Making decisions and dealing with setbacks.
Back to LJ for this post, as my current host seems to be having MySql issues so I have no main blog today. It's been acting oddly since yesterday, but hopefully the folks there will have it back up and running soon. I just hope I have a blog to return to. (Edit: main blog has returned ok)
Anyway, back to the Laureling short gown project. I'm still waiting on samples from the UK, so I've turned focus on what to do for the embroidery. I spent yesterday measuring the gown edges, doing math for figuring out how many repeats of the pattern I'll need, which leads to how many pearls and garnets I would need to buy ... and OMG! after redoing the math (I'd forgotten the skirt sides x4), it was over 4,000 pearls!
Uh, no, not going to happen. Yes, I want a great gown, but even with my team of mostly inexperienced local helpers, or maybe a weekend with two great laurels helping, that would take too much time - no matter the skill it still takes time. And cost way too much in actual pearls or beads.
So, I refigured what it would take to do the main pattern in a different way, and dropped 1,000 pearls. Still would cost a lot. So, rethinking things, I realized that I really wanted the main design on the front of the gown at the neckline, with the smaller repeats around the neck. The rest of the gown simply will have the original repeating interlace motif, and have only 4 pearls per repeat (instead of the original 30-40) and a garnet. That brought it down to a reasonable amount of pearls and garnets, and should be doable in the next two months.
(For those who may tell me that this is a special gown, and hence should go balls to the wall special money for making it a special gown, well, I didn't even do that much bling on my wedding gown. Of course that time I only had 2 weeks to make a special dress, and only had myself and my mom to work on it. I'd rather spend the money on a pretty fabric, if I can find said pretty fabric.)
Today after having slept through on the topic, and found it to still be a sound idea, I went ahead and bought the amount of pearls I needed, and also splurged and got nicer pearls (just up 1 grade) for the neckline area (only 3 strands needed there).
I then went to Joanns today to get some marking pencils and pens to try out on the silk organza. 1 is a marking pencil lead in white that will work decently (I just have to hunt down the original mechanical pencil holder that has the yellow), 1 was a sewing marker that rinses away (but requires multiple passes to get a clear enough mark), and 1 is a gel pen in white ink, found in the scrapbooking section. Of the three, the gel pen is the clearest. I have no fear now of using ink, as the planned cord is wide enough to fully cover it. I just have to make no or minimal mistakes in marking the lines.
So then I came home (after the kid's dentist appointment) to order the B&J 371 wire in dark gold, as I have one roll, but I need at least two more to make up enough twists. And that's when I ran into problems. Seems the supplier I turn to for most things in metal threads, Hedgehog Handworks, is on vacation, as of yesterday! and won't return for shipping products until the 13th of next month!!!
And that's what shut me down tonight. Now I'm looking at all options, including the rather cheap stuff on amazon (at least it is a twisted metallic cord and 100 yards a roll), to buying much smaller rolls (15 meters vs 180 meters) and far more of them, which gets way too expensive, to ordering embroidery twists, which come in 5 meter pieces (again, will take a lot and be expensive). Ordering this from the UK directly will take 10 business days to make, plus time & money shipping (and I'd have to order a minimum I think that is more than I want). I had planned on making my own twists as the cheaper option, and bought a twist machine already that works pretty decently. But that cheap option is looking tempting, as the stuff is already twisted as a cord, is all metallic threads, and the right size (1mm). Why I couldn't find it when I went looking for this stuff the first time a few months ago, I don't know. It does make the twisting machine a waste of money, but the twist quality looks decent (hard to tell from the photo).
So, now I ponder on which to order. There is a part of me that feels I should up my nose at the cheap stuff, because it is cheap. But I was planning on cheaper to begin with, and not real gold, as I don't want it to tarnish in only a few months/years (and seeing how my current real gold items are turning already, yeah, not something I want really).
I guess I'll sleep on it, and maybe see what eowyna finds on Friday. I've at least enough of the wire to start with the project, and if I switch to twisted cords, it will be elsewhere on the outfit, with a different pattern, so it will look intentional, sorta. And I know of at least one extant doublet where embroidery patterns and materials differed, and in the same area, so there is historical precedent.
Anyway, back to the Laureling short gown project. I'm still waiting on samples from the UK, so I've turned focus on what to do for the embroidery. I spent yesterday measuring the gown edges, doing math for figuring out how many repeats of the pattern I'll need, which leads to how many pearls and garnets I would need to buy ... and OMG! after redoing the math (I'd forgotten the skirt sides x4), it was over 4,000 pearls!
Uh, no, not going to happen. Yes, I want a great gown, but even with my team of mostly inexperienced local helpers, or maybe a weekend with two great laurels helping, that would take too much time - no matter the skill it still takes time. And cost way too much in actual pearls or beads.
So, I refigured what it would take to do the main pattern in a different way, and dropped 1,000 pearls. Still would cost a lot. So, rethinking things, I realized that I really wanted the main design on the front of the gown at the neckline, with the smaller repeats around the neck. The rest of the gown simply will have the original repeating interlace motif, and have only 4 pearls per repeat (instead of the original 30-40) and a garnet. That brought it down to a reasonable amount of pearls and garnets, and should be doable in the next two months.
(For those who may tell me that this is a special gown, and hence should go balls to the wall special money for making it a special gown, well, I didn't even do that much bling on my wedding gown. Of course that time I only had 2 weeks to make a special dress, and only had myself and my mom to work on it. I'd rather spend the money on a pretty fabric, if I can find said pretty fabric.)
Today after having slept through on the topic, and found it to still be a sound idea, I went ahead and bought the amount of pearls I needed, and also splurged and got nicer pearls (just up 1 grade) for the neckline area (only 3 strands needed there).
I then went to Joanns today to get some marking pencils and pens to try out on the silk organza. 1 is a marking pencil lead in white that will work decently (I just have to hunt down the original mechanical pencil holder that has the yellow), 1 was a sewing marker that rinses away (but requires multiple passes to get a clear enough mark), and 1 is a gel pen in white ink, found in the scrapbooking section. Of the three, the gel pen is the clearest. I have no fear now of using ink, as the planned cord is wide enough to fully cover it. I just have to make no or minimal mistakes in marking the lines.
So then I came home (after the kid's dentist appointment) to order the B&J 371 wire in dark gold, as I have one roll, but I need at least two more to make up enough twists. And that's when I ran into problems. Seems the supplier I turn to for most things in metal threads, Hedgehog Handworks, is on vacation, as of yesterday! and won't return for shipping products until the 13th of next month!!!
And that's what shut me down tonight. Now I'm looking at all options, including the rather cheap stuff on amazon (at least it is a twisted metallic cord and 100 yards a roll), to buying much smaller rolls (15 meters vs 180 meters) and far more of them, which gets way too expensive, to ordering embroidery twists, which come in 5 meter pieces (again, will take a lot and be expensive). Ordering this from the UK directly will take 10 business days to make, plus time & money shipping (and I'd have to order a minimum I think that is more than I want). I had planned on making my own twists as the cheaper option, and bought a twist machine already that works pretty decently. But that cheap option is looking tempting, as the stuff is already twisted as a cord, is all metallic threads, and the right size (1mm). Why I couldn't find it when I went looking for this stuff the first time a few months ago, I don't know. It does make the twisting machine a waste of money, but the twist quality looks decent (hard to tell from the photo).
So, now I ponder on which to order. There is a part of me that feels I should up my nose at the cheap stuff, because it is cheap. But I was planning on cheaper to begin with, and not real gold, as I don't want it to tarnish in only a few months/years (and seeing how my current real gold items are turning already, yeah, not something I want really).
I guess I'll sleep on it, and maybe see what eowyna finds on Friday. I've at least enough of the wire to start with the project, and if I switch to twisted cords, it will be elsewhere on the outfit, with a different pattern, so it will look intentional, sorta. And I know of at least one extant doublet where embroidery patterns and materials differed, and in the same area, so there is historical precedent.