Garden Pansy and Making Mistakes

It's one of my favourite flowers. Delicate petals in a myriad of vibrant colours mixed with rich green foliage. Always a lovely addition to any garden or a window planter or, in my case, to a little linen pouch. I have been playing around with some cross-stitch mini patterns lately. They are so much fun! Just a little bit of time, a few lovely colours and a few tiny crosses. That's all what you need to turn a piece of bleak linen into a beauty that can be used for anything really.

I stitched this pansy on German linen in two strands of embroidery floss. I tried in three, but it was too bulky, then I tried in just one strand, but it was too thin and flat. Two strands were just perfect. I pared this design with a lace like printed linen, flowery cotton and a matching colour zip. No any other extra details, just the simplicity of cross-stitching in my favourite lilac/lavender colour. I rounded the bottom corners of the pouch, but the top one ones I left straight.

I love this uncomplicated pouch but I have a confession to make. I usually like the pouches and purses I make to be nicely padded. This time around I had all the materials ready but not all the details cut before starting the process. I was trying to sew it between the baby's cat naps. I really wanted to finish it in one go. I managed to finish it right on time and off I went to the ironing board, proudly ironed my new creation... but then there was a pause. Something felt different, strange about this pouch. It took me a while to realise that I completely forgot the fusible interfacing for padding!

My first impulse was to rip it all apart, apply interfacing and sew it all again. But instead I put the pouch down, my time was up, the So Very Little Baby Boy needed me. Now. I am glad I stopped myself from any rushed decisions and I stayed away from my seam ripper. I used medium weight linen as a base for this pouch, it holds it's shape without any interfacing quite nicely. And I think it's important to make mistakes sometimes and accept them not as a failure but rather as a learning curve, as a reminder. For me it would be - not rushing into things and trying to finish it all at once.

I have fallen in love with this simple but charming cross-stitch pansy. I have one more project on my mind for this design and I can't wait to start working on it. Happy day! Larisa xox