More Accessories

Remember waaaaay back November of last year, when I was going to do this for Candlemas 2012, and the project shat itself and failed in every possible way?

Well, not in every way - the green linen gown part actually worked really well, just not the sleeve fabric, the timing, the accessories, or the entire look as a whole.  SIGH.

Well, the pomegranate fabric rides again, as it turns out.  In two ways.  The first of which is a pouch I cut out waaaay back in like January of this year, and have been embroidering off and on all year long (because I keep losing the pieces, because I'm THAT organized).





My progress so far:

All I'm doing is outlining the print that's already there.  I thought it would be a nice serious embroidery project for a beginner - lots of work, but only a few, simple stitches, on a paint-by-numbers sort of background.  Good practice.

It's certainly working, too.  Since I keep losing the pieces and not working on them for a few weeks (or months) at a time, I can really see the difference between my early work and my recent work.

The front and back are interchangeable at this point.  Just trying to decide which I like better.  I think this one for the front.

I have to say, I understand now why I misunderstood the color of this fabric when I ordered it from the website.  It looked off-white with a red/pink design on the screen, but when I got it, it was decidedly a wheaty yellow in person, and I could NOT figure out why it was such a huge difference.  Can't people take good photos?!

Holy CRAP this stuff is hard to photograph and color-correct, though!  If I get the reds right, the background looks white.  If I get the background right, the reds look either dull and dark, or over-saturated and in-your-face, depending on the lighting!

I learned how to do French Knots this week!!!  :D

This is a good shot of the three different reds I'm using so far:  a dark Mulberry, a medium Pomegranate-y color, and a bright Strawberry color.  I love the depth.

There's going to be green, and possibly some gold, in the design, too, by the time I'm done with it.

This loopy business, which is basically just a variety of chain stitch, is just about my favorite part so far.  I love the way it looks and feels.  And it's period!  I'm trying to keep all my stitches as period as possible.

The French Knots are stretching that a bit, but they're pretty, so :P

Those chain loops were often used to fill in blocks of color in period embroidery.  It was usually more nicely done than I've accomplished, though, LOL.  I'm new.

This is a great example of why it's bad that I keep losing this projects and finding it again.  I did this to the one single leaf on the "back" of the pouch;  turns out there are TWO of them on the "front", and now I either have to do it all over again - twice! - or unpick this one and try something else.  Yeesh.

This is probably the closest these pictures get to the true colors in the fabric and thread.

I love these little flowers so much. :)

Some of the color variation, and some finished and unfinished parts.

This X or cross fill inside the centers of these opening buds - while lopsidedly and inexpertly executed - were inspired by this easy, period, all-over fill stitch that I found via Pinterest.  I really wish I had made the Xs smaller and more numerous.  Considering taking them out and doing them over...except I've done *five* of these buds, which are 2" across each!

I'm not really in a hurry to finish this, because it's a GREAT project to sit around doing at events when I need some handsbusy.   But when it's done, it'll be a belt pouch.  I have a red linen lining for it, some red tassels and gold beads to affix to the bottom corners and center point, but that's about as far as I've gotten.

And, dangnabbit, for such a self-proclaimed hater of embroidery, this is REALLY FUN!  And it has me wanting to make a second one when this is done, on plain white fabric, with my own design.  Because I'm insane.

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