I am currently stitching the Carolyn Pearce Strawberry Fayre heart etui as a stitchalong project. This week I have been stitching the strawberry pinwheel – both the strawberry side and the side with my initial on. See the end of this post for all the information you’ll need to join in!
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The strawberry pinwheel is one of the three ‘dangleys’ (maybe they should really be called ‘chatelaine pieces’?!) that hang from the centre point of the etui when it is closed. This is the image of it when completed, from the Inspirations magazine article:
The side not shown above is the ‘strawberry side’. Now, as I’ve mentioned before, there is some debate as to whether this is a strawberry or a raspberry. In the magazine, they call it a strawberry, whereas I think it’s a raspberry, but there you go….
Anyway, it’s stitched as on the front of the etui itself, so refer back to that blog post for detailed instructions on how to stitch it – the Beaded Oyster Stitch takes some practice, but I think my berries are getting neater each time I do them. This is the twelfth one I have stitched.
I still find that it’s best to start with five beads down the centre of the berry, and then ‘flood fill’ with the rest, to cover the felt padding shape.
The sepals are made from three needlewoven picots stitched with one strand of Anchor stranded cotton 268, with four Lazy Daisy stitches in one strand of the same thread underneath them to give depth, highlighted with copper metallic thread.
The other side of the pinwheel is my initial, ‘J’. I never really like using my initial on embroidered things, as the letter J in most fancy fonts is barely readable. Is it a J, or an I, or an F, or a T?! The font given on the pullout sheet in the Inspirations magazine is quite a ‘flowery’ one, and I tried to simplify the J to make it more readable, but I think I failed – it looks like a T to me.
The initial itself is outlined in Back Stitch with one strand of Anchor 267 (substitute). Then tiny French knots are worked in copper metallic thread, using two wraps around the needle each time for the centre one, and one for the ones on either side.
The little flowers are made as on the pincushion top – five French knots in pink, around a French knot centre in yellow. Little detached Chain Stitch leaves are randomly worked around the flowers with Anchor stranded cotton 265 and the copper metallic thread.
The top and bottom of this pinwheel will be joined together with a gusset of grosgrain ribbon, eventually.
I’ve now stitched all of the pockets and smalls that make up the pieces on my hooped fabric. I’ve just got the two strawberries (the emery one and the needlelace one) to do, plus the Dorset button closure, before starting to assemble everything.
Next up is the strawberry emery…..I’m getting there, slowly!!
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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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Janet Granger's Blog 
Actually I think it looks like a cypher of ‘TJ.’ Oh, well, it’s a pretty little dangler, anyway. Is it just for decoration, or does it hold something?
In theory, you poke dressmaking pins around the edge to store them for use (when it’s assembled, it will be two circles with a band of grosgrain ribbon joining the two as a gusset, so will look a bit like an Oreo!). I don’t usually use pinwheels, but I like making them.
Hi Janet. I really admire your work. I’ve done a couple of your rugs for my dollhouse.
I agree with you about embroidered J’s. It’s my initial too. Maybe something like the J in the header of your blog, with the bottom tail continued up to the center would work better?
Thanks for the compliments 🙂 Yes, possibly that kind of J would be better, but they always end up looking too much like an F, whatever font I choose!
You have done a lot of work on this project! It’s looking lovely, all the little pieces lined up together on the one piece of fabric.
Thank you! It’s coming on, isn’t it? I did like it when I’d completed all the smalls on the one piece of fabric – more satisfying than finishing each one on a separate piece, I think.
Looking good Janet! I am slowly making progress too. Unfortunately, I have run out of some of the threads and beads provided in the original Inspirations kit. With hindsight, I should have been brave and picked my materials myself. Ah well, live and learn!
I’ve heard from some other stitchers that the Inspirations kit is a bit ‘skimpy’ on quantities, which is a shame considering the cost of it! Are they going to send you more?
Yes, I have heard that too and decided to wait contacting Inspirations until I know exactely what is missing. However, others who did contact Inspirations were told that they would not get more materials as they should understand that the quantities are so thight in order to keep costs low…
…except that the cost wasn’t low, it was extremely high, for what it contained! When I sell kits of my dollhouse needlepoint to people, I check the quantities that are needed before I put each kit on sale by getting others to stitch them up and count how much thread they used, as different people can be more ‘extravagant’ than me in how much they use. If several people are running out of materials with the Strawberry Fayre materials pack, that suggests a problem at their end, not the customers’.
I agree. When I make my kits they’ll contain at least twice the amount I used to stitch the design. I am a very economical stitcher, so this should do it for most people. And when people contact me for more, they’ll get it immediately. I am quite dissapointed by how Inspirations handels it all; there is just too much wrong with the pattern/instructions and the kit. I can only hope that they’ll better their ways!
We can always hope….. They are a well-known company though. I’m really surprised by their customer service (this isn’t the first time people have told me they have been less than ecstatic about the response to problems they’ve experienced when they’ve complained about things that they’ve bought). The magazines are still beautiful, though, and unrivalled.