Twixtmas Project for DewCatDesigns

I had a lovely little project to complete in the odd period between Christmas and New Year (Twixtmas).  I was contacted by a customer who wanted a particular cross-stitch kit completed and made-up for her - a "Baby Sleeping" Door Hanger, from the Sweetheart Tree, which had particular sentimental value to her and her family.  She had specific colour requirements, and also wanted a musical box insert put into the back of the piece.


I knew that the cross-stitching would be relatively straight forward, but wasn't entirely sure how I would manage the musical box insert - but was willing to go ahead.


The stitching itself didn't take that long - around 3 sessions of dedicated time.  I really enjoyed stitching on linen for a change (most of my cross-stitch projects are on aida), and loved the mini quarter-stitches which allowed so much more detail in the 28 count fabric. 

A cute teddy bear charm helps finish the piece

Then, on New Year's Day, whilst hubby settled in front of the football (soccer), I played around with the musical box insert, some felt templates and lots of pins, and did a dummy run to make sure everything would fit together properly.

Reverse of the completed piece showing the musical box key (the musical box is carefully hidden inside the piece)

Then I was ready to make it up!  Making up a template beforehand really helped, and it came together really quickly in the end - all hand-stitched together (with something this precious, I certainly didn't trust my beginner's sewing machine skills!).

The finished piece!

I was really pleased with the result - and my customer was too!