Embroidered Polka Dots | Pencil Case

I want to share my love of polka dots with you guys. We’re starting with these pen cases I covered with embroidered polka dots.

Isn’t polka dots the most inviting and lovely pattern that exists? I am always drawn to things covered in dots or circles, and I know I’m not alone. Polka dots are quite trendy, which is a good thing so that you can find them everywhere these days. I do a little happy dance every time I see a mug or a notebook covered in polka dots.

I tend to decorate my own life with polka dots in many ways. They just keep reappearing, on clothes, ceramics, fabric, and in my own art of course. And now, also on wool fabric…

I started embroidering these pencil cases last winter. I cut out dots from felt and randomly hand-sewed them to a black wool fabric in my stash. Yummy! It was so fun that I couldn’t stop… I added more dots and embroidered around them, using mostly my own favorite colors and some ehm, purples, because others like those I’ve heard…

Finally I made my polka dotted fabric pieces into pencil cases by sewing them together, adding different cotton fabric as lining and then topping it with a matching zipper. I was super excited by the finished result, but it took quote some time to make them of course. Embroidery is a slow process. Still, I think I made three of these but right now I can’t find the photos of the third one, and I’ve given them all away to friends.

Here is front and back of number one:

Love the polka dot ribbon I added to the back. Fab!

And number two, front and back of finished pencil case:

I couldn’t agree more with Kusama, an artist obsessed with making everything polka dotted:

With just one polka dot, nothing can be achieved. In the universe, there is the sun, the moon, the earth, and hundreds of millions of stars. All of us live in the unfathomable mystery and infinitude of the universe. Pursuing ‘philosophy of the universe’ through art under such circumstances has led me to what I call ‘stereotypical repetition.’
Yayoi Kusama

I love Kusama, and also traditions, repetition and repeating patterns. It’s the repetition that moves. It’s the repetition of birth that makes the world live even when things die all the time.

My embroidery here is made on a wooly fabric. The threads is a mix of my favorite pearl cotton floss, DMC and wool, and what I could find around here in different qualities of hobby felt. More details of the embroidery. In the end I gave them all away, so I guess I need to make one for myself soon too. I loaded the pencil cases as should be, with goodies, and all was well received.

It makes me happy to give away handmade things, but OMG, I find it hard to give the things I make myself, for many reasons. Making takes a long time for me, and often I miss my deadline (like with the Valentines this year), and then I never feel sure that they gifts are a good match for the recipient… It’s a struggle I strive to overcome, and giving these away is one step.

What pattern is your favorite?