Introduction: WOODEN BOX FOR CROSS STITCH FABRIC AND YARN

About: I am a sixty-five-year-old teacher from Portugal. I have several hobbies, but mainly I write poetry (when the muses are available), I paint and draw and I love woodworking.

This is a new and more elaborate project. My daughter-in-law's mother works with cross stitch as a hobby. She would like to have a box in which she could keep all the material for cross stitch: needles, fabric and the different yarn types and colours.

So I came up with this idea of building a box, in which we could keep the yarn by colours, separated in three rows with 10 boxes each.

On top of it, the fabric can be kept folded, so we only need to carry this 50 x 32 cm box, to take all we need.

I hope I will be able to finish it, so that she can have it by her birthday in April. :)

Supplies

wood planks 1 cm thick 11 cm wide for the lid and the bottom

Wood planks 1 cm thick 8 cm wide for the lateral structure of the box

3 planks of balsa wood, 3mm thick and 10 mm wide for the interior structure

Measures:

Outside measures: 50 x 32 x 11

Inside measures: 48 x 30 x 10

Step 1: Sorting the Right Wood and Cutting It

The first step was to go for the right type of wood and cut it in the desired measures. The interior measures will be 30 cm x 50 centimetres x 9 cm.

Step 2: Creating the Finger Joints

This is always a difficult step if you do not have the exact tools for the job. I tried t look for some jig that might help me, but in the end I had to use the jig saw to cut the joints.

Then putting the parts together and glue them.

Step 3: Creating a Wooden Board for the Bottom...

Them I cut all the pieces I needed to create a 50 x 32 cm board for the bottom. I had to glue several pieces so I could have the right measure. And I will have to do the same for the top lid.

Then I tried several techniques I will have to use to draw and engrave on the top lid.

Step 4: Glueing and Keeping It Tight So It Wouldn't Warp...

Step 5: Creating the Top Lid of the Box

Then, I proceeded, in the same way, to create a top lid for the box. This is the aspect the box will have in the end.

Step 6: Sanding and Rounding Corners

At this point, all the necessary parts had been created, but now it was necessary to sand the whole thing and round all the external corners, both laterally, on the top lid and on the bottom

Step 7: Creating the Internal Parts...

Now, the box was well on its way to be finished. Now I had to create the internal divisions with balsa wood. Then I would have to put hinges, locks and a handle. This was the most difficult part as with the pandemic all the stores are closed and online I only found some things I didn´t quite know if they were the best to use.

Finally, I found the locks I wanted and the leather handle.

I also made a wood board to separate the divisions with the threads from the tissue itself.

Step 8: The Finished Box!

And here is the finished box. Now I'm going to spread linseed oil, to create a good natural finishing look.