Embroidery... at long last :)

Some of you may have completely given up on my stitching by now - but I did get to use embroidery needles over the summer. Here's the first part of it.

Some time ago, I purchased the Alyssum Scissor Pocket (by The Cat's Whiskers) from Jenna's store - highly recommended for superfast service and unbeatable international shipping rates! (By the way, did you see the new charts and silks in her store? Yummy!!)
I started stitching the pocket in July, and decided it would be a gift for Sylvie's birthday - she loves blue as much as I do. July-September: that gives you an idea of how slow you can get when you don't stitch regularly! (Well, me, anyway. )

It was stitched on the recommended 'Little Boy Blue' Belfast Linen (given to me by a dear friend ) with Dinky Dye silk (provided in the chartpack). In the picture, the blue linen didn't come out too well against the white tablecloth - probably because it was cloudy when I took those pictures.
I couldn't find the matching Gingher scissors (alas!) so I decided instead to go for the French-made, antique style.

Instead of lining the pocket with the blue linen as per the instructions, I decided to add a flowery cotton lining so I could use what was left of the linen to make a scissors fob - I used one of the motifs in the pocket and stitched it over one. It seems several among us had the same idea this summer! That cracked me up, although I obviously had to keep my mouth shut at the time.

I thoroughly enjoyed stitching this for Sylvie - the silk was luscious to use (all silk threads are not made equal, but this one is simply wonderful!), and the repetitive design and the hand-sewn finishing very soothing.
I definitely need tips on making cording with silk though - the cording didn't hold well because the silk was as it were slipping upon itself. Makes sense?

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A few answers to some of your questions regarding the previous post:
- I wasn't reading Harry Potter, but an amazing contemporary trilogy of novels dealing with a topic related to my research. I'd love to share the title and author's name here, but when I first did that, a Google search on that author made my blog crop up on the first result page. Not my plan exactly - I wish to keep my work and blog separate - so I promptly deleted the name. Then I started re-reading a Modernist novel (again related to my work - I work on the Modernist period).

- The distance to Normandy (that part of it anyway - Normandy is a large and diverse region) is a 2-hour train ride. I don't know Normandy well at all (I have only been twice and this was my first time in that particular town) but many Parisians enjoy visiting Normandy on holiday or on weekends. Seb's grandparents have had a house near Rouen for many years and mostly live there now. Seb's parents just bought a flat there.

- Anne-Marie, nous n'étions en effet pas très loin de chez toi et j'ai pensé à toi

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Just to make you smile, here are before and after pictures of Robin playing havoc with his wardrobe.

Before


After

Can you believe my nephew is turning 10 months on Saturday?