Plugging Along

Well, I still have the rest of the week off work but the spring semester has started back up for me so I have been listening to a little Criminal Law text while embroidering this bodice. (I never usually get my books online, but they were so much cheaper, we're giving it a shot. Not sure it's really for me, though It's convenient to be able to listen to them, I guess, but I'm not one to listen to books to begin with.)

Listening to my Criminal Law textbook while embroidering the bodice of the Ditsy Dress.

I have already begun a catalog of all the things I would have done differently if I were to do this again, though. Unfortunately, that's the real downside to a time-intensive embroidery piece for me. I have plenty of time to regret my decisions!

In the interest of helping future me and possibly you too, I am cataloging them here.

1. I would have taken the time to draw out a larger repeating pattern than three motifs. Or I would have asked for help from a friend who is good at graphic design. Or even my daughter. My impatience here is a big mistake that has cost me a lot of time and insecurity over the spacing of these flowers. I think in the end it will look fine as it is being worn and I want it to look handcrafted, but it is still causing me a fair amount of regret. (I included a picture below -- you can see how I have had to hack together different little pieces of the motif in order to make it even remotely well-spaced which would have been avoided with a more uniform design.)

   
   

   

   Piecing together little pieces to make the spacing of the design work.

2. I would not have started at the bottom of the bodice. In this case, I should have just thought about it harder. I am really going to have to play with the spacing along the top to ensure it looks even, which is going to be a huge pain in the butt in a few days when I get to that part. I do think this kind of goes back to my mistake in the design step, as had I started with one piece of design that spanned at least 8-10 inches, I think I would have been more inclined to start it along the bust. But I started with a small piece with about twelve florets on it and I just stuck it on the bottom and called it a day and so now here we are.

   
   

3. I should have chosen a different design entirely. Now, okay, this is part of the process for me. I am learning how long it will take me to embroider a piece this large as typically my handwork has involved display pieces and was heavily influenced by cross stitch. So honestly, I couldn't have known this, and I actually still really like the look of this and think it will be quite beautiful when worn. But if I had it to do over again, I think I would have done a couched cord cross-section over the whole thing, creating a diamond pattern, and only put little flower motifs in every other box or so, maybe alternating with pearls. I would like to do this kind of classic pattern one day in the future anyway, so I'm sure I'll get a shot. But I would also likely be much further along if I had done this. I might also have realized that had I, again, taken the time to draw this out fully before committing to it.

I did start adding the blue and yellow and I think, unfortunately, the yellow French knots only emphasize my spacing problem. That said, they will be easy to remove if I decide I hate them in the end. I think it will ultimately be a matter of how it reads from a distance for me, which I am still really bad at gauging.

The final colors added to the ditsy design.

I also have spent some time thinking about our next potential project based on the portrait of Catherine Carey I shared last time. I've been doodling some motifs but my biggest concern on that particular dress is the collar. Honestly, the large Tudor collar is one of my least favorite elements of the style, but I know they are ultimately unavoidable -- especially since I would like to eventually do a strict reproduction dress. To that end, I got myself some reading material...

Some preliminary study materials on needle lace.

I glanced around at different options for lacework and ultimately I chose needle lace over bobbin lace as I think it will be easier for me to learn than bobbin lace. That said, I still wish I had someone to sit with me for a few hours and help me get the basics down. Learning things like this from a book or video isn't always the easiest method for me. I am sure I will procrastinate any attempt to start practicing for several months out of fear. 😂 But hopefully, having them setting there will keep it in the back of my mind and I'll leaf through them and read bits and pieces over the next several months and let it percolate in the back parts of my brain until I have some time to screw around with it in the summer.