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We talk about replacing our machine needles. To replace our rotary blades..etc. I've never thought about replacing my pins until yesterday. After trying one after another (5) in a row!! I've decided all are going to the trash can! Pins don't cost THAT much when you compare them to other things we buy.

BTW..did I put dull pins in a safe throwaway container? Noooooo..Put them back without thinking into pin box!!

AAAARRRGGG!!!!!

When I get finished with current projects (BIG LOL) I'm gonna clean out (bigger LOL) & get rid of useless stuff!

Okay..question & rant over. Thanks.

Gina

Gee Gee, funny you should mention about dull pins, my DIL was over recently and made so many comments about how sharp my pins were (they are fairly new) that I bought her a big box of them for Christmas, hope she likes them. I have a small shortening container with a lid that Sue and I use for all our sharp stuff that is getting tossed out, It is almost full. If Sue or I find a bent pin or one that is dull we throw it in there. The can is getting kind of full and I'll have to buy another small can of shortening just to get the can. LOL

I tend to bend mine alot - like sewing over them etc! :-(

So i keep a small container that i work out of and every now and again when many of them look bad, I toss it. I always have extra's, as that is the type of thing i buy at Hancocks when they have 50% off notions.

I was just thinking about that the other day when I was trying to jab pins into my fabric. Think pins will go on my Christmas list!

After reading this post, You Bet!

I had no idea there were so many different kinds of pins till people come in the shop asking for specific types.
I always used whatever was on sale & used them till they all disappeared, but some people are pin snobs!

mine just wear out, the get bent, or the heads come off. I admit, I never buy them from the store, usually find at garage sales or goodwill.

UNITL>>>> I went to COF 2012! Found the cutest flat head, drum roll please........PINK FLOWER pins! I bought them.

In an order from Clotilde's, as a gift was given a small box of pins. When I used them, they were the best I had used until then. Now I don't like to use any but those except on something like fleece. On fleece etc., use my long flower head pins. Found that those were too thick of a shaft for piecing. I do safely dispose of dull or bent pins.

Lost the label that came on those pins, but finally found some on a shop hop.

Oh Yeah...I loathe bent pins or dull pins...in the trash...Old perscription bottles make a great pin and needle container for disposal...

Oh my yes! I keep an empty pill bottle in my sewing room for sewing machine needles, hand sewing needles, and pins. I was pinning some fabric just the other day and threw away several dragging pins.

pattyj, a can of chocolate covered cashews (or mixed nuts if you want) is the same size as the small shortening can-----and tastes much better and more fun to eat!

Yes, I keep buying new pins. When the old ones just don't seem to work like I want them too.

I just got back from the store... shopping for pins and a rotary cutter (went a week without it, you should have seen me managing without!) ...I had a lot of bent pins. Tip: I keep some of my pins in small plastic containers and when it's time to use them, I set the container on a (pin) magnet.

... speaking of magnets! I just bought a small package of magnet strips and a package of magnet buttons... this after someone on (Pinterest) shared a little trick to keeping their bobbins in order. I plan on adhering the magnet strip to my coffee can so that I can keep a few bobbins near the sewing machine.


Back to Straight Pins - hard to choose from so many types... I like something that is sturdy and thin(?!)

When I took up quilting I invested in a new machine and all the quilting goodies. Anything not up to par goes in my scrap can. Don't need to risk damaging my machine or the fabric.

I thought about using a magnetic strip to hold my bobbins on a corkboard, but I fear that the strip will magnetize the metal bobbins and interfere with my sewing machine. I was told to keep magnets away from it.

Funny post, I just sent my niece a list of suggestions for Christmas and new straight pins was on the list. I even sent her a picture of the box so she knows which ones I would like.

Ilm4k (aka: Pinky ) You crack me up...I have those flat flower head pins, but mine are yellow. I've never seen PINK! ones

I usually only discard pins if they are bent beyond use, or get a nick in them (guess how THAT happens!) or the head pulls off. Every once in a blue moon I'll come across a couple that seem really dull...I must use the same ones over & over 'cuz they're on the top of the pin box!

Joobee... good catch!
I knew to keep my magnets away from my laptop and phone, but not (digital) machines.

QuiltingWifey. I love that suggestion and I'm going to get some choc. covered peanuts and say that I Need them for sewing. LOL

I replaced all of my pins with the longer,thinner,sharper glass-headed pins you can get at JoAnn's. $7-9.00 but worth every penny. I couldn't see my old pins from the 70's on the floor. I tossed everything when I found these. They stay sharp (unless I run over them). I started worrying about my cats stepping on them or eating them. With the little white ball heads on top of them, I can find them easily. They don't leave holes in the fabric, either. Thanks for the tip on the super longer ones for the fleece. I did notice these seemed a tad short!

Here's a plethora of choices for pins at Amazon!!!

http://www.amazon.com/b?ie=UTF...=UTF8&qid=1354914638

I don't replace my pins. I just keep fussing at them when they won't go in fabric. It keeps me in good fussing practice. If I didn't fuss at pins, I'd have to fuss at DH.

I am positive that I could put my hands on the pins & the pin container I bought for junior high home ec class. Still have 'em. Could probably wait a few years & donate them to a museum, LOL. Also have the pins I bought when I first got married & was sewing clothes. When I look at them now, I laugh -- those pins are so w e e n i e compared to long quilt pins! But that's all I ever used back in the day & all my mother ever used.

I have a much different reason for replacing my pins. I can't find them when I need them. Simple as that. I don't know where they go, I have pin cushions for them, I have a magnetic dish I can toss them into. They just up and disappear. I used to have a very sizable amount I kept near my stretching board but they have all gone somewhere, container and all.

I prefer the daisy head pins, that way I can see the yellow head. Doesn't help.

Just reading through this thread. Thought I'd throw this out there. My Mother bought a reasonably priced new machine about six months ago and was having continuous problems with it. When she took it to be repaired the tech told her never to use metal bobbins in digital machines?? He told her to only use the bobbins that were made for that machine. Maybe it was a ploy to get her to buy a certain brand but her problems did stop.

Pins, pins, pins...all over my house. But, of course, not when I need one...then they have all moved into another room!

Great idea for a waste can...as I always just throw broken or bent ones into the trash can. And, I have a cashew can just about empty!

Think it needs a little crazy quilted sleeve to go around it however!

quote:

Originally posted by chai tea:
He told her to only use the bobbins that were made for that machine.

Good to know. I got a second machine this year - a small one for classes, etc. - I'll have to be sure to keep the bobbins separate.

In the past year or two, the frustration equation has become more important to me than the frugality equation. If a pin hesitates to go through fabric, it gets tossed now. And hand needles can lose their slide-ability from a lot of handling. Bye-bye.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Kay-lin,

Funny you say that — I just bought a new box last weekend! Mine were so dull that it was causing hand aches trying to push them into fabric.

I too use the old prescription bottles, but now I'm out of them! Monthly meds now come in those flat plastic containers with the foil punch out stuff — I HATE them! Then when I got my migraine Rx refilled, I thought I would get a new plastic bottle. Nope, the six pills came in blister packs in a baggie! I've already picked them out and put them in the old bottle; can you see me doing that when I have a migraine?

So, old pins, needle felting needles, machine and hand needles (I replace those almost weekly when I'm appliquing) will go into something else. I like the idea of the nut cans — now I have to go back to the store for nuts!

Yep, I've got to get a container, too. Nuts for me!

Clear plastic jars with red lids (Costco) that have nuts, chocolate covered raisins can be cleaned out and used for sewing notions. I've got them lined up with buttons,zippers, antique thread displays...they are so cute!!!!

I do a lot of PP so they get dull quicker and I trash them soon as they get dull or bent. I always keep an extra box in case I forget and pitch them all LOL.

I have a red medical container that I have for my lancetes that I just put any old used needles and pins into. I have one full one and one that is about 2/3 full some day I will take them to a recycleing center to disopse of.

Toss my bad pins in the waste basket, but no more :. Always careful to properly dispose of needles since they can snap off whereas pins bend. My DH is a big baby and feels that pins are just as dangerous as needles. We've had that discussion a few times.

When my chihuahua was a puppy, I began to despair that I could ever sew again. She was nuts about glass headed pins and since I'm a pin-dropper, I'd too-often see her with a glass head sticking out of her mouth. ARRRGH!

Thankfully, she's grown up and is no long interested in pins.

Indy Anny

Does anyone resharpen their pins, or needles in particular?

I keep an emery board in my sewing kit for that purpose. Especially good when doing a lot of hand sewing. And I do resharpen my machine needles, also.

I dispose of my pins, needles and rotary blades in a medical waste dispossal box. DH and I use them for medical uses and it seems alright to use them for other sharps also. I seldom have to replace pins because of dullness. I bought the cute ones with butterflies and quarter moons. etc and those little plastic things break off before the pin dulls or bends. I still get a good bit of use out of them. And they make me smile when I use them so I guess they are worth the money. On the other hand I replace rotary blades quite often. I just use them a lot.

quote:

Does anyone resharpen their pins, or needles in particular?

My mom's tomato pincushion had a strawberry connected to it that she used to sharpen pins and needles.She called it an emory. Wish I could find them. I was sure fascinated by them as a kid (still one).

I don't know where my pins go, but they disappear like the spare sock in the washer.
If a pin doesn't go thru fabric smoothly, I toss it in a pill bottle.
But pins to me are like scissors.....all kinds that I just adore.
The little half-inch and 3/4 inch ones for applique, the flower heads for pinning layers together for stackers, the regular and the extra long glass heads, the ultra thin glass heads, the double pronged pins. What's one to do? I have them all. They all have their uses.
And no, I never sharpen my pins. Never thought of it.
The only kind I don't like are the cheap ones that are a little too thick to smoothly enter the fabric. I consider them already dull before even tried.

I like the idea of getting myself some cashews when pill bottles become obsolete. I'm still getting them from my supplier but I like the idea of having to eat those cashews so I can have a dull needle and pin can.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: quiltbea,

I have one of those (tomato pincushion with strawberry emery thingy)that I've used so much that the emery stuffing is leaking out. Dritz still makes them. Also, F&P have an emery filled strawberry that they sell separately. Both are in the Jo-Ann online catalog. Don't know about in store.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Bozie,

I have seen them both in the store.

I bought a vintage pin cushion a few weeks ago still in the package because I wanted the emery bag!!! I know, sacrilege to the vintage sewing collector. But, what the hay, it works for me.

My pins were getting dull also. I complained to my DH. He said you bought them pins when you learned to quilt (6 years ago). How long did you think they would last? I always used the small sharpener attached to the pin cushion to keep them sharp.I broke down about four weeks ago, and replaced them with the same, yellow flower flat heads (2 inches). The first time I used the new pins, I drew blood three times. Guess mine were really dull. lol

Does anyone run them through your hair??? now before you think I'm totally crazy I don't mean dump your pins on your head.When I'm pining or hand sewing if pin or needle seems slow couple passes through hair works for me.I have gotten lots of second hand pins too Pinky!!!!

quote:

Originally posted by Quiltzilla:
I had no idea there were so many different kinds of pins till people come in the shop asking for specific types.
I always used whatever was on sale & used them till they all disappeared, but some people are pin snobs!

LOL, Georgia...too funny, I toss mine on a pin bucket if they are misbehaving,and eventully get around to sticking them in my emery filled pincushion.

jacky, my great grandma filled her pincushion with hair removed frombrushes and combs and thread snips...and when she had it lambs wool.