Since I believe in adding beauty to all aspects of my life, and since needlework is the best way I know how to do that, I started stitching a crewel work tote bag last Tuesday at the EGA meeting. This may turn into a pattern, or I may put the finished bag up on Etsy for sale. Or both. 🙂
It’s on a lovely natural linen, very close to Victorian Crash, and stitched with Caron Silk Impressions (50% silk, 50% wool), one of my favorite threads for crewelwork. I love the sheen and it’s very smooth to work with.
I’ve been stitching on it pretty regularly since, and, in fact, am farther along than the animation here shows, but this is part one. 🙂
A close up of the first leaf – battlement couching with a buttonhole edge: 
In a way, this is a test. If you tell me you like this kind of progress animations I’ll keep them up for further projects. Sometimes I forget to take the progress photo, and obviously the hoop moves as I photograph. But I think the result is pretty cool… I can see that in new photos I need to have something more consistent as far as a photo setup. Projects on a scroll or slate frame will probably animate better as well, and the shots with thread on top are distracting. 🙂 But it’s a good start, I think. Onward!
