Eggbox Sewing Box

I saw an article in Daphnes Diary magazine about turning an egg box into a small sewing box, it looked like a fun idea so I gave it a go 🙂

The first stage was a few adjustments to the box. I cut the tops off the internal pillars of the box and glued them back in upside down to make small storage pockets. I then painted the box. It took a couple of coats to cover all the corners, and if you look closely you can still read ‘Happy Egg Co.’ stamped on the sides!

I decided to papier mache the inside to cover up the rough edges and text. The article covered the outside and left the cardboard edges rough, but I thought it would look nicer switched around. I used tissue paper because wrapping paper has been too stiff for awkward shapes before, but tissue does get very fragile in the glue and took several coats to cover up the yellow. I didn’t worry about the edges, just trimmed off the excess paper once it was dry. I did extra layers over the hinge because with all the damp paint and glue it was starting to tear. It’s not great quality cardboard and it’s quite absorbent, I had to reinforce the hinge with super glue and repaint it.

For the inside I made a small panel to stick on the flat underside of the lid. I taped fabric and ribbon around thin cardboard and sewed down the edges. I used a rough stitch because the tension in my sewing machine has gone wrong and I’m planning to get a new one sometime – I’m trying to tell myself it’s just an interesting style but it’s a bit scruffy. The panel was super glued to the box. Like many things, cheap super glue is false economy… I also made a matching pin cushion to sit in one of the egg holders. For both parts I took rough measurements off the box for templates and used some fabric I had left over, it doesn’t need a lot.

I was planning to decorate the top but I couldn’t find anything I wanted to use. I made a label out of Fimo and letter stamps to add some interest to the front. Maybe I’ll decorate the top later on if I find something I like…

I’m not sure if it’s a very practical design for a sewing box, it’s too small and the shapes are wrong, but I like the end result and there’s lots of variations I could try next time. It might work better as a small jewellery box or trinket box…