Paint, Beads, and Fringe

The native-inspired outfit is coming along nicely, albeit slowly. Working with soft chamois is a bit of a challenge, and I don't do it often enough to remember things I should and should not be doing.  Like what needles and settings to use on the sewing machine.  It didn't work at all to use the special leather needle, nor did it work sewing with the leather layer on the bottom and the cotton lining on top.  So after a lot of frustration with skipped stitches, thread breaking, and generally making a big mess, I switched to a stretch needle, and then it worked just fine. Then when pressing the lining after it had been sewn onto the leather, and turned right-side-out, the steam from the iron totally shrank and crimped up the chamois. I had thought I'd turned off the steam, but I guess I didn't. So I had to start completely over. Fortunately by the second bodice, all the trials and tribulations of working with leather were still fresh on my mind, so the second bodice materialized in a much more orderly, less stressful fashion. 

One thing I do remember from the last fringed outfit, is that the fringe constantly kept getting in the way while doing the painting, beadwork and sewing, so I opted to not cut the fringe this time. 

I stained the leather a bit with diluted yellow ochre and brown paint. Then painted all the designs. Now I'm working on the beading, and am slowly starting to cut some of the fringe as a section  of beading is completed. The fringe looks very pale and 'new' right now, but will get stained and crumpled to look more authentic, like the bits of fringe at centre top. Those strips will get sewn onto the bodice front and around the skirt along with the beading. Right now I'm working with everything in pieces, as it's way easier to paint and bead on a flat surface.