Friday, September 1, 2017

Pretty Mail - Part 2

Wednesday I showed you my new kit from Jen Goodwin, today I will share with you what comes in an Inspirations kit. Or at least the kit I bought.

You all remember me showing this piece back in July. While everyone was going gaga over the new Carolyn Pearce Strawberry heart etui, I was going bead crazy over the new Margaret Lee etui.


I toyed with the idea of putting the kit together myself and even considered substituting beads. However in the end there were just too many to track down (we're not talking of stitching a little fob here) and I decided that I liked the design as it is anyways. I didn't want the hassle of tracking down all the finishing materials. It's also a perfect opportunity to see what an Inspirations kit is all about. I purchased it on their website and I still don't know how much they charged for shipping as it wasn't included in the total when I payed. I guess I'll find out when the bill comes in ;)


The kit includes everything except the typical tools like scissors and frame to hold your stitching. For this project I'll also need komas which I happen to have, but you can get away with using an eraser. Basically, everything you need to start is there except the instructions. Instructions are never included as you would need to either buy or already own that specific issue that contains the project. The instructions can sometimes be bought on their own as a pdf download but I think that's more for projects from back issues.


The fabric is a lovely shade of dark green with the pattern already printed. So no worrying over transferring the design on a dark fabric. I will have to check over the design lines though as I remember there being some inconsistencies between the picture of the finished etui and the actual drawing to transfer. Nothing to do with the bigger flowers but more for placement of the smaller ones. I think maybe Margaret Lee made some impromptu design decisions while stitching.


With the fabric they included the fusible wadding.


There's also the roll of fusible interfacing, zipper and elastic for the finishing. I will have to hope I can find a friend with a sewing machine to help me put those last two in. That, or finally buy one for myself.


There are two bobbins of white cotton threads and one black. I'm not familiar with the brand Presencia, I wonder how it will compare to Gutterman thread. I just hope it's a strong sewing thread.


The tiny plastic container holds two beading needles. We'll need two needles when we use the komas to couch down lines of pre-threaded beads. I might just use my Japanese needles instead since I have them.


And finally, all the beads each in it's own identified baggie. The letter on each bag matches the ones in the instructions. This will make stitching much easier as you don't have to keep checking against the materials list. My one worry: I hope they included enough beads to finish the project. Some of these beads are really tricky to find here.


No specific start date is planned right now as I'm still working on my JEC phase 1 bead embroidery piece. But once that is finished I will definitely take it out. There are many bloggers who will be starting the Carolyn Pearce etui sometime in December, so I'm thinking of aiming to finish my beaded phase 1 piece before so I can do the same. Sort of like a Stitch-along. Now I just have to convince Carolyn to start it with me. What do you say Carolyn?

6 comments:

  1. You can put zips in by hand, and if there is beadwork near where the zip is going, that's what I recommend. You don't want beads crushed by the sewing machine's foot!

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  2. What a stunning piece. With so many beads, it's nice to have them labeled.

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  3. Another lovely kit. They do seem to have thought of everything and labelled it all too!

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  4. The Inspirations kits are always well put together, and with that number of beads I can see why you chose to get the kit rather than trying to source it all yourself! I'm looking forward to watching you stitch up both this one and your Japanese piece

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  5. That kit does look lovely...I hesitate to spend so much on a single project but I bet once you start, we will see that it's worth it!

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    1. Yeah, sometimes I think I spend too much money on these kits but then I think of how long it will take me to do the actual stitching. This kit will keep me busy for at few months at least.

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