Tangentially related...

... to stitching, that is.

Shortly after I began working on Jane Turner, I realized that Amy Mitten’s fat little book on everything you ever might want to know about executing the Montenegrin stitch (HERE in case you’re curious about the book) was going to be a necessity as I had never stitched it as anything but a dividing line straight across a sampler.  If you follow that link, you’ll see that Amy Mitten designed a humorous pocket to store and carry the book – fun, yes?  I thought so too, but figured I didn’t need it, so couldn’t justify it (and didn’t want to have to complete that project in order to work on Jane Turner).

Now that I’m getting really close to the bands that are filled with Montenegrin, I was thinking more and more about that pocket and how something similar would keep my book in better shape than just dropping it into my stitching bag every night.

So I dug out some supplies…

… and measured and marked and made a pattern.

Then I rooted through my denim stash till I found a piece that was tough but still soft.

And then I got too tricky for my own good – something I absolutely excel at when finishing smalls or making things like this.  Wouldn’t it be much nicer if the pocket was lined?  Yes, of course!  Cut two pieces of denim …

Uh oh.  How am I going to construct it?  Well, just sew the two pieces together, turn, and then … oh wait, can’t do the pocket side seams easily that way....  Okay, sew the pocket sides together for each piece and square off the bottom corners, turn one inside out and stuff it inside the other and then … oops, that’s a LOT of hand stitching to finish it.  Seems there should be a way that I could sew the two pieces mostly together and then turn it all through an open part (I’m still pretty sure this *can* be done… but work seems to be using the entire allotment of brain power these days and I just couldn't see how it ought to be done).

But at this point I was, as we say in our house, a bear of very little brain (apologies to A. A. Milne).  Think, think, think…

All right, let’s go for the least amount of hand sewing:  sew, turn, press, fold, pin …

Sew down the sides by hand.  Ah, at least I can shape the bottom.

Now slide the book in …

… and, finished!

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Sewing box … er, tray

Well, whichever it is, it’s finished and ready to use!

The other day I gathered everything I needed (which involved much running around the house to find weights and appropriately sized pieces of wood), then measured and cut and trimmed and glued and stitched and glued and weighted … and then waited.

Ta-dah!

When we talked about selecting the lining fabric for the box, I mentioned the green would match the needlecase that I really use, so I thought you might like to see it. This is another of those things I’ve made twice; the original for Sarah in the UK in a fall freebie exchange. Couldn’t make up my mind between two designs so incorporated both into a single item. There are felted wool needlepages and a double pocket in the back – one open section and another pocket with a flap secured by Velcro. Here's the original:

Had wanted to add another row of leaves below the flowers on the sampler but didn’t remember about making the change till after the boundary border and spine had been stitched (sigh). Having the size fixed rather limited what could be altered but I like the way it worked out. I also wanted a couple of smaller tool pockets in the back so that required a bit of redesign also. Of course adding more needle pages was a piece of cake.

The needlebook normally lives in my sewing basket on the dresser, but we can look at that another day. The sampler is stitched in DMC with the border/spine/frame in GAST. The squirrel and the leaves on his tree are stitched in GAST and Weeks.

The back has a little poem I wrote plus a scattering of acorns.

So here's the sewing box tray thing, all ready to get going on a mending project. Now where'd I put that bias tape...?

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Sewing box

Uh oh… looks like somebody else thinks my little carrier box is a useful thing.

Now that I’ve *ahem* reclaimed it, I’m auditioning lining fabrics. Haven’t quite decided whether I’m going to line the sides or not, though I could always do the bottom now and the sides later if it turns out they really need to be covered.

I’ve narrowed the choices down four fabrics. My first inclination was to use a rich, deep red, but it sort of disappears when I audition it in the box (the red is considerably darker than it appears in the picture, not sure why it looks so light in every shot I take). The two blues are from the Smithsonian quilt reproduction set from years ago and I’ve used the lighter one once before to line my Merry Cox Where Thy Heart Belongs Shaker box. The rich green would match a sewing case I made a couple years ago – a needlework “small” that I actually use! I have enough fabric of all except the lighter blue to line both the bottom and the sides.

I’m leaning toward the darker blue or the green – what do you think?


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Treasure!

Wanted to share my latest treasure with you – it just arrived in the mail. I’ve had this on my favorites list at Etsy for months and finally caved in and bought it.

The plan is to line it with pretty fabric so it can be my sewing/mending tray. Stitchery in the bottom and around the sides would be even better, but I know my limitations – that would take me far too long and I’d like to actually use this.

Here are a couple pictures that are providing inspiration:

Merry Cox’s Americana:

Merry Cox's Diminutive Sewing Set:

 

Merry Cox’s Where Thy Heart Belongs (are you sensing a theme here?) This one’s my own:

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