Victorian 'Mice' Etui

Last week, I showed you my stumpwork Summer Sampler for a new course at ArtTextil. Today, I'll show you the other new course I'll be teaching at ArtTextil in April and May. It is a beginners' box making course with simple embroidery. The type of box is a Victorian Needlework Etui. You probably have encountered the type before: lift the lid and the goodies spill out in an orderly manner. Or so you hope :).

I have a confession to make: I LOVE mice! Yeah, I really do. I used to have mice as a teenager. Much to my father's distress as he claims that he can still smell them 20-years on... They are such happy fellows. Very easy to share a home with. And I am always delighted to spot them on my walks through the woods. The mice probably know me as the weird lady who opens her rucksack to dig for an apple to share. Any ways, I decided to decorate the outside of my needlework box with, you guessed it: MICE!

Here we have blackberry mouse and sleepy mouse...

 ....as well as wheat mouse and cornflower mice. All drawn by my husband and inspired by the beautiful pictures featured in National Geographic and Land Love. I decided to use quite basic stitches like chain, stem and straight stitches. Bullion knots were perfect for mice's hands and feet. All stitched with the beautifully hand-dyed perle #8 by House of Embroidery.

The lid has been decorated with my initials in Hungarian braided chain stitch combined with stem stitch. Easy to do and it produces beautiful monograms, don't you think? The insides of the box feature two pockets and two elastic bands to hold your tools, as well as four needle cards and a small pincushion. Who says beauty and practicality don't go together?

Want to try your hand at box making? ArtTextil will soon put details of this course on their website. Living too far away? Try to find a teacher near you to explain you the basics. It is paramount to be very (yes, VERY) precise and a bit neurotic in checking your measurements over and over again. There are also several good books on box making out there of which Carolyn Pearce's book Home Sweet Home is probably the most well-known.