In my Sewing box: Needlepoint Bag

This seems to have been a year where I’ve actually finished a whole bunch of sewing projects for a change! Instead of flitting around from one Herculean venture to the next, I’ve taken on small, manageable projects with gratifyingly short timelines, and a definite end in sight.

I started this needlepoint design by Beth Russell at the end of the summer and completed it soon after I returned from Montreal. Beth Russell's needlepoint kits come with the canvas pre-printed with the design (this one inspired by a mural at Castell Coch in Wales), along with the requisite wool/floss. So once I separated and labelled all the wool colours, I hummed along with the sewing at a steady pace.

Once the needlepoint was finished, I oscillated between making it into a pillow, like I had done before, to frame it by itself, or to convert it into something more utilitarian. In the end, I settled on using the needlepoint as a panel in the front of a simple zippered bag. 

I used unbleached, woven linen to frame either side of the needlepoint panel on the front, and on the back of the bag. For the inside lining, I used vintage, printed cotton fabric in a light, celery green, and finished off the bag with piping in pale, silvery-grey grosgrain ribbon, and a buttercream tassel on the zipper pull.

In my Sewing box: Cross Stitch iPhone Case

I’m long overdue sharing some of my recent hand-sewn creations. So look out for quite a few craft-related posts in the coming weeks. To start off, here’s something I just finished.

I came across this completely customisable iPhone kit by Connect Design at Purl SoHo. It’s a simple plastic iPhone 4/4S case, with an utterly genius gridded back panel, onto which you can directly cross stitch or needlepoint—a sleek, super-tech iPhone encased in a hand-embroidered sleeve—how anachronistically perfect!

The box comes with a few design templates, embroidery thread in three colours, and a needle. Of course me being me, I had to do create a pattern of my own, and came up with this classically sweet, symmetrical design of repeating wreath motifs. I paired the bright, neon orange case with Londonderry 100% linen thread in pale taupe and cream.

The grid was fairly easy to work with, but I had to make allowances for the cutout in the top left corner for the phone’s camera lens. I also fussed endlessly with how to resolve the area directly to the right of the camera cutout—it was not big enough to accommodate another row of wreaths, so I sketched for a while till I ended up with something that didn’t make the design top-heavy.

When it came time to sew, I finished the first wreath completely to make sure my sketch grid aligned perfectly with the grid on the case. Then I continued working with the taupe colour. Above the first wreaths, you can see some alternate colours—gold and pink—that I tested, before settling on the taupe and cream.

Once I completed all the taupe areas, I started to fill-in with the cream thread.

The finished case—Apple fanboys/fangirls and craft geeks unite!

Sewing box update

It’s been a year since I shared the travails of my sewing box. Well, I’m happy to report that I’ve made terrific progress in curbing my procrastinating tendencies and have completed two long-overdue projects in the past three months alone, and am well on my way to finishing one more. Who knows, come May, I may even start taking on commissions . . . !

Exhibit 1: 

The first at the finish line, this tote bag with Jacobean crewelwork was 6 years in the making.

Exhibit 2: 

 Originally planned as a fifth wedding anniversary present for hubby, I completed this needlepoint pillow a year behind schedule, just in time for Christmas 2010.

Exhibit 3: 

I've sworn not to start anything new until this puppy is done.