I have spent the last 24 hours making French knots, lots of French knots. They are big fat French knots. They are finally all done.
The knots were made with some lovely wools gifted to me by an internet sewing angel. (You know who you are!) I am blessed to have lots and lots of colors to choose from. I used three strands of Paternayan wool and did three wraps for each knot. They are fat little belly buttons and balance the heavy collar nicely. Now I am on to doing a bit of embroidery on the flowers. Then will come the collar work. I cut some hand dyed wools, some dyed by me, some not, to do the applique work on the collar. But one step at a time, now. I figure about a week to complete the embroidery.
One thing I have learned is to not be intimidated by a needle. I picked out a large tapestry needle to accommodate the three strands of wool. Not good enough. I had to go one notch up with a huge tapestry needle otherwise it was yank city to get the thread thru the knit. So the lesson here with needles is go big or go home! It got much easier and quicker once I moved up to the HUGE size needle..
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Now that my camera is back and I have downloaded the many Christmas pictures, let me share one with you. This is my youngest daughter, Audrey, and her beautiful Sophie, the recipient of all the doll clothes. I think they are both so beautiful. Do you recognize the dress Sophie is wearing? ...Bunny
Lovely picture of your family. I do remember you posting about the dress. It looks even better on!
ReplyDeleteYour sweater is going to be so lovely! Thanks for answering my question about how stiff the paint is after setting.
Isn't that the dress you used for the tutorial on collars?
ReplyDeleteHappy photo!
Oh they are so beautiful! Sophie is like a little miniature Audrey! :) (Beautiful embroidery too.)
ReplyDeleteSuch beautiful women in your family :)
ReplyDeleteThe sweater is going to be amazing! Can't wait to see it finished.
Your daughter and granddaughter are just lovely, almost as lovely as mine! I'm going to go looking for a plain white sweater to paint, even though I can barely scratch out a stick figure person! The sweater looks to be a very original, stylish garment you can wear with pride as you know it's unique.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful knots. I love that you've used a yarn thickness and needle size that's proportionate to the flower size. It is easy to think of little french knots being worked in embroidery floss or silk, but forget the impact that a thicker yarn can have.
ReplyDeleteYes, I recognize that dress! Lovely daughter and granddaughter!
Great embellishment! It's kind of a strange coincidence that I am planning on doing the same embellishment (French knots as flower middles) on my next project, a dress for dd. Great minds think alike.
ReplyDeleteI love to see your family. I am happy to see that sophie is wearing one of your heirloom dresses
ReplyDeleteYou have a beautiful daughter and granddaughter Bunny! I am excited to see your propgress on your wearable art!
ReplyDeleteMaris
What a lovely daughter and granddaughter. Your french knots are lovely, too. Another thought--silk ribbon embroidery. I haven't done that in a long time, but looking at your painted flowers, silk ribbon would be pretty on it, too.
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful picture of you two!
ReplyDeleteThe french knots are lovely indeed, your work is so inspiring!
love to see you again...
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