Thank You!

Thank you to everyone who commented so kindly on my Mermaid Gown.  It took me forever to get the post up, as I wanted some close-ups of the embellishment and it just wasn't happening.  So, here they are.  I used a very free-form style of beading and just found a bunch of beads that I thought looked good together and with the fabric.  I wanted something that would end up looking kind of floral and encrusted without being too much.  I am very happy with the way it turned out.


 This is the twist at the waist and the strung beads and cords that hang down from it.

The second photo shows the central drape a little higher up showing the twist and what's just above it.  There are a lot of silk ribbon 'leaves' mixed in with the beads.

 The third photo is higher up yet on the drape, showing the main style of embellishment.  The curving beads are cut pieces of spiral shells, a little hard to stitch on, and they don't stay perfectly still, but that's okay, it gives a little more movement to the design.

This is the perfect packable gown, as it seems to eschew wrinkles no matter what, and in fact I was carrying it around the house in a tote bag while I was beading on it.  Since it can't and shouldn't be hung, it now lives in a fabric-covered box on a shelf in my closet, waiting for its next appearance.

I can't tell you how much your kind and tremendously thoughtful comments mean to me.  I appreciate and reread each and every one.  Thank you.

Mermaid Gown

 I have been working on this gown for quite some time, since I wasn't in any hurry and didn't have any place to wear it particularly.  When the 90th Anniversary Banquet for my Mu Phi Epsilon alumni chapter came up, I knew I had to finish it.

The fabric is a mint/dull-red cross-dyed stretch velvet which was a gift from my dear friend Patti.  In the photos it shows as much more red than it does in person, I think because of the flash, but it is very changeable, and a lovely fabric.  She bought it and later realized that it wasn't her colors.  However, it IS my colors, and she was kind enough to let me have it.  I didn't have any plan for it originally, and thought it might become a nice, snuggly winter top.  And in fact, I was holding it up in front of the mirror last winter to see what style might be good when I draped it around myself and realized that it wanted to be an evening gown.

I have long been an adherent to the theory that you can't just pin a length of fabric around yourself and stitch it up as is, with no underpinnings, and have it look good once you're past about 18-20 years old.  I was shocked when I did just that with this fabric.  It was almost magic, the way everything just worked as if it was meant to be.  I don't expect to ever have it happen again.  I simply tacked it where I had pinned it, and didn't even cut at all.  Since the inside is a dull red, it makes a great contrast to the mint/sage green and red of the right side, and I used that contrast for the turn-over at the top.  The slit in the skirt shows both sides as well. 

The only interior 'work' I did was to add a grosgrain waist stay that is attached at the point where the waist drape twists.  With all the skirt fabric hanging from that point, it became heavy enough to sag after I added the beading, and the stay holds everything in place.  I wasn't uncomfortable once during the evening, or nervous that my dress was going to move out of place.

The beading was fun, and I just started in without any great plan other than an idea of what I wanted it to look like when I was done, and added more and more, and after the Kenneth King Weekend, I added silk ribbon embroidery and even more beads and some cording and strung beads that hang from the waist drape. 

The shawl is a piece of silk chiffon embroidered with starfish (appropriate for a mermaid gown?) that I purchased from eQuilter several years ago.  It's simply hemmed on the ends, and uses the selvedges for the other edges.  It turned out to be the perfect colors to go with this, and just what I needed.

Bazaar Things

Photo Link

I'm donating things to sell at a fundraiser for my local chapter of Mu Phi Epsilon again this year, and I've knitted a bunch of scarves for it, but wanted to do something different too. After seeing a cuff (bracelet?) on a blog, I decided it would be fun to do very fancy cuffs to attach to gloves. The piece above is what I did for this. It's for a pair, and is a wool Melton with lace, roving and yarn attached using the Embellisher. I also used Shiva Paintsticks in gold and copper on them. Here's the first finished one. I think they're kind of fun.


Photo Link

Photo Link

I lined them with a rayon twill, added a couple pleats and 3 buttons. I'm sure the second one will go much faster, as the hard part was figuring out just exactly how to attach them to the gloves. I'm using the little knitted "magic gloves" you find everywhere since I wanted these to be one-size, and I didn't want to put a lot of money into the gloves. They could easily be removed from these and put on any gloves, as they're just handstitched. If the other one turns out as well, it's going to be hard to let them go. Now I have to figure out what to price them at.

For a little quicker item (I hope) I am going to try to copy Barbara's gift pouches at Cat Fur Studio. I think these would be good sellers, and I hope I can do some as nice as hers.

As an experiment, I also have begun to work on a beaded necklace that has the large fabric pieces that I've seen in some designer shows. I think I'm going to add a chain twisting through the yarns to add a little more weight. Both sides of each piece is beaded, so no matter how they hang, it's the "right" side. I think a ribbon bow or two may go on this too.

xxx 

xxx 

Beading, Slowly

I've had a bad cold ever since Saturday night, and I just haven't felt like sewing or even knitting, really. So, I've been catching up on some reading, (poolside reading, if you know what I mean) looking at magazines and resting a lot. I finally felt like doing something, and decided to finish the beading on the scarves I hemmed for the Mu Phi Epsilon Boutique Fundraiser this Sunday. (About time, I guess.) Then I noticed a couple bracelets that were half-done in my beading things, and thought I'd work on them a little. Well, it went really well, and I finished them both last night! I don't know when I started on them, but it was over a year ago, not that there was any rush.... You can see more photos of them here.

The one you see above is a cuff bracelet with an armature underneath. You can see the edge of it here and there. I used an assortment of various beads and just piled them on. I think it's going to be fun to wear. If I were going to make another, it would definitely be narrower, as there was a lot of beading just to cover this, much less build it up and make it look somewhat interesting.

The one below is what I have seen called a Caterpillar Bracelet, and has a base of narrow cording doubled, stitched and knotted at one end with a loop at the other. It's beaded all over with loops of beads, and has a beaded ball on one end as a button to close with the loop. I'm quite pleased with it, and I can see wearing it quite a lot.

A Beaded Gift

The beautiful beaded stitch markers above are a gift from my sister! It was so exciting to get them. They're so lovely, and something I never would have gotten for myself. (I've been known to cut up McDonald's straws and use those for stitch markers, and they work very well, especially if you need a ton of them, right now. But, a thing of beauty, they're not.) I find myself just gazing at these and all their little details. The largest one is a lampwork bead, handmade by someone.