Monday, November 18, 2013

Cabinet of Curiosities Update

It seems I have not updated my progress in the Cabinet of Curiosities course for quite some time.  Allow me to remedy that this morning.  The course has officially ended, but of course I have not yet managed to read all the materials.  I have, however, finished several of the stitching projects.  First up is a little butterfly pincushion.  It is worked using silk thread on a lower count linen fabric.  The oddest bit of it for me was tracing the pattern onto the fabric rather than counting out where to place my stitches.  I finished it using some gold braid I had originally purchased for another project.

My second project is a scissors case.  This one was a bit beyond my skills, to be honest, because it required use of a sewing machine when working with the microsuede.  Thank goodness for Mom and her willingness to work with me on projects like this!  I love how the gold stitching looks, but I do NOT love stitching with gold thread.  I think I am probably too impatient.

And finally, I have a satin pincushion project.  I loved the pretty, shiny white silk when I first saw it, but I was afraid that I would hate the experience of stitching on it.  Much to my delight, I discovered that it was quite a pleasure to work on, and I did not find dealing with waste canvas (which is how you keep those stitches nice and even) to be so very challenging.

I have allowed my ambition to persuade me that I can and will finish a double casket with reasonable speed. Rumor has it that said casket will be arriving at my house sometime near the end of this year.  I can't wait!  I have mostly decided how the big stitched panels will look.  I hope to stitch two panels on silk satin, and I am thinking I will stitch one panel almost entirely in queen stitches.  The next step in this progress will working on a small trinket box.  Meanwhile, I'm stitching away on my Adam and Eve reproduction.  It's coming along well, I think.  Can't wait to share it with y'all in a month or two!

Til next time, stay crafty, my friends.