I finished my first needlepoint box! I’m pleased with it. To recap, I used a simple overdyed yarn, worsted weight (double DK weight) for the needlepoint and a plastic frame cut to size. I learned a lot putting it together and like the final look.

Here is the box completed and closed. There’s a lip around the bottom so the lid sits snuggly down over the bottom, making it look like a solid cube. In fact, two people I’ve shown it to couldn’t figure out how to open it at first!

Here’s a view with the top and bottom separate. You can see how deep the box is in this shot. It is three inches square, which is a lot larger than I thought at first.

One of the key learnings I took away from sewing the pieces together was this: at first, I used one horizontal stitch, then a diagonal stitch from the same square on one piece to the next square up on the other piece. That looked good but I didn’t realize it was canting the pieces sideways by one square, which threw off the finished design. I’ve shown that below so you can see what I’m referring to.

To fix it, I just placed the stitches two in each square horizontally. I was worried it wouldn’t have enough coverage to conceal the frame, but it worked just fine – as you can see from the pictures.

The next box will have actual stitch patterns using different textures of thread and yarn. The suggestions I saw in the book I’m using call for Paternayan crewel wool and perle cotton, which look nice together. Pix soon!