Box Making - (I might have gone overboard with pictures)

I have previously posted that I am studying with the RSN, well I have now graduated (Hurrah!). One of the last projects I was expected to undertake was box making.

This is quite a challenging task, it takes time and working out the relative dimensions? phew, then you have to do it in space you have - wow it can be totally confusing, frustrating but exhilarating when you get it right!

I started with a small 5 cm box with a lid, it was the simplest type of box. There are two sections, the inner and the outer box, each one has four sides a top and a bottom, so a totally of eight pieces. Each of these pieces where hand cut from 2mm mount board, covered with fabric and the stitched together. The aim was to produce a box that fitted together well, the top edges of both of the boxes needed to be flush so that the lid (or top) was flat when closed (it wasn't)

This is what I came up with:

So having not done a brilliant job on this one I decided to make a slightly bigger 10 cm box with a moving part (this was a drawer). The fit was slightly better and the drawer moved beautifully!

So having made 2 boxes to practice the method (technically I only needed to make one to test the method, but there you go!!) I had to make a creative box. This meant taking the principles I had learnt and applying them to a design and dimensions of my own (the 5cm and 10cm box where pre-written instructions that I was following) I also had to include some kind of surface embroidery to decorate the box. I couldn't decide what to do, a theme like flowers? or a favourite colour? or maybe even something like a building or a strange object?

I decided I liked the colour blue. So I would make a blue box, a little blue box and well, I like a challenge so why not play with the laws of physics as well.....

The doors even open when I click my fingers (well, when I take the lid off)

there are two drawers (which along with the pocket and ribbons ties where an attempt to make it bigger on the inside)

There is even a secret compartment

This was a fantastic project, one of my teachers was really excited by it as well which made it even more fun! There were some testing times, like discovering the doors where both 1mm too small and had to be taken apart and re-cut, re-covered and reattached to the box Angry

But ultimately I am really happy with the piece! I know this was epically long pody, so thanks for sticking with it!