Finally a Trinket Box

 Way back in 2012, I received my first Cabinet of Curiosities course kit and blogged about it. I have since purchased a flat top casket and done the Stumpwork course, and collected all sort of other supplies along the way.

After 9 years, I've finally got a Trinket Box! And I had so much fun making it.

The top has the enamel from a Halcyon Days box celebrating Jane Austen in Bath. The box broke and somebody was selling just the top, so my husband picked it up on eBay for me. (I have an enamel box collection) As I was thinking about what to do, and figuring out how to mount the enamel, I realized the purl purl would be able to hold the it. So I adjusted the suggested box top to fit.

The front is the grotto from the instructions (which I've had practice with while doing the mermaid).

The other long side has the theme of the top. I designed Chawton Cottage.

The ends used motifs from the CoC motif files.

It took me a day to do the finishing - although I was working on 2 boxes for part of it, so I could test different ideas. I need edging ribbon for the other before I can share it. It was fairly straight forward once I got going. And I can see how the techniques can be used for other projects, especially gluing the wove paper to the back of the embroidery before cutting it out and working with it. I'm glad I've made up the box before starting the casket designs and stitching, because it gives me a much better idea of how things will change size and how much extra space there really is to fill on a panel.

Boxes and jackets

I have been making good progress on my first box.  I have the top done, except for some green purl that will hold down the Jane Austen in Bath enamel - the top of a broken box.

The front of the box is the Hampton cottage where Jane Austen lived. (do you see the theme here?)

I'm working on the sides which will include motifs from a sample Jane Austen stitched. Not sure about the back.

I'm also working on the top for a second box.  It will be a female rider on a horse.  It is for my daughter so the horse is white.  I had some gown issues so I'm redoing the needlelace.  And I will probably need to figure out how to make the white horse stand out from the white linen, but I'll get to that later.  Since the horse top fit on the same frame as the Jane Austen top and front, it may be a while before I get to make up the box.  But that's okay, I'm enjoying the stitching.

I have had reduced personal stitching time lately anyway since I have been popping down to Williamsburg on the weekend for the last month. It has been a so much fun to meet with all the local women and the women who have travelled from afar to embroider on the wedding jacket for Pocahontas. And I have enjoyed my chats with Brenda Rosseau, the Manager of the Costume Design Center of Colonial Williamsburg who has been running this project. She was sure the jacket could get done in time and it looks like she was right. The fronts and upper and lower arms are done, the back and coif are started and moving right along, and the small pieces, gussets and caps, are stitching up quickly.

Here is one of the caps that I stitched on yesterday.

 

Last weekend I did several motifs as well as vine shading and small flower motifs.  My favourite was this boar.

Really, I can't say enough about the amazing job Tom Hammond has done on the designs of the jacket.  Every creature or plant is wonderful and the overall effect is perfect.

Of course, there is still a forehead cloth to start on...

Can't wait to see the finished jacket at the wedding celebration.

Catching up with 2013

It has been an exciting and busy year. I didn't realize I hadn't written anything her in so long, I guess because I have been posting on the Gentle Pursuits blog and my library blog. 

The big news is, the coif is done!  It has been over 2 years but it is finally finished.  I put the lining in and sewed it up over the summer. Pictures don't do it justice because the weight of the fabric with all the silk and gold stitched over it and the change in the feel from plain linen to stitched fabric makes it seem almost alive.  And truly, I had no idea how the colours would combine when I first ordered the thread.  Despite testing everything, you never know how it will combine when it all gets thrown together.  In a couple of cases, the borage and the carnation, I had to change things when we started stitching because it was obvious the original idea wasn't going to work.

So here it is.

I've had time to work on a few other things as well.  This sachet was done as our chapter president's challenge.  We had to use one or two ready made coasters to create something embroidered. Of course I have Cabinet of Curiosities designs on my mind.

Speaking of which, I finished the butterfly pinkeep and I must admit I love this technique.  I said the same after doing my small phone purse but I still feel the same after doing this.  I think part of the appeal is the texture of the embroidered piece.  I must admit that I did the flat rather than ruffled sides because I was lazy.  But I like the look of the flat sides too, so I'm happy with the finish.

This finish was inspired by another chapter member who brought her finished pocket book in.  I remembered I had the kit and pulled it out and finished it.  The wool and canvas for this piece were not so fine that I couldn't do it in the living room with less than idea light.  I'm contemplating one of those Ott lights that run on batteries for next to my living room chair - although right now I'm doing knitting as I watch TV so I'll save my money a bit longer.

This is another Cabinet of Curiosities piece.  A pincushion that used waste linen over silk so the design could be counted.  The linen threads were then pulled out leaving a slightly raised design.  I thought for sure I would have all sorts of problems pulling the waste threads but it all came out easily except for one place.  But I'm not sure I like the technique as much as the butterfly pinkeep.  But I'm happy with the way it turned out.

This pillow was from a Just CrossStitch magazine that I picked up at our silent auction.  Somebody had purchased the pillow form with the linen center and started the stitching.  At first I thought it would be an easy finish but then I realized why the person had given up on it - too many similar colours with small spots of each colour.  But I eventually finished it and it looks fine.  I'll be giving this one away since I bought it because I had a gardener to make it for.

 

 

This is my current project(s).  Again it is Cabinet of Curiosities. I've started on the small wooden box.  This piece of fabric has a box top and front for one box and a box top for a second box.   

 







 

I've started the first box top.  The design is similar to the one in the lessons but instead of a rabbit in the center, I'm going to use the silk wrapped purl to hold in an enamel box lid.  My husband found the enamel top only of a box depicting the Royal Crescent in Bath with a couple of figures - it was a Jane Austen box.  I've been trying to figure out how to mount the enamel for years and when I realized that the silk wrapped purl would gently hold it in place, it seemed like a perfect idea. 





 

I've added some strawberries and butterflies to the original design. It works up quite quickly but I'll have to stitch the other pieces before putting the purl on or it will catch all the other threads. The middle design on the frame is a drawing of Jane Austen's house.  Maybe not as fancy as the castles on the stumpwork boxes you see in museums, but not unlike the houses on many samplers, so I think it will work.

The bottom drawing is a woman on a horse.  The horse will be white and the woman will have light brown hair - my daughter and her horse. I will give the box to her.  The third box I have will need to be magical creatures for my other daughter.

Cabinet of Curiosities Kit 1



What an exciting day.  After 4 months of history and symbolism and motif patterns, hundreds of pages of wonderful research and photos, the first kit in Tricia's Cabinet of Curiosities online class arrived.  The packaging was so beautiful and appropriate, you can't imagine.  The colour palate is divine and the silks are to die for, both the threads and the fabrics.  I could spend all day just looking at it all instead of stitiching.  And there is a beautiful mug for my afternoon tea.  I can't decide if I should show it off at work or just keep it at home to enjoy in private.  I have died and gone to heaven.