a trio of cranes.

I finished the second of these just before my mother rushed out the door to catch her flight; it was the perfect size for sneaking into her wallet without her noticing. Going by the "flying away" jokes I got over text a few hours later, the surprise was appreciated.

They'd be a bit neater with some scraps sewn to cover the undersides, but that would take away some of the handmade charm of it. There's just something soothing about being able to rub hand-embroidered fabric between your fingers and catch the imperfections of it, rather than holding something perfectly finished and smooth.

  

The tasseled crane turned out a lot sturdier than I expected, especially given this was my first try ever making a tassel out of thread. After I'd tied it into place I used blanket stitch around the top to reinforce it and make everything look a bit neater- it gave the added bonus of providing a solid base that I could attach to the wing.

Origami cranes hold a lot of personal meaning and history for me. These are completely useless and not all that well coordinated, don't get me wrong. They're not meant to be useful or go together. 

But the hours it takes to make them and the hours I remember... there's something in that, I think.