I am currently stitching the Carolyn Pearce Strawberry Fayre heart etui as a stitchalong project. I am now up to the point where I am stitching the heart shaped pockets of the etui. See the end of this post for all the information you’ll need to join in!
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There are two of these heart-shaped pockets to stitch, both exactly the same. One of them is for a pair of scissors, and one is for a bodkin. Here’s an image from the project in the Inspirations magazine:
They are stitched using mainly the same stitches and threads as the front of the heart etui, so there isn’t much that’s ‘new’ to stitch on these – in one sense, that could be seen as not so interesting, but at least it means I can do them quicker, as I’m getting much more used to each element now, and how it should be stitched!
The curving stems are stitched in Chain Stitch using two strands of Anchor stranded cotton 266 (substitute), which is then whipped with one strand of Silk ‘n’ Color Pond Scum (substitute) – remember to always slide the needle from the inner area to the outer edge of the pocket when doing the whipping, so that the direction of your stitches matches on each side. 
Then work Stem stitch in Anchor 269 (substitute) along the inner edge of the stem, and another line of Stem stitch in Pond Scum round the outer edge. The little stems to the forget-me-nots are also stitched in Stem stitch with one strand of Pond Scum, too.
The primrose flower and the forget-me-nots are stitched as on the front of the heart etui (see the blog posts for the front for videos on how to do the different stitches). I still adapted the yellow petal stitches, and worked an outer line of Stem stitch to finish the flower, rather than doing what the instructions said (a kind of buttonhole edging stitch), as I didn’t think the magazine’s instructions would work!
The leaves beneath the primrose are worked in Tied wheatear stitch for the filling, using Anchor 267 and tied with Oliver Twists shade 004, then outlined with more Oliver Twists 004. In a slight variation from the leaves on the front of the heart etui, these leaves are then outlined a second time with the fine metallic copper thread. I liked this effect more than without the copper, although it was quite fiddly to do, as these leaves are very small.
My heart pockets are now finished, and I’m pleased with how they’ve turned out. However, I’m really looking forward to the next part, because it’s the heart-shaped pincushion, which isn’t based on something that I’ve already stitched, so it should have more novelty to it 🙂
For those of you who have been asking about my stitching set-up for working on this project, I thought I’d show you a quick picture of my floor standing Stitchmaster tapestry frame, which is set up in my conservatory at the moment (now that we have something like summer weather!).
I have to make sure that I cover up the magnifier lens if I leave the frame unattended for even a minute, so that the sun doesn’t shine through it and set my fabric on fire! You can see the magnifier, on the left, attached with a ring to the daylight lamp – the lens has a little fabric bag over it with a drawstring top, so that I can quickly cover the lens when I need to.
Instead of working from the whole Inspirations magazine issue, I have scanned just the pages for this project, printed them out, and then I clip only the relevant pages to my chart holder.
The hoop that holds my fabric is 12 inches diameter, and I find it much more comfortable (and quicker) to stitch several small pieces on one piece of fabric, then cut them apart later.
So, my next bit of stitching is the heart near the centre of the hoop – the pincushion!
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~~~INFORMATION~~~
The Strawberry Fayre design, plus the complete list of materials, appears in Inspirations magazine number 95. The publishers do sell a full materials pack (not including the mother of pearl ruler though!), but it’s rather expensive, so if you can use your stash, and just fill in with bits and pieces, then so much the better! The magazine is published in Australia – if you live in the UK, as I do, it is cheaper to buy a back copy from Manor House Magazines, and save a lot on the shipping.
EDIT: The materials pack from Inspirations, and the magazine from Manor House in the UK are not available any more as at March 2018 – I don’t know if any more stocks will be available now, unfortunately. The publishers may bring out a digital pattern pack later, which they sometimes do with popular projects from their magazines, but we’ll have to wait and see…..
To read about this project stitchalong from the beginning, start here. The post about which FABRIC to use is here. The post about the THREAD SUBSTITUTIONS that I made, plus WHERE TO BUY the threads and beads, etc., is here.
To look up all the posts in this series in the sidebar, see under the CATEGORIES list, under: Embroidery / Full size (others’ designs) / Strawberry Fayre heart etui, or use the SEARCH BOX at the top of the blog, and search for ‘Strawberry Fayre’ to get a list of all the posts (but it’s in reverse order, sorry!).
I’d be interested to see images of how your project is progressing – please email large, clear, well-focused images to mail@janetgranger.co.uk Please bear in mind that any images sent may be used in this blog and/or social media such as Facebook or Pinterest.
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Are you interested in doll’s houses and stitching? Then why not visit my website, where you can buy doll’s house needlepoint kits to make all kinds of soft furnishings for one-twelfth scale dollhouses. There are over 280 kits to choose from, plus chart packs, fabric project packs, tutorials, and lots of eye candy to inspire you! Kits are available on 18 and 22 count canvas, 28 and 32 count evenweave, and 32 and 40 count silk gauze, so there’s something for everyone – from beginners to experts.
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