One teeny-tiny section down, dozens more to go....

Here is a hoop-size "finished" section. I'm counting "finished" as everything other than the yellow, since I still have not decided what to do about the vines. I'm trying to keep balanced by moving to opposite sides every "finished" section, as I am quickly running out of colors. Yikes!


The leaves are nice and easy and are going fairly quickly, so that is encouraging. the fabric is getting noticeably heavier with all the wools starting to bulk it up. I have not quite decided if I'm going to go back over the leaves and flowers and such with veins, I'll have to see how it all turns out when finished and check if it 'needs' them. I am kind of dissapointed in myself that I didn't trust my skills to shading. Everything is turning out totally cute, but it's much more cartoon-ish than I had originally pictured. I was kind of hoping for a more naturalistic look, but I thought that would be far too difficult. I am fairly confident that if I started over now, I would be able to pull it off semi-proficiently, but there is NO WAY IN HECK I'm going to stop this project only to start it all over again now.

I need to do some testing with the wool and silk to see what kind I'm going to use for the scrolls, and in what stitch. **ANY INPUT AND IDEAS WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED** Ahem.

I also need to do a tester coif to work out the construction, since the last thing I want to do is go into cutting and sewing without a clue. I have enough linen and lace to make a nice plain coif, so if it all works out the way I'm hoping it will, I'll have a fairly decent plainer one as well.

I've been on the lookout for gold lace, specifically the kind of lace that Val used on her smock. I don't know what it's called, or where to get it, but I want it....BAD! It's a fairly tightly-woven metallic lace (it's definately metal, it's cold to the touch, and warms up in your hand), and to my eye, it looks 'right'. I don't know if it is or not, but it surely 'looks' the part. I ordered two sizes of paillettes from Reconstructing History yesterday, and once the coif is totally completed, I'll figure out if I want to use paillettes, boullion, both, or nothing at all.

In other news:
I cannot describe the enormous amount of love and adoration I have for this ensemble......*drool!* I wants it so bad, but there is no way I'd ever do it! My work looks so amateur and childish next to this! (Well, my work *IS* amateur, and definitely beginner, and I have been accused of being childish)