Scissors sheath finish

I wouldn't recommend this to anyone but Saturday was dreary and rainy and we stayed home all day and I stitched way too much. I began working on this at about 7am and stitched off an on until midnight--I probably stitched at least ten hours. My hands and arms were quite sore and achy, it lasted through Sunday, but I was done!

I'd also done laundry, cooked dinner and tucked in a couple of chores, watched "Bell, Book and Candle" on dvd and also a strange but interesting dvd by, about and for fans of the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Fans are sure a strange breed.I had the embroidery nearly done when I started. I did this added floral row Saturday morning(an outline stitch stem with French knot flowers and lazy-daisy leaves) and began working on the felt scissors fob. It's a stuffed felt shape covered with detached chain stitches and then beads. The second fob is actually an emery. I had some left over from another project and stitched a muslin liner for the felt and made the emery. I used ribbon I had (which needs pressing) for the cord and frill at the top.

If you stitch a lot, especially if you have a favorite needle, then an emery is very helpful. Remember the little berry that came attached to the old tomato pincushions? That was an emery. They're hard to find these days. It will clean, polish and sharpen your needles and I can definitely tell the difference. I poke the needle in and then hold it and run it back and forth, sometimes giving it a twirl, too. Just takes a sec.I put the sheath together by hand. First I basted around the drawn-on cutting line. I used pinking shears to cut out just outside of that line. That way I knew the muslin liner would stay smooth and my edges wouldn't fray. I marked seam allowances (6mm) all around, using the drawn cutting line as a guide--just pencil on the muslin liner. Then I stitched the embroidered wool to the cotton lining all around. I did this for both the long back and the shorter inside front of the piece.

A piece of plastic was cut to the pattern size and fitted into the base of the longer piece. I'd never thought of this before, it was in in the instructions, and it does add a lot of body to the scabbard. Then I overcast the front and back together.I made twisted cording as instructed and stitched one into the top of the strawberry fob and the longer, thicker piece around the scabbard. I added the ribbon frill to the fob and the ribbon to the emery. Then I decided the scabbard needed a snap and so I stitched one on and was done.

The winner --and new giveaway.

Sixteen people entered the drawing for the little cross stitch cottage kit--Thanks!

Random.org picked #10, which is KimB. Thanks to everyone who entered and included your contact information. That makes this so much easier to manage!

The next giveaway is a charming antique kit: Good Deeds Live Long. It's stamped cross stitch, not counted. This sampler kit comes with wooden bars for the top and bottom, so it's finished similar to a bell pull. All of the original packaging is there, if a bit tattered. There is, however, no floss.

It looks like the kind of thing you might have mailed away for in the 50s or 60s perhaps, from an ad in the back of a magazine. I've looked in my old magazines but never spotted this one, but have seen similar kits.

Please make a comment to this post before February 3 if you want to be included in the draw (random.org) for this kit. I will send it anywhere in the world. I will draw the winner on Thursday, February 4.

I do ask that you include some way for me to contact you directly. If your blog profile includes your e-mail address, direct me there--that'll work. If not, please e-mail me directly or include a spelled out or otherwise uncopyable address in your comment and I'll use that. I cannot go looking for you and if I can't reach you easily, I'm going to have to skip you and I really, really hate doing that.

Looking for some sun

I wrote a post on Friday night and posted it and now, today, it's gone! Vanished. No trace anywhere. I'm going to redo some of it... How annoying! (Oops, posted it to the wrong blog!)

First off, I need to say that due to the normal confusion on my part, I set the cross stitch house giveaway to end on Monday, January 26. Hmmm, well, today's Monday but it's the 25th! So I'm going to wait one more day, for those who looked at the date and not the day, before drawing the winner. I'll also have a new giveaway to post.My hubbby brought me this sunny pot holder last week. We desperately need even a hint of sun here--it's been days and days of gloom. I've hung it in our more-or-less blue and yellow kitchen and it adds a bright spot.The tea towel is completed.I've not completed three of these washcloths and used up every inch of the skein of cotton. Mostly I've been not doing too much. Slowly stitching the crewel scissors sheath, shown previously here and here. Occasionally working on the needlepoint fan. Each camellia leaf takes about an hour to stitch and the other parts of the design are similarly slow...not bad just time consuming. The leaves are a variation of or nue.

2010 Giveaway

I have gathered a new pile of things to offer for giveaways this year. They are going to be varied and, hopefully, interesting.

This is a kit that I believe I purchased in England over ten years ago. It's a complete kit, original, everything's there to make this little cross stitch cottage.

Please make a comment to this post before January 25 if you want to be included in the draw (random.org) for this kit. I will send it anywhere in the world. I will draw the winner on Monday, January 26.

I do ask that you include some way for me to contact you directly. If your blog profile includes your e-mail address, direct me there--that'll work. If not, please e-mail me directly or include a spelled out or otherwise uncopyable address in your comment and I'll use that. I cannot go looking for you and if I can't reach you easily, I'm going to have to skip you and I really, really hate doing that.

Books

My recent foray into hemstitching had me digging out my books to refresh my memory. I included photos of the two I used in the hemstitch tutorial. I also explored some others. Here are two of them--I was sure the hemstitching refresher I needed would be in them--but it wasn't!
This book is from the 50s and assumes you know a lot. A whole lot. It's why it was on the shelf. I do love the section on plain sewing and every time I look at the book I think about doing a plain sewing sampler, with hems and edgings and buttonholes. The book also has some great designs and ideas. And I may have solved a mystery. I showed this embroidered waterlily before. It was a holiday gift. I thought it might be a coaster. Why I thought that was probably from the Anchor book. This is a "liquor set" and there were several in the book. All were stitched on thin, sheer materials and were more fancy than practical for soaking up drips or condensation. But they seem very much like the waterlily.
I've had this book of Italian whitework for a while. It's spectacular with lovely designs. What amazes me most is that these elaborately stitched designs seem to be (I can't read the text at all) party favors for weddings, anniversaries, showers, etc. There are delicate sachets, little bags for small gifts, and sweet cutwork cloths to decorate trays with candies on your table. They are amazing but I can't imagine making more than one, much less the number that would be needed for a party!

Hem Stitching Part 2

Here are a couple of the books I used to remind me of the stitch. This first is French. The actual stitch is made from the back of the fabric.And this one is Polish. Here is the finished piece from the back. I made the stitches on the front very exact (straight down two threads) but I was less concerned about the back and these stitches come out mostly two stitches down but sometimes three and sometimes over one or two to the side. When you are stitching a hem, you have to watch both sides.

Hem Stitching Part 1

This is a little photo intensive so I split it in two. The first part is the withdrawal of threads and pressing and that's the most important part. Once you do that, the stitching is a piece of cake. This is how I do it and it is by no means definitive. Or perhaps even the best way.This is a schematic I made up showing the threads drawn for folding and stitching. You do not need to draw threads for the fold lines but I find it much easier than trying to follow one thread line with a hot iron all of the way across a piece of fabric.

Pulling out a thread gives you a clear pressing line. Just be sure not to count it into your hem...my hem was eight threads so I counted out eight threads from the line of drawn thread for hemstitching. Then I pulled one thread. Then I counted eight more threads for the back of the hem and then I pulled one. I counted four more for the turn under to hide the raw edge and then I pulled a thread to make a clear cutting line.

Here is the fabric with all of the threads pulled out.Here I've folded side one and pressed it. I folded the raw edge over on the first withdrawn thread line and pressed it, then I folded on the hemline, the second withdrawn thread line, and pressed the first fold so it just meets the withdrawn thread for hemstitching. I don't want to cover or obscure this line.I've opened up side one so I can fold up side 2. I miter the corner. After folding and pressing both sides, I open out the corner. I trim off the tip of the corner to reduce bulk and fold it diagonally so the fold matches the withdrawn lines for the raw-edge fold on both sides (an exact 45 degree angle without having to measure!). Once that is done, when I fold both sides back in place on the fold line. The corner will now fold up to meet in the corner on the diagonal. As I stitch around with the hem stitch, I whip or tack this diagonal line to hold it in place.This is the back side folded up. This is the side you stitch from. Bury you thread knot (I do knot this thread) inside the folds.

I used the same perle cotton I used for the needleweaving but it you want a really invisible hemstitch, pull warp threads (not the cross threads, weft, but the stronger lengthwise ones) from a scrap piece of fabric and use them to do your stitching. It works beautifully.This is the front, before stitching.And this is my secret weapon, a simple spray bottle with plain water. Especially for a sized fabric like unlaundered Hardanger or linen, I like to spritz it with water much more than using steam. I use a dry iron. I didn't even need to pin the hem at all as I stitched it on this runner. Iron the fabric on hot until it's completely dry.

Part two tomorrow.