Revision

Remember this? I blogged about it in February.



I wasn't too happy with the way the sides worked out.


Well, over the 14 weeks since Niamh was born, it has gradually become this.


And I'm much happier now. Now it looks like the box I wanted to make. And reworking it was fun, and I got away with reusing the thread I used in the previous version without needing to buy any more.


I'm especially pleased with the box lining which I crocheted. After a quick look round, I couldn't find any fabric I wanted to line the box, so I crocheted the lining as I has some conveniently coloured cotton yarn. In fact, I think the lining has to be my favourite part of this box now!



Now I can hardly wait to start Twilight Pearls this evening!

The pursuit of perfection – or taking it a bit too far?

For the last few weeks, I’ve been working on a plastic canvas box. It’s taken me longer than I expected – it’s my own design and that design keeps changing as I try different things. This time, however, I’ve come up against what is, to me, a major design flaw. Just when I thought I’d finished the actual stitching on the box and was putting all the bits together.

My starting point was this.


Winter Snowflakes from Kick Back and Stitch. I stitched it a while ago, but it’s never been finish finished as I couldn’t think how to do it in a way that would show it off the way I wanted to. Then, a few weeks ago, I saw this post on Craftypod and all of a sudden things clicked together in my mind and I came up with the idea of making a plastic canvas box with my Winter Snowflakes in the lid. And I could use the many of the same threads, stitches and so on in stitching the box that I used in the original design. I still think it sounds like a fantastic idea!

So, first of all, I made this for the base of the box. It’s far too nice for the base of a box, but hey-ho that’s what it’s for.


Then I made some box sides.


The diagonal stitch pattern used here (can't remember what the stitch is called) appears in the Winter Snowflakes design, but I’ve used my own choice of colours. Then I decided that the box sides weren’t going to be tall enough for the type of box I wanted to try. So the box sides became the sides of a box lid.

And when Winter Snowflakes was mounted on some stiff card and fitted into the lid, it was perfect!



So I stitched some different, taller box sides, stitched them to the base and stitched up the sides.


Then, full of anticipation, I popped on the lid.


Looks OK in this photo, but it’s not perfect! The lid doesn’t come as far down the sides as I’d planned – it’s supposed to come down to the darker area between the two horizontal bands. And the box is now just too tall for what I wanted!



So I’m not sure at the moment what the next step is. I suspect it will involve dismantling the box sides and possibly stitching something completely different. But all this stitching on plastic canvas used a mountain of thread and I’ve run out of the dark blue #5 pearl cotton I’d been using. I don’t know, if I completely frog the sides, whether the threads will be re-usable. And I’ve also run out of one of the colours of metallic braid I was using too and I really didn’t want to spend a small fortune on making this!

A few more odds and ends

Well, I spoke too soon, last time I blogged. I’m still feeling rather apathetic, and struggling to find something interesting enough to do. As a result I don’t feel like I have much to say today, but I wanted to share the pics of some of the things I’ve done.


Ribbon Rhodes pincushion – this was my big idea that I was just getting going on last time – Rhodes hearts stitched with ribbon. I like the hearts, but somehow, I’m not sure I like the end result all that much.


Another complete change – a scissor fob stitched on plastic canvas using knitting yarn.

I also owe a big thank you to Deb for this lovely surprise which arrived last week.



And here’s my TUSAL contribution for July – some bits of felt, evenweave fabric and plenty of odd threads and bits of yarn.



Finally, as I’ll be away on holiday from the end of this week, I’m going to take the rest of this month off from blogging. Hopefully, I’ll be back with lots of news and photos to share at the start of September.

Still here

So I'm still here and still waiting. I had the membrane sweep last Thursday, but it doesn't seem to have made any difference. The latest news is that if nothing happens before this Friday, I'll be going into hospital then for a caesarian.

The caesarian is by my own choice, not dictated by medical need, but weighing up the options, I believe it's the best choice for me and my family. If I had chosen induction, then it could still have been 24 hours or more and I could still have ended up needing a caesarian. The risks associated with a normal birth after a previous caesarian are also greater for induction.

To me the main advantages in having the caesarian are in the control we (me, DH and DS) have over what happens on the day. I'll go into hospital early on Friday morning and the baby should be with us by the time DS comes out of school on Friday afternoon - meaning minimal disruption for DS and I don't need to worry about where he's going to be and who's going to look after him while I'm in hospital. I also feel more comfortable for DH coming with me for the caesarian - he can be very squeamish and hates hospitals, and I was never entirely sure how he would react to being with me in labour. Don't get me wrong, I don't think it would be a major problem, it was just an unknown factor, and something else I would worry about. With the caesarian, we at least know what we're letting ourselves in for.

Do I sound as if I've persuaded myself that I've made the right decision yet?

---

In the meantime, here are some photos of another box I've made - I think I like this one even better than the last one.


I chose this design as I wanted to have a go at the folded patchwork lid - I've never done anything like that before and I'm rather pleased with the end result. The folded patchwork was quite straightforward, but a bit fiddly and I cheated, using fabric glue rather than stitching each little fabric triangle in place individually.

---

I'd like to thank everybody who has been leaving comments and good wishes. I'm really grateful for every kind word and all your support. I'm not sure when I'll get the chance to blog next, perhaps not for a couple of weeks. Hopefully things will settle enough after that!

Occasional project

Since January, I've had this 'occasional project' on the go that I've been working on as and when I've felt like it, or when I haven't felt like working on anything else.

It comes from this book which I bought shortly after Christmas.


There are some wonderful embroidered boxes in the book as well as folded patchwork. There are boxes stitched with plastic canvas, fabric boxes using cardboard to make them rigid and boxes that use a mix of the two. I've found it quite inspirational for thinking about finishing some of my projects. For practice and to get a feel for making boxes, I've made the following sewing box from the book.


It's stitched on a number of pieces of plastic canvas which are then joined and lined.


When the stitching is finished you end up with a number of pieces as shown above which you stitch together and line to make the following:


I'm rather pleased with it, but at the same time I'm more excited about the ways in which I can make and use boxes in finishing other items and I have big plans!

Thanks to everybody for all the wonderful comments on 'A Celebration of Love'. I've taken a lot of your suggestions on board and am looking at finishing it using a plain fabric which I hope will complement my sister's dress, but am also going to overlay it partly with lace. Unfortunately, I can't get hold of either fabric or lace from my sister's dress, I'm just hoping that the ivory fabric I've now got will roughly tone in and that I'll be able to make something which has the same kind of look. I might even get started on it later this afternoon! I'm also now tempted to make her a small matching trinket box!