At long last....

Rachel at Ten Hour Stitcher (LINK) is our host for this compltely brilliant SAL.  Thanks again, Rachel, for the much needed kick in the pants! 

This one requires a little history.  In 1995, I was able to attend the Spirit of Cross Stitch Festival in Valley Forge.  It was the second time I’d gone to SOCS and this time I not only knew what my class projects looked like *before* class started, I was prepared for the awesome merchandise mall.  By that I mean I was ready to look for charts and supplies for classes from a previous year that I’d fallen in love with.  One of the charts I picked up was Merry Cox’s Sampler Sewing Case.  After a minor debate with myself, I also bought the SOCS video class with Merry since the project was a similarly designed sewing case.

Understand that the intent behind purchasing the video was to get detailed finishing instruction for the other chart – I had no intention of stitching the case in the video.

Are you laughing yet?

Of course at some point after finishing the first sewing case, I ended up contacting Merry in order to acquire her materials kit for the case in the video.  The original sampler case was stitched in 1997 and fully finished shortly thereafter.

While working on the second sampler case, I decided I wanted it to be different from the first one – my chart has so many notes and ideas in the margins!  The plan was to turn Merry’s normal mattress pincushion into a pocket.  And oh, while I’m at it, let’s make the needlebook a bit snazzier too.

Stitching for this small was finished in (*cough*) 2003.  Ever since, it’s been rolled up and tucked carefully into my (Merry Cox SOCS class) Shaker Box with a number of my completed smalls, patiently waiting for me to go through my making-quilts frenzy and come back to stitching.

 

(This is Merry’s case – screenshots from video class)

A few years ago I got a bug to finish the sewing case.  For some reason, I’d thought it was larger than the first case.  Nope.  As charted, it's not even as big as the first one.  So there was pondering as to how to enlarge it without losing the original feel of the project (and also without broad expanses of blank linen).  I trawled eBay to acquire more of one of the project threads, DMC flower thread (long gone from LNS inventories), then planned and stitched a border.

And then I got cold feet.

Really, what had I been thinking?  A tool-holding pouch with a flap closure in this itty-bitty case?  Back into the Shaker box it went so it could … age a bit more.

Enter Rachel’s SAL (*whoops and cheers and applause*), which got me seriously thinking about this project again.  Preparing to work on the project required some serious advance planning steps, beginning with figuring a way to transfer the video file to my laptop which does not have an integral DVD drive.  Hey, at least it was *on* a DVD rather than a now-useless VHS tape thanks to Wonderful Husband.

For the past few weekends I’ve disappeared into the back bedroom (where sewing machine, ironing board, and other essentials reside) for an hour or so a day.  Yes, in addition to being a slow stitcher, I’m a slow finisher as well.

Now when one is off the instructions map, one needs mock ups and templates to ensure plans and ideas work.  Especially when one’s design is way too fancypants for one’s own good.

  

That tiny bit of paper with staples is my pocket model and the other paper is my pattern.  I even basted the pieces to the outer case this time!

I changed the poem just a touch since I saw no reason to break words across two lines.

On the inside bits, I stitched the letters over one so there would be room for more information ... and so I could put designs and words on the undersides of those flaps.  I also added a strap to better secure my scissors - when Merry shows off her Sampler Sewing Case #1 in the video, you can see she made a scissor strap for that one, though I don't think it's called for in either pattern.

Rather than nun’s edged linen needlepages, I used felted wool to better protect my needles and pins from rust - our climate is more humid than I'd like.

Here's that pesky double pocket that took so long to go from wisp of idea to reality.

Even though I didn’t want to add all the bows that Merry used on her case, I thought the waxer pouch was a good place for the little bow charm.  The drawstring on the other pouch is made from some of the silk ribbon provided to make those triple bows (see pics of Merry's case) – they were a bit too frou-frou for me.

Happy dancing!  Certainly it took me long enough to finish this piece, but I'm generally pleased with the result.

Thanks for visiting with me today, and for allowing me to ramble.

>^..^<