Note taken originally during needlework (8)
I believe the answer is:
crotchet
'note' is the definition.
(musical note)
'taken originally during needlework' is the wordplay.
'taken originally' becomes 't' (I can't justify this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'during' indicates putting letters inside.
'needlework' becomes 'crochet' (crochet is a kind of needlework).
't' placed within 'crochet' is 'CROTCHET'.
(Other definitions for crotchet that I've seen before include "Fancy" , "In music, it has quarter the time value of a whole note" , "perverse notion" , "Quarter of a semibreve" , "A note in music equal to half a minim" .)