I've finished the beading along the edge of the blue lace, and have completed two rows of flower petals along the top edge of the ruffle. The purple velvet petals are from a fancy Christmas Hydrangea which was purchased the same year as the blue poinsettias. It's so nice to still have enough left-over trims from the original costume. There's still one more row of flower petals to go, and then I have to bead the edge of the ribbon which will be sewn into puffs to fill the space between the petals and the blue lace. (*Note: the safety pin is marking center front of the skirt)
Today is "Robinson Crusoe Day", and that's one of Nami's favourite stories.... Nami loves adventure, so can picture herself adrift in a life boat.... ...but on Robinson Crusoe Day, we are supposed to imagine what it would be like to be stranded on an island. "Is that a boat out there in the distance? I sure hope so!!"
The first layer of embellishment is now on the underskirt. I hand-stitched on the fancy blue lace - first sewing along the bottom edge, an inch above the ruffle, and then all the way around again tacking down everything on the fancy upper edge. The work went very slow, as handwork always does - it took over three hours! Hand-sewing is very labour-intensive, and this is just the very beginning. I've gathered all the trims and beads that need to go on the underskirt. There's three different petals from Christmas Hydrangeas, purchased the same year as the blue poinsettias. They will all only go on the front half, as there's no point putting all that detail work into something that will never show. The first step will be to bead the lace which I just sewed on. Then I can start sewing on the flower petals, working from the bottom up, one layer at a time, like building a very elaborate old-fashioned wedding cake.
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AuthorMartha Boers is an award-winning Canadian doll maker and costumer specializing in fantasy and historical-style costumes. Archives
May 2024
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