Bluebird of Happiness - Coat - Part XXV

The Borders - Phase 9, Part 2 aka Back to Beading

This is one of the most exciting parts of the work that I do - the part where it all comes together! Today you will get to see what I have been working towards with all these phases of work on the borders.

Now that all the edges are finished properly inside and out, it is time to attach the two pieces. Again, there is a moment of slight panic when the pieces are abutted for the first time. You never know if you've traced or sewn or clipped enough when turning! Thankfully, it is all good. Once the pieces are position properly and pinned, they are loosely basted together. The basting needs to keep the pieces aligned, yet have enough space (about 1/8" to 1/4") for the beads to be attached.

The beads and the stitching to attach them are the only things holding this border to the coat. I'm following the gold decorative stitching to add each bead; a bead goes on the edge where the is a valley in the stitching so that these gold beads visually alternate with the cream ones. These are the same size 8 seed beads that I used on the other edge of the border. (Yes, the higher the size number of the bead, the smaller the bead actually is.)

The basic procedure is to bring the needle up in the left side edge and pick up a bead:

Next, stitch down into the right side edge and back into the left side, under the bead. Repeat at the same bead - for strength.

Put needle back down into fabric at the left side and come up at the next place a bead needs to be stitched.

Repeat whole procedure. About - you know the drill - a thousand times. Yeah, not hard, not exciting if you think about the repetition of it all. Once in a while, I'll pull out some of the basting (which is removed at the end, anyway) and stand back and take a look. Now that's exciting - actually seeing the progress. It is enough to keep me inspired to keep going!

From the inside, the final product looks like what you see below. The lining does not bag - it just isn't attached to anything at the top right now.

I do hope to get this phase done by the end of Friday night. Meanwhile, I have been doing a little work on the dress and I will try to squeeze in a few posts about that before Christmas.

Parting Shot: Sneak Peek! Here it is, not finished by any means, but you get the idea. The sleeves still need to be attached and I need to figure out the collar, but I'll get that done soon.