This one is called "A Whisper of Roses." It is a scissor case designed by Cheryl Schaeffer. The black and white pamphlet says the design was distributed by Susan Portra through her shop My Friend & Eye in Huntington Beach, California.
When I attended a meeting of the Thimble and Thread Chapter of Embroiderers' Guild of America, there was someone else who had this project in almost exactly the same state of not-quite-finished. I am thinking this was a guild class? When I searched online, I could not find a picture of this design. Searching "Cheryl Schaeffer needlepoint" returns lots of lovely needlepoint designs, but not this one, not even when I added "roses" or "scissor case" to the search. There were a bunch of gnome scissor cases, but not this one with flowers. I never found a color image of the finished project.
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| Black & white image from the pamphlet. |
Like "Iris with Blackwork," my mother had completed all the foreground flowers. All the cross stitch, satin stitch, and back stitching was done. She had completed the pulled thread work along the top edge and the columns running down to the lavender hearts. I needed to lay in the gold lattice, add the beads, and assemble the scissor case. The pamphlet instructions explain the embroidery, but not the finishing.
Because much of the canvas is unworked, the lining fabric will show. I made the wise decision to take the project with me when I went shopping for lining fabric. While lining in white seemed like the right decision, it meant the three columns of pulled squares disappeared. So . . . no. When I started to think about it, I also realized I would want two linings. If you sew the canvas together and the lining separately, then the seam allowance from the canvas and the seam allowance for the lining will show through in the unworked areas on the canvas. On the other hand, if you sew it together with the lining, then the seam allowance for both shows on the inside of the scissor case. If you were making a pillow, this would be the thing to do. (In hindsight, I could have worked French seams that would show on the inside but be covered. But then that gets back to the problem of having the same fabric for both the background and the interior.) For an object where you look inside, it meant sewing the scissor case together with the seams to the inside, then creating a separate inner lining. But this worked out fine. I wanted a pop of color by having a dark lining. The burgundy was too dark directly behind the canvas. But pink worked great!
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| First step in assembly. Lots of basting! Notice there are two needles. |
I basted the pink lining in place, then with right-sides together I sewed the
seams. This was a slow process, as I used a long strand of thread and started
at the center bottom. I used two needles, one at each end of the thread. I
matched the seams square by square on each side, a couple squares on the left,
then a couple squares on the right. I counted canvas threads all the way up to
be sure my scissor case is symmetrical. I also reinforced the bottom with
extra stitching. After all, the point of a scissor case is to protect
everything in your project bag from the sharp scissors!
After sewing the seams, I carefully trimmed the seam allowances. Then it was
time to turn it right side out. This was not the easiest thing to do. The
canvas was stiff. I had to work it gently. Eventually, I even soaked the
project in water to make it a little more pliable. It took maybe 10-15
minutes. No rush here.
I cut out the inner dark red lining and sewed both sides together. This is another seam I double-stitched because it will come in contact with unprotected scissors. I folded the top seam allowance down and basted it in place. Then I carefully tacked the top of the inner lining to the top of the scissor case.
At this point, I had a design decision to make. The pamphlet picture shows trim around the seam line and across the open edge. It also shows a tassel. I thought my scissor case looked pretty good, even without the trim. I also wondered if I should add a snap or button or tie at the top middle to keep scissor inside the case?
After letting it sit a week, I decided I would add trim, as the picture shows.
I spent a couple hours on the couch, trying different variations. What about
two colors? Maybe white with a spark of gold? Maybe white with pink Balger
fine cord? Eventually I decided the design looked best with plain white trim.
Anything else detracted from the embroidery. I also decided to add a ball knot
and a loop to close the top. Otherwise, the scissors would just fall out. (Note to self: You need to reinforce the loop and the knot with extra stitches to hold them in place.)
The scissor case probably took nearly as much time to assemble as it did to embroider! I'm very pleased with how it turned out. Over the years, I had a couple projects specifically made for my mother that she ended up not liking. There was a shawl. There was a queen stitch piece of needlepoint that eventually became a pin cushion. I like to think my mother would have liked this scissor case.
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