Ta Daaa!...

I want to begin this post by sharing the photograph I received of the bride's bouquet. My niece told me that the bouquet will look exactly like this one. It's silks, so I trusted her assessment. Isn't it gorgeous? My task was to try to create a finished embroidery equal to this bouquet. As you know, that bit hanging from the bottom was a bit vexing, but I think MA and I came up with the solution.

 

I took this photograph in daylight once it was complete and framed.  I stretched into a new hoop and then secured the back, covering it with a beautiful blue felt and the frame backer. This is a closeup of all my stitches.

 

 

This is the photograph I'll be using as one of the images for a listing in my etsy shop for future embroideries. It also shows you just how perfect the frame is for the monogram. 

I sure hope my nephew and his bride love the finished piece. I'll get photos of the newlyweds later today to share next week. Time to go. I'm off to a wedding!

 

Making Templates...

 

Something else I've been doing.  I shared the source for my floral alphabet letters before, but I can tell you again. The book/leaflet is is printed in Italian and English, called "In A Wheat Field" by Elisabetta Sforza.

I've been tracing the letters onto vellum to use later. I don't copy the designs as traced, but they serve as a starting point, as you'll see tomorrow when I share my recently completed wedding piece. These letters are approximately 5" tall, but they're wonderfully lush when complete.

I can't wait to share the finished wedding monogram with you tomorrow. It's going to be a fun weekend for our family. See you tomorrow. Happy Friday!

Monogram Embroidery Complete...

I worked on this all day Sunday and finally completed it. There are no fewer than 24 hours of embroidery time into this monogram, and I did make adjustments along the way. (That means there was some frogging involved in the process.)

MA - I had the same issues with that green, as it did seem out of place for the rest of the colors, so I took your advice. Even though it has a larger roll in the actual bouquet, I only used the yellow/green for French knots (seen here in the curve on the lower right side) for the upper right and lower left curves.

I'm going to frame it today, and then I'll be in the kitchen baking bread. I'll share the photograph of the actual bouquet and the framed wedding monogram on Saturday (their wedding day), so I don't spill the entire surprise before their big day.

I'll be adding listings for "Something Blue" brooches to my Etsy shop this week, and I'm hoping to begin embroidery on a new goldwork piece. I've designed two different Corgi brooches, and am anxious to see if my needlework measures up to my vision.

As I said, it's baking day today, but I'll begin work on something new while Handsome is at rehearsal. Yes, it's Monday, so I know I've got that right this week. lol

Monogram Embroidery Day Three...

Day Three began by removing the vines from the top of the "N". Straight away I knew I'd made the right decision. I reworked it into the lower right side of the monogram below the roses, using a single thread. Much better.

This is how far I progressed before I had to get ready to leave for work. There's more to do, but I won't get back to it until Sunday as I work again today. I'm looking forward to getting back to it on our day of rest. 

I hope you're having a nice weekend. The weather is supposed to be beautiful around here. In fact, customers came in last night who said they were heading to the campground to open up their camper for the first weekend getaway of the season. Made me miss having our Airstream...a lot!

I'll be back with more progress on Monday. Who knows how far I'll get by then? What do you think of the change I made? Better?

Monogram Embroidery Day Two ...

I actually like photographing my embroidery progress because I can better assess things than when I'm holding it in my hand.

This is where I am so far, and I'm thinking the vine-y bits at the top of the monogram are too heavy-handed, so I'm going to remove those today and re-do them. At this point, they draw my eye away from the more delicate florals and leaves below them. They're not the stars of this piece, so I have to take them down a peg or two.

This represents about twelve hours of embroidering, and I know I have more than a few hours left. I'll frog the vines first, and then proceed with more of my design. 

I work this evening, so my stitching will be done during the day today. I'll share updated progress photos tomorrow. What do you think so far?

Getting Started...

I contacted my niece (mom of the groom-to-be) to see if she knew what the colors would be in the bride's bouquet. She actually sent a photograph of what they've chosen, so I could pull colors to begin my embroidery. Some of these threads are silks, and the rest are cotton. There are also some embellishments I may or may not use. I'll decide once I get the needlework finished. 

I'd love to show you the photograph of the bouquet, but I can't do that at this point. I don't want to ruin the surprise for the wedding couple. I will share it with you later, after the piece is done - or after the wedding. Wouldn't it be best to show the bride carrying it? I think so, too.

After all the colors were selected, I pulled a beautiful piece of white linen as my ground fabric. It's actually a tight weave, but I've enlarged this to show the beginning of my embroidery work, so it looks more open than it actually is.

You know what I'll be doing all day today (while I also run back and forth to the washing machine and dryer...laundry day). We'll see just how much progress I can make. I don't work again until Friday evening, so I have a lot of time to sit and stitch. I want to make some good headway so you can get a feel for the finished piece. I'll have more to show you tomorrow.