My Oma doesn’t have much space in her apartment and is trying to find homes for lots of her knickknacks and collectibles and doesn’t mention much that she needs….so it is really hard to figure out gifts for her.  I made a  peyote pattern for a pocket tissue holder and barely started it a couple months ago before I realized it was going to take awhile to get it done and was more complicated that I realized.  So I put that on hold….that will have to be a Christmas present.

Then came Mother’s Day……what to get the woman who has everything?  For her birthday in April my husband and I had to resort to a cute Snoopy, her favorite candy, and a fun framed photo of me.  So all of the non home made ideas were recently used.   My mind automatically went back to the tissue holder (Oma and I are bonded by horrible allergies)….but there was no way I could get that done in time, so I opted for a full size tissue box cover.

“How is bigger a solution?” you ask?  Well, it wouldn’t be if I did it all in seed bead stitching, so I went with fabric and bead embroidery (I guess you would call it embroidery).  Again, something I’ve never done before and it was a little last minute when I finally figured out how I was going to do it.  But, it was fun and it turned out really well.  As I was doing it, I was thinking of ways it could have been easier….like when I was trying to knot off thread from the inside of the tissue box while in a moving car, but I was working for speed as well as looks so I may have still picked the best way for this particular project.

Here is how it went:

1. Cut plastic count canvas to a little larger than the size of tissue box (the sheets with the medium sized squares….bigger means floppier, not good with a tissue box cover).  This is the base.
2. Sew together base pieces.  I used double thread…..but hind sight says it may have been better if I had used cord or ribbon, something a bit thicker.
3. Cut 1 piece of fabric and fold over base like wrapping paper.  I used a piece of fabric that already had some stitching and sequins on it so that the fabric didn’t look so bare where I didn’t have any bead work.
4. Sew just a little down the sides where the fabric is folded over (it doesn’t need much to stay).  Fold the bottom into the inside of the base and stitch like a hem.
5. Cut an X in the center of the box (where the tissues come out).
6. Use desired beads, buttons, etc. to add designs to cover.  I used buttons, seed beads and some flower and leaf beads.
7. Tuck the corners of the X under the base and stitch beads onto the top of the tissue box (to hide the stitch marks).

It turned out pretty well I think.  I didn’t get a picture….will have to snap some next time I visit.  My Oma really liked it

The hardest part was sewing the beads into this small space that was the inside of the tissue box.  A few times the thread tangled and knotted without me realizing it so I had to cut loops and sew the thread back into the inside.  As mentioned earlier, knotting off end threads was the worst.  I didn’t want to do it on the outside where it would show, and when I was doing the top of the box it was even harder to do working with short thread from the oval opening….but it still worked.  I suppose I could have beaded over the fabric before sewing it onto the base, but it would have been very hard to get everything lined up correctly.  The only other option I could think of was sewing each fabric panel onto each side of the base and then decorating before putting the base together.  That however seemed like it would take longer.  It would definitely have shown the stitching more….and easy count grid or no, I don’t have very great looking stitches so I bypassed that idea very quickly.

I’ll be working on the bead embroidery some more though.  I have always shied away from bead embroidery since I am not a fan of regular embroidery…..but it does offer much more freedom than sticking to peyote and brick stitch, etc.  I am excited for the announcement to go out for the next bead quilt project (Beaders Against Breast Cancer) so I can try some things out (not that I have to have a reason, but it helps a lot).