Because of how tight the stitching was to the edges - and how the edges were fraying - I threw out the plan of stuffing them with cloves and cinnamon sticks out completely. Here, I've just folded the fabric in half, making sure the front and back stitching lined up, then used a running stitch to close up two sides.
For the filling, I folded and trimmed a facial tissue to fit. I did add a few drops of the vanilla oil inside the folds.
Once it was stuffed, I closed up the final side, continued stitching down the folded side to give it a sharper crease, then kept on going around in between the previous stitches for a double running stitch.
Once the stitching was done, I used Fray Check along the stitch line, then trimmed the 3 edges to 1 strand of the Aida cloth weave outside the double running stitch.
Back to button hole stitching. I chose this side to be the front, and the folded edge is now the top.
At this point, I wanted to try something new. I haven't crocheted with beads before, so I went digging around my craft bin and found some green seed beads that closely match the green metallic thread I've been using for these.
After counting out the stitches on the three sides, I needed to add that many beads, plus more for turning the corners, to the crochet cotton. To do that, I tied one end of some beading thread to the end of the cotton, then threaded a beading needle. This way, the beads could slide fairly easily onto the thicker cotton thread. I ended up threading 100 beads.
Working from the back of the sachet, I worked a row of sc, adding 1 bead for each stitch, adding an extra stitch and bead to the turn. Normally, I'd do 3 stitches in the corner to turn it, but with the thickness of the beads, I didn't want it bunching up. It did tend to curl back a bit, but it worked better than trying to stuff in a third bead.
To add the beads in each sc, the thread is pulled through as per usual, then a bead is slid down the thread, close to the hook.
Unfortunately, the photo showing how the bead is placed didn't turn out.
Once the bead is in place, the sc is finished as usual, making sure the bead is fixed on the back of the stitch.
Here's what the row of sc looks like from the back of the project (front of the sc row).
After I did the beads around three sides of the sachet, I made a chain for the hanger, then did another row of sc (this time ensuring that 3 sc were done in one stitch at the corners for the turn), while still working from the back of the project.
When the second row of sc was done, I turned the project and, now working from the front of the sachet, did a ruffle in the same manner as I finished the previous sachet. In between each sc of the previous row, I did [1dc, 1ch, 1dc, 1ch].
As I was working, I noticed the chain I made for a hanger had a tendency to twist. To fix that, when I finished the three sides of ruffled edging, I slip stitched into each chain of the hanger to give it a bit of bulk, then finished off and fastened the thread.
Here's a view of the back. Without the beads, it's still neat and tidy enough that the decoration can be considered reversable.
All done! :-)
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