A Gift for Monsieur

Monsieur was always very partial to my Wee Practical Thing, and kept saying it over and over; and it became evident that he wanted something similar.

During November and December I've started embroidering in secret, because I wanted to surprise him with a little gift for Midwinter (he received an empty embroidered stocking to hang up at the woodstove during the family celebration).

As you may have noticed, Monsieur is rather partial towards Athena, thus my choice of motive was rather evident.

It was a bit challenging to break it down into a form what could be easily embroidered. I sourced the material in my still extensive collection of silk scraps, and settled on the blue & white colour scheme silk I've used for my little bag, and what Monsieur admired very much.

It was tedious progress, as I needed to stop and hide the WiP as soon as he came in the vicinity. Thus I've kept another embroidery project close, a white embroidered dress, and a larger but lightweight publication about Hortense to cover up the blue pocket book.

Apart from the owl motive and Athena's armour heap it's all embroidered in tiny chain stitch. The motto I've settled on is "Amour et Amitié" - Love and Friendship. Because I believe these are the two things what keep a relationship alive.

Originally I wanted to embroider flaps to close the pockets, but I was about to run out of time, and settled on a very simple way, though I've used a nice striped silk for the lining. His pocketbook is slightly larger than mine, as I wanted it to be big enough to hide his phone.

The inside is lined with striped silk

Now all he needs are letters to fill his pocketbook :-)