What Are You Stitching?

Some people love stitching pictures, while others adore turning their stitching into something more practical. One popular type of project to make is a stitched box. Boxes are endlessly useful and can hold trinkets, jewellery, treasures or keepsakes. Here are some embroidered boxes to admire. They all demonstrate not just of the skill of the stitching, but for many, the skill in construction as well.

Margaret Jessel

‘I love boxes and have made many over the years. Some are wooden, which my husband has painted for me, while others I have constructed from scratch. All of them are lined.’

‘The blue box is a mix of silk and wool threads. The other is one of  Nicola Jarvis’ quirky birds, which I find fun to stitch.’

These are fantastic boxes, Margaret. It’s a wonderful way to display your stitching. We love the fabric you have used to construct your box. It goes perfectly with the Nicola Jarvis design.

Judith Peckham

‘A little while ago, I took an online course from Virtual Threads, which is a chapter of the Embroidery Association of Canada. The instructor for this course was Judy Cooper who gave instructions for making the box but encouraged us to use our own ideas for the embroidery.’

‘I used Jo Butcher’s Summer Daysfrom Inspirations issue #101 as inspiration for the theme of my embroidered box.’

This is a beautiful box, Judith. The colour and the design are stunning, and the construction is just perfect. What a wonderful finish.

Kaethe Pittman

‘I had the delightful opportunity to take a stumpwork class with Susan O’Connor in 2016. I made good progress in class and promptly put the UFO away after returning home.’

‘Five years later, my chapter of the EGA asked me to lead them in Judy Jeroy’s Butterfly Stumpwork Petite Project because I had experience. Ha! I dug up Susan’s class project and realized that I was close to being finished. Susan’s superb instructions, annotated so long ago, were the perfect guide.’

‘Sorting through my stash yielded the perfect mounting surface: a circular red tin. A few hours of work, some dicey moments with the mounting glue, and I had a lovely show and share item. Now to decide what to store in it!’

What a lovely finish, Kaethe! Isn’t it satisfying when you can pick up a UFO and realise with just a little bit of work, it will be finished in no time all ready for you to use.

Do you love making boxes? Do you collect tins, wooden boxes or containers knowing they would be perfect for mounting your embroidery? Do you enjoy the process of construction? Or do you prefer to frame your finished masterpieces and display them on the wall?

However you like to mount your work and whatever you like to stitch, we’d like to see it. Send us a picture of your work with some information about the project and your stitching journey to news@inspirationsstudios.com