks and gently sand away the splintered edge (don't go too crazy or you'll sand away the pattern!).
The moulding should hang over the sides on the 2 longest sides.
Starting with the bottom piece, flip the moulding over and run a thin line of PVA glue along the bottom edge. (You only need a tiny bit of glue - the amount in the picture is actually a bit too much!)
Place the moulding, glue side down, onto your shelf, pressing firmly. Ensure that the bottom edge of the moulding lines up perfectly with the bottom edge of your shelf and does not hang over.
Wipe away the excess glue with a damp cloth or paper towel.
Repeat with each shelf until all the moulding is glued on.
Now take your packet of brights (little nails), your needle nose pliers and small hammer.
You'll notice that the nails are way too tiny for you to hold with your fingers and hammer, that's why you use the pliers to hold the nail in place with one hand and the hammer to gently tap them into the wood.
Each moulding strip will need about 7 nails to secure it. I spaced mine out according to the pattern and put a nail at the end of every second loop of the pattern. They're so tiny they almost disappear!
You could use a nail punch to push them further in, but I didn't worry about that as the paint completely hides them anyway. Just make sure they are hammered in as far as you can get them.
Repeat with all the mouldings including the sides so that they are all firmly secured.
Step 5:
Take your putty and either a putty scraper, butter knife (like I used) or even your fingers and start plugging up all the holes!
You just need a small amount of putty about the size of a pea or smaller and then squish it into each and every screw hole. Make sure it's really squished on there and smear a little bit extra around the area just to make sure it's covered. Your sides will look like this when finished.
Now make yourself a cuppa and relax while the putty dries.
On a warm, sunny day it will only take about half an hour to dry completely.
You will know the putty is dry when it has changed colour and looks much lighter. It's a bit like wet mud when it goes on and dries to a dirt colour when it's dry. See how much lighter it is?
Then take your sandpaper wrapped around your off cut block again and gently sand away the excess putty.
You should be left with a piece of wood covered in wood-coloured spots where screws used to be. Like this:
Try to make sure there is no excess putty on the wood as you want a nice, smooth finish.
Now you're almost ready to paint!
Just give the whole thing a good sweep with a brush to get rid of all the dust that sanding would have created.
Step 6:
Now it's time to really bring your shelves to life! You could paint them any colour you like or even just varnish over the raw wood for a lovely effect.
I chose this gorgeous aqua blue with a vintage feel called 'Island Sea' by Dulux. The best part about these little tester pots is that you don't need to stir the paint, just make sure the lid is on tightly and give it a good shake for 30 seconds.
To get a distressed, vintage effect, I only used a small amount of paint on the brush and didn't completely cover the deeper indents in the moulding, which I just lovvvvvvvvvvvvvvve the look of!
Paint every surface of your shelves except for the back. You will need to stand it upright and paint from behind in order to get to the back of the mouldings.
Now be amazed at the beautiful piece of furniture you have created and wait for it to dry. My dry time was 4 hours.
Step 7: (sorry I don't have pictures for this part, it got too dark!)
Your Laminex backing sheet should fit perfectly onto the back of your rack as it is 600mm x 900mm - the same as your shelves!
To attach, just lay your rack down on it's front on a soft surface like your lawn, an old blanket or carpet. Run a thin line of PVA glue along the back of each shelf and sides and gently place your backing sheet (with laminex side towards the front) on top of the shelves.
Secure around the outside using your brights. I hammered in one nail every 5-6cm around the edge to ensure it was tightly secured.
And guess what? You're all finished! I recommend fixing your rack to the wall as it is quite heavy and can tip over. Just load your rack up and take it to Bunnings to find out which fixing would be best for your type of walls (make sure you know what your walls are made of before you go!) :)
As I haven't moved out of home yet, mine is currently leaning back against the wall slightly to stop it from tipping over onto my curious cat, but I'll definitely be fixing it up to the wall of my future sewing studio when I move out!
How insanely pretty does it look? I was so delighted with how it turned out!
But we don't want your ribbon to be left out! So now it's time to make your matching ribbon dispenser :)
You should have 4 pieces of pine and 4 pieces of moulding left over from your shelves.
There should be:
2 x 581mm pieces
2 x 315mm pieces
of both the moulding and the pine.
You also need 2 x 640mm lengths of 8mm dowel.
Step 1:
Take the 1 of the shorter (315mm) pieces of pine and find the middle point with a measuring tape. The middle will be 157.5mm. Make a mark at the middle point, then measure 10mm on each side of that point and mark again.
Place a full roll of ribbon on the wood with the outer edge touching the outer mark as shown.
Mark a large dot in the middle of the roll of ribbon. Repeat for the other off-centre mark. This will ensure that when your ribbon is on the rack, there will be 1cm between the top and bottom spools.
Step 2:
With your 3mm (smaller) drill bit, drill a hole right through the 2 dots you made on your wood.
If you prop your wood up with your 2 off cut blocks on either side, this will prevent you from drilling through your table.
Once you have drilled these 2 holes, place this piece perfectly on top of the other 315mm piece of wood.
Drill through these holes again and down into the second piece of wood so that they match up perfectly.
Now use your 8.5mm (larger) drill bit to drill a bigger hole in the small holes you have created.
It should be easier to drill the large holes as they have been pre-drilled.
Repeat with the other piece of wood so you are left with 2 x 315mm pieces of pine with 2 identical 8.5mm holes in each.
Step 3:
Assemble your 2 drilled pieces in a number 11 shape in front of you. Place the 2 longer 581cm pieces of pine at the top and bottom to create a rectangle.
Follow the same steps to drill, screw and glue your frame together as you did before with your thread rack.
Step 4:
Attach your moulding by following the same steps as before with your thread rack.
Step 5:
Apply putty to all the screw holes as you did before. Once putty is dry, sand back and sweep away dust.
Step 6:
Paint your frame! You should have enough paint left over from your thread rack to paint your ribbon dispenser easily.
Step 7:
Once your rack is dry, gently insert your dowel through one hole. Thread your ribbon spools onto the dowel and push the other end of the dowel through the hole on the opposite side.
Repeat with the second piece of dowel.
Your dispenser will look like this:
(except with 2 rows of dowel!)
You can now hang your dispenser on a wall by attaching picture hooks to the back, or you can place it on top of a cupboard or shelf by placing it on top of your off cut blocks so it will stand up.
For now, mine is going to sit right on top of my thread rack so I can show off the gorgeousness all together!
And now you're all done! 2 unique, beautiful storage solutions to brighten up your house, made by you!
Please note: I made both of these in one day, including 3 trips to Bunnings to get supplies and stopping to take pictures. I only have basic DIY skills but was able to complete this whole project without any assistance. That means that you can definitely make it too! Don't put it off, just schedule in a free day and get creating!
I'm in love!
If you have any questions I'm more than happy to help! Oh and I would absolutely love to see photos of yours!
Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, everyone!
Love and hugs,
Bianca xoxox
PS: I'm terribly sorry about the quality of the photos, they were all taken with an iPhone 4 and some of them were a bit hard to take when I was juggling tools hehe!
