Gallery of In Progress Projects

[Luciana]

Few days ago I found some cotton at JoAnn that I HAD to buy it. They had less than 3 yards and now I'm thinking what I should make of it.

Any suggestions?

[Lady Kathleen of Olmsted]

OOHH!!! A lovely Batik!!!

How about a short sleeved top. Summer will be here in no time. That would look great with a nice pair of capris.

[Kate XXXXXX]

Hello ladies. I didn't post here for a while. A friend of mine have suggested that for my next project should be a traditional Romanian costume. The Romanian costume is usually really easy to cut. It is practically a peasant blouse, a skirt (circle or gathered or gored one) and in most cases one or two aprons. What makes the costume different is the embroidery. Depending on the region the embroidery and the aprons are different. My aprons are wool woven, black with burned orange and embroidered with some flowers. Right now I am working at embroidering the blouse. The pictures are showing one of the sleeves, the embroidery will be like a block 15 inches long per 12 inches wide. Picture of what I am talking about.




My personal choice is for the thread.  It's more authentic and I think it looks better.   
The embroidery will go 3 inches higher than the line of the bottom of the fabric. It is easier for me to do the embroidery for each part of the blouse instead of putting it together and doing it later. The sleeves will have most of the embroidery, also the front will have some, especially around the neck and yoke. The skirt will be embroidered at the bottom, with an 1 inch wide pattern. I didn't decide yet if I will repeat the pattern from the blouse or I will go with a differnt one.



Now I need your help. My initial idea was to do a combination of black embroidery and orange beads. I tried on a little are but it doesn't look very good to me.



You can see on the top where I did a bit with beads. The rest is done with orange cotton tread. Please let me know which one you think is better.

[Lady L]

My opinion is that the thread looks nicer than the beads on this piece. It's really looking very nice already.

[LadyShadow]

Oh my talk about wonderful skills.  I think the thread looks better than the beads.  It blends in better.  I can not wait to see a finished project.

[sealion]

Impressive embroidery Luciana! I agree that the orange thread looks better than the beads.

[Lady Kathleen of Olmsted]

The embroidery is very impressive!!! HUZZAH!!!

An art form I need to get back into myself.

[lollergirl]

i vote thread.  it's a shame to hide all that gorgeous stitching under beads.

[Luciana]

Thank you very much for the compliments. Thread will be then. With some luck the first sleeve will be ready in a month or so.

[Lorraine]

I love your work Luci, when you're done with yours maybe we can swap skills, your dress for an embroidered chemise maybe?

I really liked the simplicity pirate pattern, but typically don't like the big 3's corset patterns, so here's my version with a steel boned corset attached. Unfortunately my sewing machine decided to die halfway through the pants after first chewing a big hole in the velveteen. Luckily I have enough velveteen to make another pair, just not sure yet what to do about the sewing machine breaking part. The front of the corset has the wide neckline and a shorter than usual point because I'm making a stomacher to go over top, it will be attached with the same brown silk ribbon that's on the skirt. I'll try to get some better pics when it's all done, the lighting is really bad in the hallway and I couldn't get it to fit the dummy that well.

[Rani Zemirah]

All of these recent projects are amazing, and all truly lovely! I wish I had any of these skills!

[Tammy]

You ladies are amazing!!! True gifts!!

[Lady Kathleen of Olmsted]

The Paned Slops that go with the Spanish Doublet ensemble I am doing for Friar Rohn's nephew. I have a few minor adjustments to make, then make the Modesty Panels for the Doublet. The Doublet will have grommets at the side seam for side lacing.


The Paned Slops. There are heavy hooks and eyes that alternated for the front.


Trim detailing. A simple, yet elegant trim for the center of each pane, finished with a Black Piping. I am a nut for piping. Piping adds such elegance to Doublets, SLops, women's clothing, etc.

[LadyShadow]

They look wonderful.

[LadyElizabeth]

With pants like those, makes me wish I wore slops!!  Love the yellow and black together!!