I just got home after church, lunch, and a couple of errands, and I'm leaving in 1.5 hours for a concert. Whew!  I think instead of trying to cut out the Lost Hope dress today, I'll just work on beading. Some of the outlines for beading are tricky, and my own pattern really is a best-guess interpretation. I kind of want to fight that out to my best ( Read more... )

I will not have a fully completed robe de style for the Gala ( Read more... )

I'm nearly done with the front bodice piece! I got up this morning and scalped the lawn so it won't grow too much while I'm gone. Got to avoid the baby mockingbird who was having flying lessons - he kept hiding in the tall grass. You know, the part that needed mowed the most. At least his mama was always around, so I wasn't really afraid of missing ( Read more... )

This past weekend, I drove down to visit Bro. No. 2 and sister-in-law H. in the Greater Houston area. They were kind enough to indulge me in my continued work on the robe de style, but we did other things as well so I hope I wasn't too boring or demanding a guest. :)  We played a card game (Phase 10, I think?) and watched Kung Fu Panda, and then ( Read more... )

I'm beginning to suspect I'll be beading a lot while yet on this dress. In the meantime, here are some process pictures and discussion.

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I'm taking 20 minutes away from beading because I can't stand not sharing the shiny.

Back waist, finished, except for the partial motifs on the ends where the side seams will be.


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... but the back neckline piece is also finished, and I put the front bodice piece in the hoop, ready to go. I'm on track to finish if I do nothing else; outside commitments are minimal at this point in the summer, though. So I may be able to go into Sewing Hermit mode this week.

I'm nearly finished beading the back waist piece. It's going steadily, and I'm having so much fun. And it's so pretty! The silver-lined beads sparkle beautifully against the dark background. I'm going to keep honing the technique for tracing, but it's working rather well. The biggest issue is finding a good position. It's hard to work off my lap, ( Read more... )

Let's see... I got everything done for the picnic, yay! Dang, except food. Totally forgot that until just now. I guess I'll get something on the way home from church ( Read more... )

I'm still waiting for the smaller pearls to arrive. I cleaned out their stock! They had 300 less than I ordered! I tried to over-order, so I should be okay, but that amuses me ( Read more... )