Bows, Fringe and a whole lot of piping.
I'v made some really good progress of the tirmings for my ballgown. I finished 26 yards of embroidered piping, all of the bow bits are finished , and the fringe is applied to the bow ends. All I have left is to decoratively knot the fringe, and assemble all of the bow components together. Later I will have to make more bows (For the sleeves/shoulders) but I want to wait so I can get the scale just right. Sadly I start school again tomorrow, so I am not going to have nice big chunks of time to sit and work on it anymore.
This picture is roughly what the finished project will look like:
Piping:
On the recommendation of Chloeandrudy I used sugar and cream yarn to get a nice very fine piping. I cut bias stripes of my taffeta, assembled it all into piping and then sat for very very long time and embroidered it all with a simple running stitch. The first batch I did (18 yards) was just enough for all of the bow parts so I did a second batch of 8 yards for the dress bodice and smaller bows later on. Very serendipitous moment, when I tallied it all it all up I learned It took me 26 hours to make 26 yards of piping!
Bows:
For the bows I am following the tutorial koshka_the_cat posted here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/76452380@N00/5124635440/in/set-72157625262662302
The bows are interfaced on the inside for a little extra body, as are the tails which I am making separately. All together their will be six large bows, three for each side of the skirt. The shoulder bows are going to be very similar, just smaller. I am glad I decided to make all that extra piping for the bows, it really makes the edge pop an adds something to what would have otherwise been a really plain taffeta bow.
Fringe:
The fringe is being made in colors to match the Lampas, specifically DMC floss #0126, #0522, #30033, #3752, #3822. I shopped around until I found the cheapest place: http://everythingcrossstitch.com/cross-stitch-floss-mrt-t62.aspx?gclid=CLuA6frdz6sCFQdzgwod4TwMVQ and then proceeded to buy 64 skeins of floss. I think I may have slightly over bought on the accent colors, but at 50 cents a skein that's not too bad.
To actually do the flossing I pinned the pieces to my ironing board and used the 1/4" inch marks as a guide. I used a simple loop knot, since the fringe is going to be knotted later and it doesn't need to be super secure. After applying the initial fringe on the 1/4" marks I went back in and added more. The knotting is going to probably be every 1/4" like I did in the sample above and then trimmed a little. When I did my sample I found I lost 1/4-3/8" lengh per layer of knots,
In one of the reference pictures I have it almost looks as if they used metal crimps of breads in place of knotting. I have considered this, but havn't really looked into it yet. I have been so focused on just getting the fringe attached. Once I finish I will tally up how much time it has taken to do all twelve bow ends. I imagine it is a lot!
This picture is roughly what the finished project will look like:
Piping:
On the recommendation of Chloeandrudy I used sugar and cream yarn to get a nice very fine piping. I cut bias stripes of my taffeta, assembled it all into piping and then sat for very very long time and embroidered it all with a simple running stitch. The first batch I did (18 yards) was just enough for all of the bow parts so I did a second batch of 8 yards for the dress bodice and smaller bows later on. Very serendipitous moment, when I tallied it all it all up I learned It took me 26 hours to make 26 yards of piping!
Bows:
For the bows I am following the tutorial koshka_the_cat posted here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/76452380@N00/5124635440/in/set-72157625262662302
The bows are interfaced on the inside for a little extra body, as are the tails which I am making separately. All together their will be six large bows, three for each side of the skirt. The shoulder bows are going to be very similar, just smaller. I am glad I decided to make all that extra piping for the bows, it really makes the edge pop an adds something to what would have otherwise been a really plain taffeta bow.
Fringe:
The fringe is being made in colors to match the Lampas, specifically DMC floss #0126, #0522, #30033, #3752, #3822. I shopped around until I found the cheapest place: http://everythingcrossstitch.com/cross-stitch-floss-mrt-t62.aspx?gclid=CLuA6frdz6sCFQdzgwod4TwMVQ and then proceeded to buy 64 skeins of floss. I think I may have slightly over bought on the accent colors, but at 50 cents a skein that's not too bad.
To actually do the flossing I pinned the pieces to my ironing board and used the 1/4" inch marks as a guide. I used a simple loop knot, since the fringe is going to be knotted later and it doesn't need to be super secure. After applying the initial fringe on the 1/4" marks I went back in and added more. The knotting is going to probably be every 1/4" like I did in the sample above and then trimmed a little. When I did my sample I found I lost 1/4-3/8" lengh per layer of knots,
In one of the reference pictures I have it almost looks as if they used metal crimps of breads in place of knotting. I have considered this, but havn't really looked into it yet. I have been so focused on just getting the fringe attached. Once I finish I will tally up how much time it has taken to do all twelve bow ends. I imagine it is a lot!