Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Jewel Embellished Cuffs

Here's a photo of my lastest cuff designs. Grateful for a sunny day for a bit of picture-taking! Sunny days become a rarity in the Northeast, now that fall is here.
The cuffs are made of  clay and on top of the clay, gems are nestled in painted silk carrier rods, painted with our Rainbow Dyes.

I  recently met a costume designer and seamstress  for the Met. She had wonderful opera stories. These gems came from the opera Carmen.  The cuffs I kept for myself were too large. The cuffs are lined in Ultrasuede, but the ones I kept, are lined with  thick wool blanket pieces, that had been felted. Took up the slack beautifully.  A new addiction!

Saturday, October 8, 2011

Silk Ribbon Embroidery on Cinnamon Velvet Dress

Came across this picture while cleaning up files. With just a couple of stitches, it is easy to embellish a simple dress for this year's holiday parties. This is a purchased velvet dress, that I bought many years ago. The cut of the dress is so simple, that I continue to wear it. It's been to weddings, rolled up to fit in a suitcase and has visited the dry cleaners several times and the embroidery is surviving.  I used variegated 4mm silk ribbon from our Old Rose silk ribbon assortment pack, and created a variety of spider web roses over the front and back shoulder of the dress. I then added padded straight stitches for buds in the same ribbon. Each bud has celery green Japanese Ribbon Stitch leaves. Using gold Krienik thread, I added a straight stitch into the tip of the buds and feather stitches among silk ribbon work for a bit of sparkle. After  stitching, fuse a fusible interfacing to the inside of the dress to protect the embroidery . If any of the roses need refreshing, I swipe them with a damp cotton swab.

Sunday, October 2, 2011

A Queenly Collage

This collage was created for the queen in all of us! Now available for sale at  http://www.etsy.com/shop/OldElements

Again the base of the piece was a RibbonSmyth vintage fusible image fused on top of ivory damask. Lace pieces were layered around the image. None of the collages feature machine stitching. I think the stitches detract from the beauty of the lace. The bottom lace piece features a glass Czech gold button. French metal medallions and a French pearl, rest over lace bits on the side. In the top left corner I've added a small gold glass Czech button and a 1950's Japanese mother of pearl "deco" sew-on. At the puce (flea market) in Paris, there was one vendor that had a tent full of embellishments, beads, purse frames, everything to set a girl's heart aflutter...vintage heaven! You purchased a "goblet" (tea cup) of embellishments and paid by the goblet, which was 8 euro per goblet. I hope she still has her stand at the market.

Shabby Chic English Cottage with Feathers

This 5"x7" collage starts out with a RibbonSmyth fusible vintage image. The piece is bordered on one side with beautiful feathers and the iridescent greens and turquoise shades are not captured by the camera.  I added layers of lace around the image and finished with a Czech glass button, French metal medallions, and wood and brass buttons. The lace medallion at the bottom of the piece is beautiful. I don't know all the  names of the laces; simply have appreciation for the artistry.