A Reveal

A while ago I showed you a sneak peak of a friend's birthday present.  Well I'm finally able to show you the finished product!

I actually gave it to her a week ago, but silly me forgot to take a photo so I had to wait till this weekend to see her again and get a good photo.

It was a pattern called "Life's a Hoot" from Handmade magazine (Vol 28, No7 if you really want to know).  As soon as I saw it I wanted to make it for her because she collects owls, and I'm glad I'm finally getting some use out of all these craft magazines I keep buying.

From a technical point, it was rather fun and exciting to make.  The pattern used several embroidery stitches I haven't used before and most of the work is done with one strand of floss, giving a very fine and delicate result.  It is also the first time I've used a pigma pen to mark the design, but I don't think I'll do it again.  I decided to have a go because the pattern instructions said to use a pigma pen, but some of the stitches, such as the lazy daisy and fly stitches, don't cover the lines completely.

It is a very cute little pattern and I'm almost tempted to make one for myself ;)