Waiting For Spring - #2

Catching Up - The Gold Trim

Whenever I start a project like this and I'm not quite sure if something will work or even what I'm going to do, I make up a sample. For the me, it's all about taking the dozens of ideas that float through my head and see if they work at all, and if they do, if I like them. I try everything I think will work, in every thread, possible stitch, possible thread tension, color combo and beads. Here's a test piece for the vest:

What I'm mainly working on here is the gold trim. I wanted to use three pieces of thin gold cord and have them stitched down decoratively, plus possibly work in some beads. I tried all sort of stuff, but in the end used stitch #46 from my machine. It's purpose besides being decorative is to couch down three cords at once:

To stitch all three at once and get them evenly fed through the machine, I use a cording foot. The cording foot not only has grooves on the top of the foot to feed the cords through, but also underneath so that they stay in place while the foot moves over them. The foot I have works best with 1, 2, or 3 cords, but you can purchase them for various numbers of cords.

What did I decide? Pink and green thread with the gold cord looked weird, even with beads. The gold thread worked beautifully, blending in with the cord so that you really don't see the stitching. The gold thread is a product by Superior, called Glitter. It's not really a thread, but a very thin, flat, holographic ribbon. Holoshimmer by Sulky is a similar product - the green quilting is actually Sulky Holoshimmer. I decided the pink beads would add just the right amount of extra color I was looking for. You can see them below. They're attached with Nymo D, with a running stitch, evenly spaced by using the staggered stitching as a guide. This part of the beading works up very quickly. Thankfully. (I'm still working on the dangles!)


Parting Shot: You know you sew *way* too much when your six year old son comes to dinner with a green thread on his shirt.

For right now, it's beading and more beading. Tomorrow I'm going to get that photo shoot done. Other important things like grocery shopping and laundry pushed the photo shoot off for another day.