My Rosebud Ruler

Hand crafted from recycled piano keys and each engraved with a ruler to help count your fabric threads, plus a dainty rosebud drawn by my friend, Ethan Danielson. These rulers start life as the little bits in front of the black notes on trashed pianos.

You can attach the charm to scissors or your project case. Each charm varies slightly but measures around 2 x1in (5 x 2.5cm).

I like dreaming up images that seem to sit well with stitching, so this time the motif is a little rosebud. You might like my other charms too – acorn, strawberry, dragonfly.

I am sure that you know that, in the past, piano keys were covered with fine pieces of ivory which is thankfully now outlawed. I collect old and scruffy piano keys from a variety of sources. I managed to get my hands on a slightly challenging batch recently with chunks of wood and splinters still attached. I discovered that an overnight soak cleaned them up enough for the next stage of their new life. Each key is sanded and has the edges rounded. (It is a team effort, so I Bill tackles this for me while he watches football coverage!)

The ruler measurements and little rosebud motif are etched with a laser by a local firm. The finishing touch is to apply gold polish so that it highlights the engraved design.

This pretty charm is also practical as the ruler markings will help you count your fabric threads. I had wanted to make you something like this for a while but hadn’t discovered the right material. I often work with a ‘faux ivory’ but discovered that it can shrink in the making process, which does not make for an accurate ruler!