In the Georgian era, ivory needlework tools, decorated with black or navy dots, circles or lines (called hot needle decoration or Madras work) were quite plentiful and are now very collectable indeed. I spotted an example of a needlecase with an ivory cover in a wonderful book (Antique Tools and Embroideries by Nerylla Taunton, published by The Antique Collectors Club). I had also seen something similar in an antique market and loved it at once, but it was way out of my league. So I investigated how I could recreate such a thing to enjoy today. I started with the covers – not in ivory of course. With help from Lynn Walsh at History Craft and a source for the faux ivory material, I crossed my fingers and invested in the hand-crafted covers and then worked out how the pages of the needlebook could be designed. It didn’t happen overnight! From start to finish, this project has been ‘cooking’ for over a year.
I had such fun designing the flowers on the pages but you could make this up unstitched if speed is of the essence.
I am looking into the possibility of a matching ‘pin keep’ as I write.