I read a lot of sewing and quilting blogs so I am pretty much up on the trends (I don't do them, I just know them). One I've been reading a lot about is making pincushions, for both sewing and non-sewing people. A lot of bloggers stuff the pincushions with crushed walnut shells. Knowing the seriousness and unpredictability of a life threatening food allergy, this scares me. If someone is sewing with pins that were in such a pincushion, all of the pins, the item being sewed, and even the sewers hands will have walnut oil or walnut protein on them. This is so easily spread to anything else in their house. This is the main reason I almost never sign up for giveaways-I would hate to win something from someone who (unbeknownst to me) uses this type of pincushion and then put my daughter at risk of a reaction. I know I can wash most things like fabric but a lot of the giveaways are for precuts, which cannot be prewashed.
I just wanted to put the heads-up out there-if you're sewing for others please be aware of any allergies or sensitivities they or their family members may have. Food allergies seem to be on the rise lately, and no one knows why, but until someone comes up with a cure, avoidance is the only defense. Since walnut is the one thing my daughter has reacted to (the rest were determined through testing) it's the one that strikes the most fear in our hearts.
4 comments:
WOW! Thanks, Gale! I had no idea people were stuffing pin cushions with that! I just made one the other day and stuffed it with, well, STUFFING! I didn't know you could stuff it with anything else -and am glad I didn't. Not that I would have stuffed it with that anyway. How scary! Thanks for the heads up!
Lynn
Its terrible of me to say, but i've never thought about allergies to that stuff. Shame on me. I would have to hope though, that if someone did have an allergy, they would say something in their swap details. I, on the other hand, will definitely make a note in my packages sent of exactly what is included. Thanks for the reminder!!
Wow. That's scary! Thanks for the heads up. I'm not a seamstress by any means and only sew a little, but it would never occur to me in a million years to use crushed walnut shells.
Wow. I don't sew, well not enough to need a pincushion:) But, I am glad to see you getting the word out there to others! This is scary if you start thinking about it.
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