Emery Jack-in-the-box embroidery

This is the very last of the Toy Chest Etui toys for me to make. I can't say I have any wish to make more!

The basic shape is the box with which we are now familiar from the thimble-keep and waxer. This one is very slightly larger than those two. As this was one of the additional kits I purchased at the class, I needed to do the embroidery first.

The little fan motifs in this piece were quite fun to do. I tried not to get too far ahead with these without adding the central rows of petit-point cross-stitch in the centre of each panel - so I didn't end up with all the difficult bits at the end!

I do like the colour combination in this piece.











The tricky bit, however, came, as I knew it would, with the lid.



The central motif of the lid is a series of squares in diagonal stripes - each one thread wide. I chose to do these as diagonal rows rather than as alternating tent stitch in two colours across each horizontal row.

The difficulty is exacerbated by all threads being variegated. At some points the variegation in the two colours in any one square ends up almost identical - an interesting effect, but very tricky to stitch.

 I found this quite a challenge - but got there in the end.

I have rarely been so relieved to reach the end of a piece.

The lid looks wonky to the eye, but for the most part it isn't. The variegation in the thread means you don't get a nice crisp look on the edge.

Now for the construction and FINISH!