Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Current Forever Project: Dress Me Up, dress 11

This dress has turned out to be one of my favorites!  The pattern has a whole bunch of circles on the dress, so I did them in a buttonhole stitch.  Furthermore, I got the brilliant (if I do say so myself) idea of graduating the color from light to dark (neckline to hem).

There's a one strand/one wrap French knot in the middle of the buttonhole flowers.  The French knot is done in a new (to me) DMC satin floss, made of rayon.  VERY shiny stuff.

The lazy daisy flowers at the shoulders are also done in the DMC satin floss.


Another new (to me) DMC fiber is their Pearlescent Effects ... a very rough and sparkly stranded item.  I used this for the belt, stitched in a whipped backstitch.  I had originally thought to do the buttonhole flowers in this fiber but it is SO rough that I gave up.  Heh .... don't even think about doing French knots with it. :-)

Completing this dress means that I am now working on dress #12 ... the LAST dress!  :-)

7 comments:

  1. Is it time to start thinking about the Next Forever Project?

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  2. oh indeed! I have a couple of projects that could qualify, as they involve handwork.

    I'm going to need to make the decision pretty soon, as I hate to be without something to do in the car when we take trips. :-)

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  3. I am so glad that I found your blog because your embroidered dresses for a quilt is exactly the sort of thing that I enjoy doing. Yours look just lovely. So I have ordered a copy of the pattern and look forward to starting it. I hope the embroidery instructions are nice and clear re stitches and colours. But I'll be consulting your blog a lot to see how you handled each dress. Thanks. This little discovery has made my day !

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  4. Hiya, Diamant! I'm so glad you found my blog also!

    The embroidery stitches and color suggestions are all on one, single page. They are good enough for a confident beginner, but a rank beginner might be a tad frustrated.

    I completely ignored the use of the stem/outline stitch because I can't do that one well enough to save my soul. I substituted a whipped backstitch instead, which gives the same effect but is easier for me. Similarly, feel free to substitute any stitches you like .. after all, it's YOUR embroidery! Ditto with fibers; I used other fibers than simple floss.

    The designs themselves are very clear and are easy to transfer to your base fabric.

    I am probably going to change the final layout also, as I'm not overly fond of the straight grid

    I'd be very interested in seeing your progress also!

    happy stitching!

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  5. Thanks for those comments. I see you're doing a Jane Austen quilt. Have you seen the Jane Austen's Bonnet quilt (a Brenda Ryan design). Lots of nice embroideries, all related to the Regency period. I did it last year but only every put up one photo on my blog. As yet don't have a decent picture of the whole quilt.
    http://diamant-solitaire.blogspot.com/2010/04/jane-austens-bonnet.html
    You might get interested in doing that when you finish your dresses if you're a Jane Austen fan !

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  6. oh, those embroideries are quite audacious, aren't they? :-) I'm not a fan of Jane Austen myself ... it's my middle daughter who is. Once I finish with the purple Jane Austen quilt, I dare not start another one for *her*, as her sisters might rightfully be outraged. :-)

    I see you started the first embroidery just about a year ago. Have you done any since? (asked *not quite facetiously* :-) as I do like your "professional starter" comment!) I'd love to see your progress (heh .. I bet you would also!)

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  7. Yes the quilt is finished but I don't have a decent photo of it. Next time my daughter is here I'll beg her cooperation and see if we can take a decent picture.

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