Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Pretty plain, baby

This is another commissioned piece: take this dress and remove the "ugly" part and make it pretty, make it like this part of the dress, and you can use the bonnet to do it, or cut off the cuffs to do it.
Now, how many of us know that when a client brings us a piece of something and says, "can't you just cut it off here and stick it there?" that doesn't work.
This one almost worked! It was sooooo close, but, at any rate, not close enough.
I needed to go and buy some new batiste and hand smock it.
So, there are 1152 tiny stitches in this piece.Above is the picture (back side) before it was pressed, and below is the front after the pressing.
Cut to the pattern of the removed piece:
Inserted into the top of the gown. You can see the smocking I was supposed to match below the piece.The ruffle around the neck simulates the ruffle on the front of the bonnet that she said I could just cut up and put there.
And, this is the solution of bringing the whole thing together--as of now. She hasn't seen it yet, and I want to do more, but she said that she wanted it pretty plain, but sweet. I think that it is acceptable. Much sweeter than when I started, which I won't show you because it was pretty ugly.All in all, a good refresher course in embroidery, which I am sure that I knew how to do at one time, but, not anymore: the lazy daisy stitch was hard enough, let alone that weird rose in the center on the new part (that's completely made up). So, yes, you can make some stuff up, as long as it's yours to make up--now, Shakespeare on the other hand, don't rewrite Shakespeare.
"Take your needle, my child, and work at your pattern; it will come out a rose by and by. Life is like that - one stitch at a time taken patiently and the pattern will come out all right like the embroidery." ~Oliver Wendell Holmes

1 comment:

Unknown said...

AHHHH. It turned out so pretty. The original was quite ugly but showing it would only make what you did look all the more fantastic.

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