Chinese Bellflower Omiyage!

I have finished my Chinese Bellflower Omiyage that I started in January! Yay!

I received a book from my sister for Christmas last year – Omiyage by Kumiko Sudo
[I can't believe that was 5 months ago! That means that Christmas in now less than 6 months away! Argh! Where is the year going?]

Omiyage by Kumiko Sudo

I decided in January that I would create the Chinese Bellflower Omiyage that features on the cover.
I cut out all the pieces and started sewed like mad for the first 2 months. Then, as I usually do, I got 80% of the way through and I lost my steam. So it sat there in this state for ages – the flower complete, the leaves complete the casing for the drawstring complete, just waiting to thread the ribbon drawstring and sew up the ends of the drawstring.

Incomplete Chinese Bellflower Omiyage

This weekend I was hell-bent on finishing this baby. So I gathered my bits and pieces retreated to my bedroom and stitched while I watched ‘An Idiot Abroad’ on my laptop [you HAVE to see this show it is HILARIOUS!]. I stitched, threaded ribbon, tied knots and stitched some more.
My needle got stuck but I found a cute trusty red thimble covered in flowers my friend Stitching Lyrical gave me only last weekend and stitched on!

My trusty red thimble

I finally finished my lovely Chinese Bellflower Omiyage, and here it is!
I made the lining black so it would look like the hidden pouch was deeper than it is [sneaky! hehe]

Chinese Bellflower Omiyage - Pouch open

The drawstring closure is nice and firm so no goodies in the pouch can’t escape!

Chinese Bellflower Omiyage - Pouch closed

Looking from the front you wouldn’t think that there is a pouch inside.

Chinese Bellflower Omiyage - Front

It is entirely hand stitched – no cheating. I’m amazed that I didn’t cheat because I am sooo impatient.
Being a first attempt I didn’t buy the materials specifically for the project I just found scraps of cotton from other projects and cut them. I also didn’t have matching cotton for a lot of the sewing so you can see the different coloured thread peeking through at the seams. But all in all I think it’s pretty great for my first shot at Omiyage!

If I were to do it again I would machine stitch it, just because it is such a great gift idea and I would try to knock out a couple in one afternoon.I’d also take pictures of it as I put it together so I could post it for you. I would have done it for this project, but I hadn’t even conceived the idea of a blog when I started this project!
Don’t you worry though, I’ve got an idea of what my next omiyage will be and I’ll show you step-by-step pics next time!

That’s one project finished, only a dozen other unfinished projects to finish.

How many projects do you have in the works at the moment? They don’t have to be crafty ones.
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