Sashiko Fabric Box

Here's a little something I made as part of a gift, a fabric covered box with sashiko (Japanese embroidery) bellflower accent.

I didn't take step-by-step photos but maybe these few will inspire you to make your own!

 

The purple and flower are representative of September. An excellent month if I do say so myself.

I traced the box that was going to be wrapped onto the wrong side of the grey fabric, outside of box against wrong side of fabric. Before cutting it out I hand embroidered the bellflower and added a 1/2 seam allowance. Then flipped the box so the inside was against the wrong side of the lining purple fabric, again adding 1/2 seam allowance all around.

Using Modge Podge in sections on the outside of the box, I glued the outer fabric to the box. The longest part of my creation here is the snipping of all those corners and the then carefully gluing down the flaps. I made sure to dab all inner corners with fabric glue to keep them from fraying out. Especially on the lid!
On the lining, corners were snipped, flaps pressed down and glued in place.

There are two little flaps that go under the lid which you'll see later. I cut them off because it just made it easier to wrap the box. I covered them separately, leaving the bottom (where they were cut off from the box) seam allowance hanging down and glued together. I then added them back, sandwiching that bottom seam allowance of the flaps between the box layers.

I placed and, in the case of the front ribbon, hand stitched the ribbons and reattached the side flaps before gluing the lining in place.

Binder clips came in really handy through this whole project as you can see from the above pics. They hold those corners and seams good and tight while drying, which is a must with all those layers bulking things up.

Here is a finished front view with the lid up.

 

This is all inspired by, and for, my Japanese grandmother if you couldn't tell. I filled the box with 2 dozen homemade cookies she likes (plastic wrapped!), a maneki neko, a bookmark, and origami. ♥

Feel free to ask any questions about the making of the box!
xx ~Static

Create 365 - Day... umm...

So yeah, I made it through half of my 365 but I'm going to have to let it go at that. Between new kitten wrangling, studying for a new career --hopefully along side my creative work, and sewing I just keep losing track. Being a grown up sucks sometimes.

Anywho, I will still be posting my stitchy & other creative goodness. Maybe I'll start a new 365 next year when things have settled *fingers crossed*.

Here is my latest custom, so you can see I'm still stitching:

Lil Bub Head Bookmark!

This sweet ooak face is completely hand embroidered. The perfect bookmark for the Lil Bub book, don't you think? This Bubmark now lives with a friend that is a huge fan. Hurray!

Alright, I need to get to a stopping point on 2 of the 5 ginormous dolls (2 feet tall!) I'm working on. Then study, study, and more studying.

xx ~Static

Create 365 - Day 172 to 176

First, here is the full picture of Day 172 & 173...

Special promo for my friend, and awesome artist, Connie Faye. She will be at GenCon Aug 15th-18th with tons of art for your buying pleasure and these limited edition promos. There's only a handful of these Bookmarks so be sure to stop by her table early if you're going!

So, I have been crazy busy cleaning up the house for a weekend guest, sewing, swapping, and ironing out some custom work. Which explains the lack of posts these past few days. But, enough about that, here are my latest hand stitchings:

Day 174

 

Shooting Star Bookmark. I actually finished two but one got packed away before I remember to take a pic.

Day 175

  

Frankenstein Heart Bookmarks.

Day 176

 

Black Heart Bookmark & Love Brains Bookmark. Not so sure about the Love Brains Bookmark but I can't put my finger on what I don't like at the moment. Still too busy to stress over it right now. I'll come back to it. All the other, except the Locket ones, will be listed soon!

xx ~Static

Creat 365 - Day 172 & 173

So I spent part of last night and then this morning finishing this batch of newness.

All I can show right now is the pretty hand cut Satin Ribbon because it's a surprise. I've got my fingers crossed they'll go over well.  I'll post the full pic when they've made it to their destination.

Too sleepy (yay!) for witty banter, so to you I say, goodnight.

xx ~Static

How-To: Quick & Easy Bookmarks

Here's a quick and easy item to make as a stocking stuffer or just for yourself if you're an avid reader. You could also use it on gifts or to tie party favors (look for another how-to on that one!).

♦♦♦♦    ♦♦♦♦    ♦♦♦♦    ♦♦♦♦

Ingredients for 1 bookmark:

♦ 24" of 1/4"W ribbon

♦ 1 silver-toned jump ring

♦ 1 charm

♦ Lighter

 

Cut a length of ribbon 24" long. Melt the ends of the ribbon a bit with a lighter. It'll make it easier to thread the charm onto the ribbon and keep the ends from fraying.

Open the jump ring, thread on the charm, close the jump ring. Fold the length of ribbon in 1/2, put the loop end through the jump ring, then draw the two tail ends of the ribbon through the loop and pull snug.

Fin!

 

 

 

©2008 Maya/Static White/Static White's Stitchery

Link back to this to your heart's content but please do not copy and paste my content! I worked hard to put this together. Give credit where credit is due.