Heidi Has A Couple of Finishes

Heidi has been working very hard to get her Bluebeard's Princess Mermaid by Mirabilia Designs finished......what a great finish too!! ....... she also framed it herself! what a wonderful job she did with it, and she tried to get a close up of the beads, i luv the way they sparkle! :o) ........she also has finished a Shepherd's Bush Home kit, and again she did a wonderful job, i just love that little sheep! :o)

Congratulations on your finishes Heidi !

luv from Olga.

Some Accessories for the Etui Box

I made some accessories to go with the etui box i just made. I will be sending this one for a Xmas gift for my friend Marianne. Hope you enjoy the pics!
luv from Olga.

Victorian Etui Box Tutorial

Again i have been asked to do a tutorial on my etui box. Again i can only offer you the way i make the boxes together. I therefore have made another one, and took photos as i went along. Measurements are extremely important because the box needs to match up perfectly. I tried to make the box with gussets but i just couldn't work it out so i have kept to the traditional look of the box opening up flat. For this one i have made the lid separate as it was easier to do. Hope you find the instructions helpful and hope that you too can make such wonderful etui boxes :o)

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Some things you will need:

pencil
cardboard
ruler
fabrics
batting used for padding.
double sided tape
glue (bookmark glue or pva glue)
waxed dental floss or fishing wire.
strong cotton
sewing machine
lace
elastic
sharp needle
scissors


MEASUREMENTS for the Cardboard Pieces:

LID:

cut 1 of 4.8 inches square of cardboard (outer side of lid)

cut 1 of 4.4 inches square of cardboard (inside part of lid)

LID LIPS:

cut 4 of 4.10 inches by 1 inch of cardboard.

BASE:

cut 1 of 4.6 inches square cardboard (outside bottom of base)

cut 1 of 3.14 inches square cardbord (inside part of base)

WALLS:

cut 4 of the outer walls 4.3 inches by 4.7 inches square of cardboard

cut 4 of the inside walls 4 inches by 4.4 inches of square of coardboard

METHOD:

first we will start with the lid. you need the cardboard for the top of the lid and the cardboard for the inside of the lid which is slightly cut smaller than the other one. you will need some batting for the inside, and 4 of the side bits that form the lip of the lid.



cut both your fabrics for pieces of cardboard lid.

starting with the inside bit, cover the cardboard with batting using some double sided tape.

do the same with the top lid fabric but no padding, then turn the corners over and sew them down, i mitred the corners first........then lace the back of both pieces like you would lace if you were framing a piece.

front sides look like this, the one that goes inside the lid is padded the other one is not. **all the outside walls of the box are not padded, but the inside ones will be padded.

now place the inside one on top of the outside one and glue into place, making sure you centre it.

now you must prepare the lip sides of the lid. using your little pieces, place them onto the fabric and cut out a piece of fabric about 3.5 times the width of you cardboard.

leave a tiny gap between each cardboard because you want these spots to bend which will form your corners on the lid.

with some double sided tape in the centre of each cardboard place them onto the wrong side of the fabric one length height of the cardboard.

with some more double sided tape, this time on the side facing you

and turn the fabric over and tape will hold it in place for you while you work.

now fold the top down to meet the cardboard.

now turn it over again and this time it should meet just under the bottom edge as per picture below.

now open it again and turn the corner section over as per picture.

now turn it down again and begin to stitch it together with hidden whip stitches.

keep going till you get to the other end and fasten off your thread.

now you should have your lid and this strip of fabric.

now starting at the back part of your lid, begin to stitch the strip to the lid and make sure that the untidy side of the stitching is on the inside of the lid, as you want the prettier side to show outwards.

holding it in a position that is downwards because you want the lip to sit downwards begin to sew.

keep stitching it with whip stitches til you get to the end

now you will get to the spot where you started from

now close shut the 2 ends together, forming one of the corners of the lid.

you now have the lid completed. Notice how the corners are important for the lid to work out properly. That is why measurements are extremely important, otherwise your box will not work out to match.

this is the inside view of the lid.

now you will prepare the bottom of the box. you will have your cardboard pieces similar to the lid, the padding to go on the inside part, and fabric for the bottom side.

complete both pieces like you did for the lid. the outside one has no padding and the inside one has padding.

i have used patterned fabric for the inside part, but you can use the same colour of the sides if you wish. for the outside parts, i have used all the same fabric except the lid of course.

now put all what you have done aside.

.......

now you will prepare the sides of the box. You will have 4 pieces of cardboard that will be used for the outside and 4 pieces of fabric. No padding is required for the outside bits.

now complete the sides like you did for the outer lid. Don't forget to lace the backs.

now you will prepare the side bits that will form the inside walls of the box, these will be padded.

now complete them as you did for the inside part of the lid, lacing the backs.

now you have 4 walls for the outer side of the box, and 4 padded walls for the inside of the box.

now you will join the 4 outside walls to the base of the box which you have prepared earlier. don't forget to make sure you place the sides properly as you would not want the laced sides on the outside.

now i have used waxed dental floss to attach the base of the side walls to the base of the box, as per picture, i continue like that and pulling tightish as i go. (you can use fishing wire or very strong cotton for this part.)

you now should have the following.

this what the other side looks like, all my fabric that i want to show on the outside is showing.

now i just sit the other parts to see what it looks like on the inside.

now if you want to, you can stop here and glue your inside parts to the outer walls and glue your inside base to the outer base, and perhaps put a strip of ribbon in the centre of each one before you glue the peices in place.

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now if you are more confident you can attach pockets to the inside walls as i have. for this you will need some more fabric and some elastic.

.........

now cut 4 pieces of fabric that is 1 & 1/2 width of the inside wall and add a further 2 cms and the height of the wall .............iron the top down about 2 cms and iron again a further 2cms over.

machine stitch the seam down with matching cotton.

you can also now machine stitch some lace on the top like have to give it some contrast and plus it looks pretty too :o) ............you will also need to cut 4 elastic peices the with of the inside wall and add a further 2cm .

now using a safety pin, feed the elastic just enough for one end to meet the end of the fabric and machine stitch in place so that the elastic is secured. Now move the safety pin to the other side and do the same but be careful not to loose your elastic.

now hand sew the fabric about just under half way of the inside wall to the back of the peice, and make sure you stitch it well starting from one side going right around and then the bottom to the other side and then fasten off your thread. .............dont worry how bad the back looks as you will not see this after you are finished. you now should have this.

this is what the backs of mine look like.

Now glue the inside walls which have the pockets to the walls of the box and glue in place the inside padded base to the base of the box.

Congratulations, you have just finished your victorian etui box. Makes a wonderful gift for a stitcher. Enjoy!

Luv from Olga.

All In Pink

Red, pink and purples are my most favourite colours and i just couldn't resist finishing this wonderful box and accessories in pink.
...........it took me a good week to do it all, the stitching took a few weeks to do also...the chart is from the gift of stitching online magazine, Issue 45 October 2009 issue called Stitching Treasures Needlework Set, by Deborah Thorpe of Midsummer Night Designs............if you are familiar with Judy Odell finishing of the mermaid box, then you will have some understand of how i put the box together as its similar to that.........and of course i used the design to make matching accessories to go with the box..........the box measures about 170 cm by 170 cm and the height of the box is about 75 cm ........the fabric is called 28 count Riviera Linen (100% Linen) in Soft Rose/White Gingham....I stitched in two threads over two and I used Anchor threads, and it was lovely to see a designer using Anchor threads, they are so pretty and wonderful to work with, and the linen was fabric i had left over from a previous project.
Hope you enjoy the pictures.
luv from Olga.

A Finish By Bhooma (Russian Doll Scissor Case and Fob)

This morning i received a wonderful email from Bhooma. It's wonderful to hear from readers that have visited my blog. Here is Bhooma's wonderful finish of her Russian Doll Scissor Case and Fob, and this is what she wrote to me:


'Hi Olga,

I came across your finishes in your blog one day and loved them. I hunted down the magazine and finished mine the same way using your tutorials. Your tutorial is great and worked like a charm. All of your finishes are great. You are a very talented lady .

I don't have a blog to post the pictures. I thought I would send you a picture of mine.
Bhooma'

I'm sure would agree with me that she did a great job with her stitching and finishing. Congratulations Bhooma on a wonderful finish!

If anyone else is out there that has used my tutorials, i would love to hear from you and post your work on my blog.

luv from Olga.

Sunflower PinCushion Tutorial

I have been asked by more than one person to give a tutorial of the sunflower pincushions that i make and been seen on my blog. I cannot take credit for this idea as it is not mine. I first saw a tutorial on a French blog site, but the link is no longer available. I have added a few more steps into the instructions which i feel made it easier to make up the cushion. I hope i have given you clear instructions and hopefully with the aid of the pictures you are able to follow it through the end and make these adorable pincushions. You can use any fabrics, the different fabrics you can use is limitless.

Things you will need to get started:

*iron

*double sided tape

*sewing cotton or you can use waxed dental floss

*sewing machine (optional)

*sharp sewing needle

*pencil

*fabrics

*jar lid or any other suitable lid

*cardboard

*stuffing for pincushion

*interfacing optional

METHOD:

firstly turn you jar lid down onto the cardboard like i have in the picture below, and trace around it.

now cut out the circle from the cardboard.

now place your jar lid onto the wrong side of your fabric that you are using for the base of the pincushion, and draw out the circle........now you need the height of the jar lid, therefor place it on its side and matching it to the circle already traced, go around and make little markings like the picture below.

now join these little markings with your pencil so now you have 2 circles drawn on your fabric.

now cut out your circle but you must cut outside your pencil marking, giving you about 1cm extra fabric, and put this aside for now.

now with your jar lid, faced down, draw about 8 more circles and cut these out where you have pencilled it. Therefore you do NOT have any extra fabric that has been cut out.

you should now have the jar lid, a cardboard cut out circle, a fabric cut out circle and 8 smaller fabric circles.

now get your fabric that you will use for the top of the pincushion, this can be fabric or perhaps you would like to do a cross stitch piece to go on top for this. I used some fabric, spotted the picture i want to show on top and traced the circle on the wrong side of the fabric using my jar lid faced down on it. Now cut it out but cut outside the pencil area perhaps 1.5cm extra fabric.

you should now have the cardboard, the jar lid, the top fabric, 8 circles and one larger one as per picture below.

now at this stage you may want to iron on some interfacing on the fabric that is going to be the top of the pincushion, in my case its the one with the teacup on it, and you may also want to iron some interfacing on the bottom fabric in my case being the big green circle, i do strongly recommend that you use interfacing if you use very fine fabric, for fabric that is rather thick, you should be able to skip the interfacing.

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now place the cut out round cardboard on top of your fabric that is going to be the top of the pincushion, mine is the one with the teacup.

with the iron, iron the edges, folding them over the cardboard and go right around it, giving you the following picture below........the purpose of this is to give you a circular ironed seam which you will use as a guide in a later step when constructing your pincushion.

now remove the cardboard, this is important as you do not need the cardboard anymore, so just discard it now. ..now put this fabric aside.

now get your 8 pieces of circles, these will form your petals for the sunflower shape of the pincushion. Fold each one in half and then fold again into a quarters, i used the iron so that they sit flat firmly.

now place the folded circles on the edge of your larger fabric as per picture, on the right side of your fabric, it is important that you put it on the right side of the fabric otherwise it will not work out.

now just tack them into place, don't worry about this thread cox you will pull it out later on. its just to make sure the little pieces do not move as you work.

now this step is option but i strongly recommend that you do it. .......you now use your sewing machine and in plain stitch, sew around the edge making sure you catch the edges of the little circles, about 1cm into your fabric, and then you can pull out your tacking now.

now turn it over, as you can see i had to use the interfacing, but you should be able to see your pencil markings, i placed some double sided tape into the very centre of it.

then i placed the jar lid to fit exactly into the circle that i earlier pencilled in on the fabric. The tape will hold it in place and will stop it from slipping all over the place as you work, and it will also stop it from distorting as you work.

now thread a sharp needle and tack on the out edge about 1cm into the circle, and gather it as you go. *you can use waxed dental floss for this part to gather the fabric.

when you get to the end, pull to gather and using your fingers just help it to shape evenly, make sure you do this very tight but do not break your thread, tie a good strong knot so that the gathering does not come undone. You now should have the following picture, and notice how your flower petals are now in position and sitting pretty? :o)

you are almost there now. You now get your top and just sit into position, then thread a sharp needle with matching sewing cotton, and begin to sew the top on to the edge of the jar lid, going through the petals, use very small tiny and very very close together whip stitches, try to make them hidden if you can.

Keep going around unit you have a little opening left. You now fill the cushion with some stuffing.

now close the opening shut, and now you have completed your sunflower pincushion.

the bottom should look like this.

Enjoy your cushion.

luv from Olga.

Victorian Etui Box

above is the bottom view of the box, i used floral fabric for contrast.

this is the inside view with the lid off.

this is the back view of the scissor case.

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This is kit i recently bought from eBay, it looks to be a very old kit called 'Meg Evans Cut-Above Kits.'

It says that the cross stitch design is taken from a sampler in the Victoria and Albert museum which was worked by Margaret Mahoy in 1633.

The instructions did not make any sense to me at all, but because i had made one of these back in 1997, i knew what i was doing. The floral fabric you see was not in the kit, i added this to the design myself and made the pockets too, as this also was not in the instructions. I also added and made the little pincushion which measures about 1.inch. I did not use glue, i did a lot of lacing the backs and hand stitching the corners together, and then hand stitching the sides together, i stitched the 4 sides to the bottom of the box with waxed dental floss, works really well. I made the lid different, as the lid was suppose to be made separate, but i made mine attached to the box. I also made a matching scissor case and fob from the left over fabric.

Was a lot of work, not for the faint hearted, its also very time consuming to make one, but i can see myself making another one in the future, maybe not as much cross stitching in it, perhaps the lid only, and the remainder made from matching fabrics. Anyway, hope you like and enjoy my pics. I'm thinking of giving this for a birthday gift to a friend next year.

enjoy!

luv from Olga.