A Gift for My Sister Reen

A handmade gift for my sister Reen's birthday. A needlecase full of various needles and a small pair of embroidery scissors:

The appliques are wool felt. I had never worked with wool felt before, I really enjoyed it. I bought the wool felt squares from a my favorite quilting store, Folktales in Lynden and when I got them home I rinsed them in hot water and dried them in a hot dryer to increase their felting and loft. Believe me, wool felt in nothing like the cheap felt available at craft stores. It feels wonderful, not itchy at all, has a uniform thickness, didn't pill when washed and is easy to work with!

Here's a picture of the inside front cover:

The first page of needles are Sharps in a variety of sizes.

 The second page of needles is embroidery needles, in a variety of sizes. Embroidery needles have the same sharpness as Sharps, but the eye is elongated to accommodate larger threads, flosses and ribbons.

On the third page of needles, I added a variety of tapestry needles. These have a more rounded, blunted point, to slip between the threads of the fabric instead of piercing them.

The final page of needles contains a variety of household repair needles, including a spade-nosed leather needle, larger tapestry needles and curved upholstery needles.

On the back inside cover, I included a pair of embroidery scissors. Very handy to have!

This picture shows the embroidery embellishments made to the cotton cover. I added small yellow french knots to the center of the Forget Me Nots, to add emphasis and tie them into the embroidered wool flowers.

It was a very fun project and it was well received by my Sis!