Christmas Week Crafting...

So since being given '18th Century Embroidery Techniques' on Christmas Day my fingers were itching for needle and thread!

Needless to say, not having any of the fabric I was supposed to be using, or the correct needles and thread didn't stop me in the slightest.  I drew patterns inspired by the section on crewel work and set off making a bag inspired by the reticules ladies used to carry.

Modelled by my lovely dressmakers dummy.  She needs a name really...

I am very proud of my embroidery, but I think what makes this bag is the tassels.  I adore them!

As you can see, I've gone for a floral theme.

I drew and sewed the design without aid and I'm really pleased with how it's turned out.  It's really pretty but I should be able to use the bag on a regular basis, so practical as well.

A closer look at the embroidery

I used chain stitch, satin stitch, something called seedling stitch (such sweet names!) and good old back stitch.  Oh, and button hole stitch for the centre flower.  It's stitched on plain old white cotton, which I had some scraps left over from a Christmas present I was making.

You can't see it to clearly but the back has machine embroidery in white

The back was machine stitched as I was a bit worried that hand embroidery wouldn't stand up to the constant friction against my leg this bag is likely to suffer...

Oh and hello to all the lovely new people who have been introduced to this blog!  If you're wondering why I've suddenly gone promotion crazy it's because I'm a little bit keen on my stats page and I'm hoping to get 1000 views of this blog before the new year.  Only 39 to go last time I checked.  Yes I know, I'm mad.  Try not to let it worry you :D