Lady’s Scarlett’s Secret Garden Finished!

How much mess can you make while finishing things? Just look at my table :o)

But aren’t they pretty? I loves it!

Stash!

When I got home there was a note from the Post Office saying that I had a package. I had no clue what it could be so I was extremely pleasantly surprised when I went to pick it up! It was my order from Silver Needle’s Super Bowl Sale! WOOHOO!

Ice Cream Swirls Scissors
Little House Needleworks – Night & Day
Little House Needleworks – Schoolgirl Lessons
The Sweetheart Tree – Cherry Blossoms Biscornu kit
The Sweetheart Tree – Rhodes Butterfly Biscornu kit
Just Nan’s – Christmas Workshop kit (I couldn’t resist this one any longer. Hey, it was ON SALE!!)
3 Connect-a-boxes (I love these for my beads)
1 Storage system from Cottage Mills. It has all these great tiny little compartments that you can store in one big box. LOVE IT!

Tonight my father’s sister Björg is coming over and we are going to do the finishing touches on Lady Scarlet’s Secret Garden, the Ladybug kit from Just Nan since we have both finished the stitching part but have neglected the finishing part. I will post pictures once we are all done 🙂

Biscornu finish for Brenda

Last year me and my friend Brenda made a deal that I would make her some biscornus and in trade she would send me speciality threads, fabric and stuff that is hard for me to get here in Iceland. I made her some biscornus last year, and now I am finally making her some more. I can’t let that sweet girl wait any longer 🙂

Pattern was a freebie from the Kreinik website
Fabric: 32ct Belfast – Amsterdam Blue
Thread: Needle Necessities #127
Beads: Mill Hill #16024 & 18002

Now to finish up the other one I have started for her 🙂

First tin finish, and second PIF gift.

I have wanted to do a tin finish forever. I got some tins from Becky so I have been building up courage to give this finishing technique a try for a long time now. So yesterday I just went for it. I had stitched the perfect little design and wanted to make it one of my PIF gifts. This one is for Aiste. And I know how much Aiste loves these tins so I had the perfect gift.

This was a little harder than I thought it would be, but since it was my first time making a tin, I am sure it will get easier. I sure learned a whole lot from it.

Top of tin.
Pattern: ‘All You Need Is Love’ freebie from The Drawn Thread
Fabric: 40ct White Linen
Threads: Kreinik Silk Mori
Buttons and pins from my stash

Side view

Open view – I put two magnets on the inside of the lid to store needles on.

I already have lots of ideas for more tins. Now to get to them!

And Aiste, I will call you soon and we will figure out a way to get this little PIF gift to you. I am staying home tomorrow since Sumarrós is sick, so you could come by if you are around. If not, we will figure something out 🙂 I hope you like your PIF gift sweetie!

Another Four Little Hearts Biscornu.

Tired of this pattern already? Well I am not. LOL! I love this pattern for biscornus.
This one is for my mother’s sister Hulda. I made one for her (exactly like this one) for Christmas but somehow after I wrapped it up, it got lost. I don’t know how, but it did. So I made her a new one. My mom is one of four sisters and I have made biscornus for all of them out of this same pattern, on the same fabric, but all in different colors.

Pattern: Four Little Hearts by Indigo Rose
Fabric: 32ct Opalescent Raw Belfast Linen
Thread: Needle Necessities

My mom got a red one.
Her sister Berglind got a pink one.
Her sister Svala got a green one.
And now Hulda has the blue one.

Four Little Hearts, for four amazing sisters :o)

Scissor Case & Biscornu Set.

The Scissor Case I made for the Tutorial two days ago is actually a part of a set that I am making. And tonight I finished the later part, a biscornu made with the same fabric and threads and with a pattern by the same designer. I love this set so much. It turned out a lot better than I had pictured it in my head. The fabric and thread really work well together and I adore the patterns.
I will let the pictures speak for themselves. The colors are (off course) prettier in person. I like the hearts on the top corners of the biscornu. They really add a nice touch to it.

Front view of Scissor Case and Biscornu.

Back view of the Scissor Case.

Biscornu, side view.
Patterns: ‘Wildflower Hearts’ for Scissor Case and ‘Four Little Hearts’ for Biscornu – by Indigo Rose
Fabric: White and Rose 28ct Lugana
Thread: DMC Variegated #99

This set is a gift for a friend at work. When she saw the scissor case I did for my friend Tracy for Christmas, she wanted one for herself but not the same pattern. She really liked this biscornu that I made once for Sandy, Tracy’s sister so I decided to use ‘Wildflower Hearts’ for the Scissor Case as ‘Four Little Hearts’ is too small to use for a scissor case big enough for the scissors (pictured) that she wanted to keep in the case. But since she liked Sandy’s biscornu, and the pattern, so much, I had to stitch one of those also 🙂 So tomorrow when I go into work I am giving her this set. We set up a trade. She makes beautiful jewelry and she made me the necklace I am wearing on this picture below. I have wanted my name on a necklace forever, and when she asked me to stitch for her and suggested that she would make me something in return, I jumped at the chance and asked her to make that particular necklace for me. Needless to say, I LOVE it and hardly ever take it off since the day I got it 🙂

Stash, Pillow Case and other things.

I am so happy it is Sunday. It has been a wonderful day. I did some cleaning (not that that is fun, but it is always fun when it is done) and laundry and then me and my daughters went to my parents house for ‘kaffitími’ at 4pm. Kaffitími is a very Icelandic thing I believe. And so my friend Joe tells me also. He is American and lived here for a couple of years and he still talks about how he misses kaffitími the most. Kaffitími is usually on Saturday and/or Sunday, somewhere between 3-5pm and families and friends gather and have drinks, snacks, usually something home made like hot chocolate or coffee, muffins, ‘kleinur‘ chocolate cake or anything you feel like putting out for your guests. We eat, and drink, talk and laugh. It is so much fun. This Sunday my fathers sister and her family was there also and it was nice to see them. I haven’t seen them since Christmas time.

While at my parents house, I was going through their computer and found a good picture of me and my sisters taken on Christmas Eve last year. I remember asking my mom to take a picture of the three of us since we hadn’t had our picture taken all together since we were little. And now we are all grown, but still pretty as ever 😉

From left to right: Me (born in 1978), Gyða (born in 1983) and Fanney (born in 1987). Aren’t we a gorgeous set of sisters? 🙂

I also wanted to show you how my genius of a mother finished up my Lizzie*Kate 12 Blessings Of Christmas, that I finished last year, into a pillow case.

The back is lined with the most beautiful dark red velvet

I just love it! Now I just have to stuff it and it will be all ready for display next Christmas 🙂 Thanks mom for all the help!

Last week I got an order from Stitching Bits and Bobs.

Threads for ‘A Quaker Christmas’, Just Nan’s Spring Spell Whimzi, 32ct Basketweave Lakeside Linens and 28ct Graziano Linen Windowpane Natural / Cream.

I am going to change the thread colors in ‘A Quaker Christmas’ and the green is going out for red, the red for green but the gold is staying. I want the piece to me more red than green so I picked some pretty colors.

Crescent Colours Englis Ivy, Ye Olde God and Bing Cherry.

Thank you all so much for the wonderful comments on my Tutorial. Maybe I will make some more in the future, I had a lot of fun making it. And believe it or not, the visits to my blog were 703 visits just yesterday! Incredible! Thanks so much 🙂

Triangle Scissor Case Finishing Instructions

***Please, if you do use these instructions, I would love it if you would post a comment with a link to your picture so that I can see your work. It would really make me happy! Happy stitching!**

I promised my friend Amanda to try to make some instructions on how to finish these scissor cases. So last night, when I finally had finished the stitching part on Indigo Rose’s ‘Wildflower Hearts’ (freebie found here) I made it into a scissor case and took pictures of the progress. It was a lot of fun! So here goes, my first attempt at describing how I make anything! LOL! Wish me luck! And if you have any questions just ask and I will try to get back to you as soon as possible.

ALL IMAGES ARE CLICKABLE FOR A LARGER VIEW.
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First you need your stitched piece and a piece of fabric of the same size (or slightly smaller, only by 2 stitches or so) for the inside. You need to backstitch (I use Pearl Cotton for backstitching and Whip stitching as it is stronger than regular floss) around your stitched piece, about 4 threads from the finished stitching. For instance, the white piece (the outside of the scissor case) is 82×82 backstitches and the pink piece (the inside of the scissor case) is 80×80 backstitches. Cut your fabric about 6-8 threads (it varies on the fabric you are using, some fabrics fray more than others) from the backstitched edge and trim the corners a little.
Press your pieces and fold the edges to the back of the pieces.

Start at a corner and stab your threaded needle under the first stitch on both pieces with the wrong sides together (the right side facing out) and pull your needle through. Go under the next stitches of both front and back piece and pull. This is called Whip Stitching.

Continue Whip Stitching until you have reached the end of the first edge.

Fold the next edge, be careful to press the corners with your fingers and continue whip stitching the backstitched edges together.
Before you close the squares up, be sure to attach ribbon so that you will be able to close your scissor case.

I thread my needle with it, pull it through the stitches and tie a knot at the back.

Finish the Whip Stitching and close your squares up on all four sides. Then fold your piece (see picture) and press it with a hot iron.

Next you need to stitch the edges on the front together to close it up and make the pocket that the scissors will stay in. Thread your needle, secure the end and start Whip Stitching these two edges also. You will be Whip Stitching the already Whip Stitched edges so it might get a little rough on your fingers. Be sure to pull on your thread to close it up nicely. Don’t pull too hard though :o)

Continue all the way down. The end will probably bee a little bulky, but that is to be expected unless you use regular cotton fabric (quilting fabric or the like) for the inside).

Put the scissors in the pocket and close with the top flap. Measure where to attach your button and then sew it on in the correct spot.

Voila! You have now created a beautiful scissor case for your favorite pair (or pairs 😉 ) of scissors!