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Unleash your stories: Monica Hill

Monica Hill’s creation is a beautiful bobbin-thread case. Monica Hill, who is an Online Resources Designer with Te Tumu Herenga (otherwise known as Libraries and Learning Services), is proficient at a wide variety of crafts. From her experience as a crafter, she has gathered a collection of delights and annoyances – one of which set the foundation for her latest project.

Monica’s story

Monica’s inspiration sprang from her frustration at having to fish for the right thread in a sea of jumbled skeins (the long balls of yarn found in drawers). So she came to the Maker Space to create a container that would store all her threads in an orderly way. She found a temporary solution with cardboard bobbins, so that her threads did not have to be drawn from skeins. However, consistent reuse of the bobbins proved that they quickly wore out. Subsequently, Monica replaced the cardboard bobbins with much sturdier wooden bobbins. 

Although she accomplished her primary objective with the wooden bobbins, Monica felt motivated to organise and display them in a prettier fashion. That’s when the exterior case was developed. She used wood for the base and sides of the box, finishing with an acrylic cover on the top so that the contents are visible. Stackable and easily reproduced, Monica will never run out of space for her threads again. Thanks to her design, it only takes a moment for Monica to colour-match the threads she needs for her bookbinding work.

After sharing an image of her completed bobbin case with a needlecraft group, Monica received an overwhelmingly positive response. The post garnered over 200+ likes and many enquiries for sale, which prompted her to make future commercial plans. As part of this process, Monica expects to experiment with the materials of her design. An idea she has in mind is changing the wooden box to one made of bamboo ply. Additionally, Monica has identified that her wooden bobbins can be replaced with more efficient bobbin-winders. This adjustment would allow for winding that is faster than normal hand-winding, making it more accessible for people with arthritis. 

Monica is thankful to Unleash Space for enabling her to use the laser cutter equipment, and to the creative technologists who helped her learn all the handy tips and tricks. Her confidence in using the laser cutter has developed immensely, Monica says.