If you've visited my website any time in the past several years, you might have seen this picture illustrating the Silk Ribbon Embroidery and Stumpwork category in my online catalog.While this embroidery for my etui was stitched by me, the embroidery design and the pattern for the Victorian Etui was designed by a very talented friend of mine, Karen Fraser.
Karen made her first etui many years ago. I was fortunate to be one of her very first students while she "practiced" her teaching techniques on me and Arlene Baker. Both Karen and Arlene are well-known in southern California as two of Piecemaker's finest and favorite class instructors.
The etui opens to reveal pockets to hold needles, and your favorite pair of needlework scissors. The small gold pair that I put in mine did not have a leather sheath, so I made one by tracing around my scissors on a piece of paper.I cut a simple shape around that outline, then used some of the leftover wool felt used to line the interior to make a sheath. I added a few blossoms to mirror the embroidery on the interior heart pocket before I stitched the sheath together with a simple buttonhole stitch.
This project was started, and then set aside in a box many years ago. I'm glad that I was finally motivated to finish it. If you're in southern California and would like to learn from a silk ribbon embroidery master, check out Karen's classes at Piecemakers in Costa Mesa, CA. You'll love getting to know her!
