Wednesday 14 December 2016

' I love winter ' Pouch

The real winter has just arrived! It is getting colder every day. I hope we have a White Christmas this year! With all the festively decorated houses, pure white snow makes it magical, reflecting the colourful lights. It really is 'the most beautiful time of the year!


I made this appliquéd little pouch to celebrate the beautiful winter we are having... And I have to admit - I love, love, love it!!!  (Both :))

materials used:

* All three types of fabric, used in the pouch are from the green yarn-dyed Haori collection.
* Bias tape from Haori
* Haori thread in colour green
* for the appliqué: pieces from Haori pre-cut quilting size: 7cm x 7cm
* embroidery floss


I was prepared to carry all the materials in "Mon étui" needle case. We were going on a long trip. I did not want to waste any time and my plan was to start working on the pouch in the car and during the trip. Due to unfortunate circumstances, we had to come back home much earlier than anticipated. Time was enough only to design the appliqué and decide on what type of pouch I am going to make. 

Designing the appliqué picture was the hardest. I drew it three times, before I was satisfied with the result. 


The pinecones were attached to the fabric with slipstitch. I used stem stitch for the branch. To achieve the texture of the pinecones, I had to 'investigate' how to draw a pine cones - what details are important, so I could represent them with my needle and thread. I used a blanket stitch, but with modification, that made it in a pentagonal shape. 


It was a great adventure to make this winter pouch. And I really mean 'adventure' since my right hand fingers now hurt, completely covered in painful marks, left from the needle. Well..., maybe a use of a thimble would have helped, if I only accepted that a little discomfort of having a thimble on my finger would safe me from experiencing the pinching pain afterwords.


I am on a journey to learn as much as possible from Yoko Saito. She is such an inspiration! Her creations are story-telling and always capture the moods of the Nature. Making this pouch, helped me realize how much hard work stays behind every single little (or big) project of hers. Most of the work includes hand-stitching and this affects our understanding of quilting as a textile art. The Japanese quilting is a whole different novel. The products have so much more texture and most of the time, they require hand-embroidery. 


Haori fabric is perfect for quilting. The fabric has a character - it comes with the texture already. It only needs to be molded into a piece, that would represent the maker's mood at the time. 


It was really easy to hand-quilt on the pouch. I quilted the face, following the appliquéd pattern (around the pine cones and the branches). For the bottom and the back of the pouch, I followed the pattern of the fabric weave. This allowed me to have more interesting effect, since none of the sides looks the same. 


Following the weave of the fabric, used for the back of the pouch was easy and fun. It looks as if I embroidered the small crosses, where the rhombs meet, but that actually was what guided me through my stitching. I did not have to draw guiding lines. 


Ten days till Christmas! I think I have to focus on some baking. If you do not see me here soon, you have to know that I am in the kitchen mixing, rolling, cutting, baking and making the whole house smell deliciously. 

With a hint of cinnamon and fresh orange zest, I wish you happy days of preparation for Christmas. Mine will certainly be busy. 


♥ IN





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