Fabric Counts Lie

I'm starting to amass the projects I'm taking to my stitching retreat next weekend. I started a new project last night - one of the many that I'll work on while there - Durene Jones' 'Sunflower Scissor Case'.

What? It's triangular? What a coincidence! (Insert winking emoji here).

The two, blue #5 perle cottons were the only ones I had to buy as I had everything else in my stash. I substituted a dark yellow for the called-for yellow that looked exactly the same on the floss substitution tool. 

I selected a Charles Craft Irish linen from my stash* - supposedly in 28 ct. You know - the ones you can get in the tubes at the big box craft store.

I normally mark the top of my piece so I can keep it oriented properly. Once I had completed the Kloster blocks in the centre, I realized that somehow it got rotated 90º which made the motif closer to the edge than it should have been. Thank goodness I had cut the fabric in a 9" square for this 5" square project. I wasn't going to run out of fabric after all.

I did modify the pattern a bit as it calls for 25ct so using 28ct fabric was going to make it proportionately smaller. My solution to that was do the math to get the side lengths I needed for a 5" square (14 sts/in x 5" = 70 sts). I then push the motifs to the opposite corners, leaving more space at the top of the front and flap.

So I happily stitched away and completed the backstitching all around. I did substitute #12 perle cotton for two strands of DMC in the same colour. Then it looked too big, so I subtracted 7 sts and re-did the backstitching on the sides of the flap. I then measured and the outer dimension which was supposed to be 5" was only 4.5" and the inner dimension which was supposed to be 4.5" was only 4". This means the fabric was actually 31ct. What??? Who knew commercial fabric manufacturers lied?

So I've decided to unpick the inner backstitching and go with the 4.5" case rather than only 4". 

Sheesh!

That little scissor fob wouldn't take that long to do either. I like how it is assembled like a mini biscornu.

Durene's instructions are really detailed for the most part. If Hardanger technique is new to the stitcher, her description of the steps would be very helpful.

There's also a sewing pouch in this series - which could also be finished as a floss catcher, needle case, or even part of the front of a project bag,

and a very uniquely-shaped pin cushion pot. This shape makes me think of how I could design one with EPP hexies on the outside...

Instead of the eyelets, I like to add 'bling' with my Hot/Fix jewels - far less tedious. Her instructions call for sewing the fabric behind the open work of the Hardanger into place but I have found that laying the backing onto the back of the openwork, then fusing everything into place with thin interfacing works well. 

I love Durene Jones' designs with the little bits of Hardanger. She has a few themed sets like this and many other patterns - all available in her Etsy shop.

Only 4 more sleeps 'til our retreat! I plan to do a rotation among all the UFO/WIPs that I'm taking. In some cases, just an hour will finish the stitching completely. I also will do a bunch of work on the Teresa Kogut sampler I'm working on and possibly, if Lori sends me Pumpkin House #4, I can get a good start on that. 

*SABLE - Stash Acquisition Beyond Life Expectancy