se pellOn the trip I was working on an English Paper Piecing project using the 1″ Side Mylar Pieces for English Paper Piecing from our products.  I go in spurts when it comes to hand sewing projects, and started this project a couple of months ago.  It was the perfect project to take on a road trip.  Once I got started, I realized that I had been frustrated with my beeswax in the plastic holder. Plus my little pellet that I was using instead was lost.

I suffered through with what I had, but this morning I decided that I needed to remedy the situation.   Recently my thread  has been knotting and fraying, in spite of the fact that I was running it through beeswax.  I realized  that I had given my old beeswax with holder to my granddaughter a couple of years ago.  The one I was using was a new one I had bought  to replace it.  Could it be that the new beeswax was the issue?  Yep!   I have beeswax pellets in the house, and I stuck one of those in the kit.  My knotting and fraying problems disappeared when I started using it… at least until I lost it.

Today is the day I am going to fix that problem.   I gathered my supplies (my beeswax pellets, a metal measuring cup, a toothpick to stir it, and a heat resistant small bowl). Then I looked for something to mold the beeswax in.  I tried a bathroom paper cup, but it was going to be too big for the holder.  Then I found a shave gel lid, which was also too large.  Then a found a lid on a hair styling product that was maybe a bit small, but close enough.

 

I started my electric teapot to boil water, and then put some pellets in the measuring cup.  Once the water came to a boil, I poured some into the heat resistant bowl, being careful that it was not so deep as to run into the measuring cup, and then put the measuring cup with the pellets into the bowl.

 

I poured out the water more than once and added fresh HOT water to the bowl before the pellets. Once the pellets were totally melted, I poured them into the hair care lid mold.  Then I checked the height of the liquid against the opening in the container opening.

 

It was not quite thick enough, so I dropped a few pellets into the still hot beeswax, and pushed them into the soft beeswax.  I did not like the rough surface on top of the wax, so I melted just enough pellets to be able to add them to the mold and have a smooth surface on the previous wax.  I put these in the mold and put it in the refrigerator for about a half hour, until it was set up hard.  It was then easy to pop out of the mold, and put in the holder.

 

 

To use, just run your thread through one of the slots in the case, and pull the thread through the beeswax.  It will cut a slit into the wax, but you can push the slot closed with your fingers.  Or you can reheat the wax and put it back into the mold if you desire.  I wait to reheat until many slots are cut.

The beeswax slightly stiffens the thread so that it doesn’t knot up when you are sewing.  At the same time it strengthens the thread.  In my book, it is a “must do” when sewing on buttons.

I hope this helps you create something today, even if it is just a piece of beeswax to help you out another day!