Jacobean Symphony Continued

As the year comes to an end, I find myself hurried and panicked in trying to finish up coming collections as well as prepare for two trunk shows and hands on classes…not to mention packing for the trip to Florida. I do feel great thinking about Florida though…warm temperatures and sunshine…please be there.

Coming up with different ideas for Jacobean Symphony, I found myself embroidering the designs upon sheer fabrics. As this is still the holiday season (New Year Parties yet to come) I decided I might as well concentrate in creating something that would work out not just for the holidays but throughout the year. With that in mind, I selected black chiffon. The Jacobean designs have several colors and I just could not bring myself to changing the bobbin thread to match with the top thread. That let out the idea of the front and back of the chiffon being the same. Well, but not if you use black bobbin thread and then self line the shawl with chiffon….that worked great although I did have to hand baste the layers so they wouldn’t shift while I finished the edges.

As far as the edges were concerned, my first temptation had been to use the fringe designs from Marrakesh but as the Tambour Lace Trims were just about finished, I decided to use them instead. What a difference! As the trims give off an effect of beads hanging in air, the trim simply polished up the embroideries beautifully. The complete shawl was embroidered using water soluble vilene (from http://www.pointetopointe.com/ ). The shawl actually creates a whole outfit by itself and due to the multitudes of colors in the embroidery can be used with just about any color outfit, whether it be a dress or slacks with blouse or sweater.

To finish up the holiday look, ofcourse I had to create a matching bag. I must say this took me a while to decide as to which pattern I wanted to create. My final choice was the Rose purse pattern by Carolyn at http://www.creativeneedlecraft.com/  The embroideries took about two hours and the bag itself took less than an hour, a great pattern to make in a jiffy. My first choice in selection of fabric  had been to use the same chiffon fabric self lined but as I wanted the bag to have a bit of body, I selected raw silk for it. A word about raw silk, if you are going to use it and use it for items to wear which must be either laundered or drycleaned, do take a bit of time to hand wash it. This actually helps the silk fibers and makes it more durable.

The rose purse is perfect in size and shape for evening wear.   I’m still debating whether to adorn the bag and shawl with Swaroski crystals or bugle beads…will have to think about that a bit yet. I had planned on using the same Tambour Lace trim on the bag but had to change my mind as it tend to clutter it too much. I may make another to match with another shawl that I have created using only the Tambour Lace Trim designs.

Tone on tone or one color really creates a very sophisticated look and gives a formal or informal look depending upon what you are looking for. With that in mind I created another long shawl using only the designs from the Tambour Lace trims collection. The trims collection started out as being just trims but somehow they ooked extremely empty so I created simplistic designs that had an insertion type look as well as some meandering border embroidery designs. Using water soluble vilene as the stabilizer I embroidered the designs on either edge of the shawl and then added the trim to the edges on both sides. The long sides were rolled hemmed on the serger. To attach the laces, one can use a zigzag stitch on the machine, however, I realised that there are several other options that can be used to attach laces to fabric, especially sheer fabrics. One of these stitch is like a ladder stitch only it is more squarish than round. It almost gives the look of a zipper teeth. With water soluble vilene placed under the lace and the fabric, one can carefully do a straight stitch with every other stitch going out to the sides attaching the fabric on one side and the lace on the other. The effect is quite lovely and if a wing needle is used on linen, the effect is almost hand look work.

To test out the Jacobean Symphony designs in a monocolor setting, I selected white and light beige as my colors. The designs came out looking quite regal, however, I had to question myself on the design aspect of the pillowcase edge. The only salvation that I could see was that in future I must make the edge of the pillowcase the same all the way around otherwise it looks rather odd, at least to me, with the front longer than the backside.

Both the collections, Jacobean Symphony and Tambour Lace trims are completed and will be released at my shows first in Florida (do see my schedule page to see where I will be: http://www.sadiasews.com/schedule2008.html ) and will be released on website around the middle of January upon my return. As the first releases sort of set the trend for the year for me….I’m not sure what to think with these two, LOL. They are quite different yet do compliment each other quite well.

Thinking outside the box has always intrigued and motivated me. One of my Christmas gifts to myself was to purchase some extraordinary linens from Susan Mars of http://www.allaboutblanks.com/  LOL…okay, yes, I do indulge myself in giving myself gifts… One of the items I purchased is a white cotton linen runner. What intrigued me about the runner was its elaborate entredeux border. Not only is it amazingly different, I found that it worked perfectly with some of the designs from the Tambour Lace trims collection. Using cotton thread, I embroidered the two ends and the center of the runner. To finish off the runner, I selected one of the 1/2″ trims to attach via the ladder stitch all around. The final look was amazing, even to my eyes. I could just see the same linens coming out of my mother’s linen trunks. Do have a visit at Susan’s website and check out some of her new items…I have several more ideas in using some more items and will post pictures later on.

As this might be my last post for the year 2007 I wish Happy New Year to all my friends around the world. May the New Year bring happiness to all of you. Hugs to all, Sadia