Tuesday, February 27, 2007

Mary Engelbreit Bourse

This project was a birthday present for my Mom. It was my first bourse and it wasn't hard to make. Here are a few pictures.









The ME fabric is from Walmart and the teapot is a coaster design from the hardback ME book "Cross Stitch For All Seasons." Instead of cording I used a nifty pompom trim for the drawstring. Functionally it isn't as smooth as cording would be, but I love the look. If I had it to do over again I would put in a lining. The ME fabric is so bright, you can see shadows through the white fabric. If you're looking for a bourse "how to" you should check Anne D's blog here and Joanie's blog here. I intended to make my own photo tutorial for this but I was so intent on doing it correctly that I completely forgot to stop and take pictures along the way. Maybe next time.

Edited to add - thanks Joy for your sisterly and stitcherly words of wisdom regarding this project!

From the "Comments" section:
  • Welcome to new readers! I appreciate your comments, and thanks for reading my blog. I'll be visiting your blog soon if I haven't already.
  • Regarding my relative weirdness, it's nice to know I'm not alone. It seems the fear of knives is pretty common. As it should be. Monique, I'll be happy to demonstrate at the stitch-in...just don't ask me to watch you cut anything. I'm beggin'.
  • Thanks for the kind words regarding my Spring Snapperland with the whopping big error. I love CJ's idea to give the project away to someone who won't see the error and will simply enjoy it. How smart is that? I'll be giving it some more thought, that's for sure.
  • I hope everyone is having fun painting pins. This was my first attempt, and if you take a close look at the pin heads you can see that some quality control issues exist. I'm sure someone will come up with a better technique than mine. I just grabbed the pointy end of the pin and dunked the head straight into the bottle. A little twirling of the pin, a few circles around the neck of the bottle to take off some excess paint and plunk into the pin cushion. I would have preferred floral foam (in case of drips) but couldn't find it and the little tomato was handy. Because the paint is thick, it took a long time for the pins to dry. Longer than the 30 minutes mentioned on the bottle. Overnight should do the trick. Michele asked what project these are for...and the honest answer is that I don't have a pinkeep in the works. I bought the supplies months ago and never got around to trying it. Last night Amy asked about pins over at Friends Gather so I was inspired to give it a go. I guess now I need to stitch something to go with the pins, huh?

Edited 60-11 times to try to sort out the paragraph spacing in this post, and all I can say is UNCLE!

34 comments:

Anonymous said...

That's gorgeous, Chelle :)

Anonymous said...

What a wonderful bourse, Chelle! And thanks for the links, I have been wanting to make one myself!! I'll have to brush up on my French... :o)

mainely stitching said...

Oh, that bourse is really gorgeous!

Katrina said...

It's gorgeous, I bet your mom loves it!

Anonymous said...

Beautiful bourse - you did a great job :)

Anonymous said...

I bet your Mum wa thrilled to bits - it is just so lovely.
Well done :)

Deborah said...

Oh my gosh, I love your bourse! I love Mary E too, your mom is going to be so pleased, at least she better be or you can send it to me, lol.

Karoline said...

Lovely Bourse Chelle, congratulations

Tobie said...

Chelle, I *love* your bourse! Wow, you are so creative. OK, now I want to make the same one. (thanks for sharing the pattern source!) Congrats on a lovely finish! Lucky Mom! :)

Anonymous said...

I'm still not sure I get what a bourse is/does and why you'd want the stitching on the inside (??) but it is lovely!

Lelia said...

Awesome! Excellent! Job well done, Chelle : )

Cathy B said...

That bourse is pretty cute - I bet your mom loved it!

stitcherw said...

Your Bourse turned out lovely. ME fabric is so fun, your mom will love it. Also, the painted pins in your earlier entry were great. I never would have thought to paint the tops to match a pinkeep.
Thanks for stopping by my blog.
Sue

Dawn B. said...

Thank you for the birthday comment and for visiting my blog.

The Silver Thistle said...

Nice bourse! I haven't tried one of these yet, but I could be tempted :)

Thanks for the linky's.

CindyMae said...

The bourse is just gorgeous! You done a wonderful job on it!!! Congrats

Anonymous said...

Beautiful work and everything coordinates so perfectly. I really want to do one of these... in my spare time. ;)

Karin said...

The bourse is gorgeous! Congrats on a great finish.

Anita said...

Great Bourse and creative idea for the pins.

Rachel V said...

Beautemous!! I have always liked Mary Englebreit. Super gift. :)

Elizabeth Braun said...

Well done! That's delightful and I'd be thrilled with a gift like that, so I'm sure your mum was.=)

Love the pins idea too. Good for you!

I had a finish posted last week too - come and have a look!=)

Susieq said...

I love it. I really like the material. I agree with one comment, I don't know what a bourse does either, but I made several for Christmas presents this past year anyway.

Margaret said...

What a gorgeous bourse - such a lovely gift for your mom.

Kitty said...

Wow, what a sweet present for your mom! Congratualations on this very beautiful "first time"!

Lillie said...

Its a lovely bourse,well done. Loved the teapot design, am sure your mom loves it.

Lelia said...

Hey GF: Time to updatethis blog of yours : ) LOL

Esp tell all re. your stitchie week-end

Nancy in IL said...

Chelle, you do such lovely work, and reading your blog is a delight! I dearly love Mary Engelbreit, and I just learned what a bourse is!

Heather said...

Cute Bourse, I love Mary Englebreit. I found you through another blog, you are very talented! I'm adding you to my reader :D

~Heather

Casa Pearl said...

Chelle it's adorable! Great job and I'm sure she'll treasure it.

Mary Ann said...

Oh, very pretty!! I know your mom loved it!

Anonymous said...

hellloooooo?
LOL

Racaire said...

this bourse looks really gorgeous!!!
...and I love this small embroidery in the inside - such a lovely idea :)

Anonymous said...

Good Morning,
I was wondering if you have ever seen the cute little ME straight pins with tiny teapots, or the scottie dog, ect.. on the head of the pin? I am cooking for a quilt group and thought I'd try to find them for one of the quilters. Any help would be wonderful. Thanks

Erica said...

Gorgeous bourse! I'm in awe. Someday I'll try to make one. Someday.....