Sew Dance

I promised pictures and I have them. Two at least. I'll eventually get action shots but for now you can imagine what happens when I spin. I do have long gauntlets/gloves that I wear with the dress but I forgot to put them on before taking the pictures. I had a long day at the competition, started at 10:30am didn't finish until probably 10:30pm. 61 dances, smooth and latin. Placed top 3 in all except one where I placed 4th. I'm not usually that tan and it still hasn't completely come off. And the white part of my french manicure is now a bit brown as well. I completely forgot to pick up the DVD I had asked to be taped and now will have to figure out how to get a hold of it. Overall I managed to win $600. Not anywhere near enough to cover the costs but more than I've won previously and should give my credit card a nice relief for next month. I had mentioned due to preparation for the competition, I wouldn't have much time for stitching. I was correct. Not...

The larger stones I ordered came Monday so I spent most of the week adding them to my dress. Sparkly aren't they? 16mm square Swarovski crystals in crystal AB. I spent most of the week adding them to the dress. I have a solid row at the top and bottom of the dress and skipping every other one in the middle. I did this because I didn't know if I'd have enough to fill them in completely. Turns out I did but my teacher liked it that way. He currently has the dress and gauntlets to stone (hey, he offered) and I unfortunately didn't take a picture of the dress before I gave it to him. Well, better to surprise you when it's finished. Although he's gotten it in his head for me to make another dress, same design but different colors by mid-June. Right... First I'm doing the black velvet to go with that belt I have and I still have the sparkly blue/silver sequined dress to make. Just a little under two weeks until Tri-state. Eek! Because I finished stoning the d...

This is the name of the next cross-stitch I'll be working on. I was pretty tired Thursday evening and wanted one I didn't kit myself. Thus no searching through my floss bags if I ran out. This probably won't hold my attention until its finished. I've gotten the dress finished. I cut all loose fringe that wouldn't make the overall dress look odd and hand sewed the ones that would. My square stones will hopefully arrive tomorrow and most of my night will be spent sewing those onto the dress. I really should go downstairs and finish up the gauntlets. I have them cut out but haven't quite gotten around to actually making them. Playing with my serger tension is part of it. They're mesh so the test scrap isn't running through like the lycra. I may just use my normal machine and see what happens.

The cross-stitching on Frederick is finished! All that's left now is the backstitching. That shouldn't take me too long. As this project is nearing an end, any suggestions as to which WIP I should work on next? Also, when does a WIP become a UFO? I managed to get all four sides of the fringe sewn on my dress. Tomorrow will be spent hand stitching the strands that didn't secure themselves under the needle and the top of the sides to try and get them even. May need to add extra loose fringe on one side to get them to look the same. As the new season of Dancing with the Stars will start soon (cast announced Tuesday) I will be blogging my opinion on cast, dresses, dancing, and the drama that will most certainly prevail throughout the season. The performance shows should go up that night, but as I'm dancing myself Tuesday when the results show is on, I'll post that Wednesday when I manage to watch the show. HyperSmash.com

Frederick is stitched, even if the whole design has yet to be completed. Have to finish the books and bottom shelf. Then off to the back stitching. I've also included a picture of Onyx, my little black fuzzball who happened to be laying at my feet while working tonight. As for the dress, I've taken it off my dress form and have started to sew the cut ends. This is giving me trouble. First I've been evening out the fringe. Then I cut it, then I have to take those cut ends, held together buy just one flimsy strand of thread which will unravel if pulled, and arrange it under the already stitched down part. I've done the front and back, which were even on both ends. Now I'm working on the sides. One which is going short to long, and the other long to short. And somehow I have to get them to look even. *sigh* I did order the stones I need for it today. I probably should update you on my actual dancing. We have choreography for foxtrot and Vien...

I have attached the fringe. Didn't expect it to drape down the dress like that did you? Also, you can see the back of the dress isn't nearly as puckering around the zipper as it was in my previous photos. I probably should have fixed that before adding the fringe but alas. It worked out in the end. Below are the pictures of how I'm going to drape the fringe. I was playing around with it today and did remove some of the interstitial string that you see but overall I'm still playing around with it. Then there's Frederick. I have finished page 3/4 as seen below.