a butterfly is begun

I’ve decided to hold off on the teens day dress and dive straight into the opera dress. Why beat myself up trying to design a costume when I already have fully designed projects lined up? I'd still like to make a day dress someday but for now I'll wait for the inspiration to strike.

Since I'm not making the day dress there is really no reason to make that corset cover either. It would show under the opera dress and with the built-in lining and petticoat I'm planning to add to the gown, it's unnecessary. I still need to make a decent chemise though...

Thing is, it doesn't make much sense to start work on messy toiles and things until after the draping class. One draping project at a time please! The fact that I am not actually working on any costumes (just endless quilt signatures) is starting to drive me a little loopy though. So last night I started work on the beaded butterfly.


It's taken me a little while to figure out what fabric I wanted to use. The motif eventually will be mounted to orange chiffon that has the orange "silk" underneath it. Unfortunately I don't have enough of the chiffon to use for this (I will have to be creative just to get the tunic out of it). I thought about using the orange silk underneath but in the end I decided upon some winter white silk twill. I didn't like what the orange did to the color of the beads, it made them blend and a bit drab. The white on the other hand made the colors stand out and pop a bit more, especially the silver lined ones. The white shouldn't show in the end either.

It's been a while since I've had a beading project and I am thoroughly enjoying myself with this one. I don't as yet have the blue beads but as it's best to work from the center out anyway, I have plenty to do before I have to worry about it. I found some light blue beads that I like but the medium blue are proving elusvie. I have one more place to check locally and then I'll have to start looking online. I'm really too picky! :P

Oh yes and my lj has a new look. I don't know how long it will last but I felt like a change... :>

Oooh... it's snowing again. We had snow and sleet last night so it's quite pretty out. The dark tree branches of our woods are all coated with a thick layer of white crystals. Maybe I'll take some pics later to post. I'm hoping a meeting I'm supposed to be at this afternoon is canceled. It's pretty out but I don't particually want to go out driving in it! Curling up with my beading and some Earl Grey sounds much more fun. :>