Carolyn Pearce Home Sweet Home workbox 39: the front door side of the box

This is the second to last panel that I need to stitch in order to complete the Home Sweet Home workbox, designed by Carolyn Pearce.

I must admit, I had been putting off doing this side and the one with the pea pods on, as they both have these applique windows on them. I have read the instructions over and over, but don’t really like the method suggested in Carolyn’s book (using a cloud-filling stitch to make the leaded lights on the windows). So, in the end, I decided to make my own version!

I cut a piece of organza ribbon to the exact size of the window, and tacked it down with tiny stitches around the edge (not using a kind of Bondaweb, as Carolyn had suggested, as I didn’t have any). Then I laid pale grey stranded cotton in a diamond pattern over the organza, only attaching it around the edges.

Where the strands crossed over each other, I tacked them down with a tiny stitch in a darker shade of grey. Then, to divide the large panes of the window, I stitched rows of chain stitch in two strands of the darker grey.

Finally, I surrounded the whole window with a very dark grey outline of Chain stitch.

The door, too, I stitched slightly differently from Carolyn’s instructions. She suggested Cretan stitch variation, worked over waste canvas. I had some 14 count waste canvas, but couldn’t be bothered with such a fiddly stitch, so I worked rows of tent stitch over two horizontal and one vertical threads of the canvas.

When it was all done, I dampened the canvas (being careful to not get the surrounding pencil lines of the rest of the design wet), and then pulled out the canvas threads with tweezers, leaving the embroidered chevron pattern behind.

To finish the doorway, I worked two rows of Stem stitch in the same variegated thread.

The climbing rose tree has Stem stitch branches, and Coral stitch trunk.

I used two skeins of variegated fine wool for the leaves, but due to the variegations, it looks like I used many more colours than that – I am really pleased with how this part turned out! The roses are made by stitching little Rosette stitches among the leaves, in two shades of pink.

Along the base of the wall, on the left hand side, is a large pansy, stitched mainly in Long and short stitch, with a four-wrap French knot centre.

On the right hand side is a cornflower.

At the base of the climbing rose is this dear little rabbit. He’s stitched in one strand of Appleton’s crewel wool for the most part, in rows of Stem stitch, and some Long and short stitch. His tail is Turkey stitch (uncut), using Rainbow Wisper thread. This picture was taken before I’d stitched him holding a carrot. In Carolyn’s book, she uses a charm for the carrot, but I don’t like charms much, so I embroidered the carrot instead.

After stitching the meadow flowers along the bottom edge of the wall, and adding a sequin and seed bead for the door handle, this is how the whole panel looks now that it’s complete:

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