The first picture below is how it began, 7 pieces of both white and off-white laces and/or trims and a vintage ladies acid lace handkerchief, layered atop a layer of white cut-away stabilizer topped with white (bleached) muslin. I always mark the top of a hexagon because sometimes when I get well into the embellishing I lose track of what’s up and what’s down.
When you start with an all all white ( or in my case white and off white) the world’s your oyster when it comes to choosing beads, buttons, ribbons, etc. The raw edges are stitched down with a Wing (or Hem Stitch) Needle and white thread. If you’ve never used a Wing Needle, I challenge you to buy one and have a ball playing with both your utility and decorative stitches on your sewing machine! You’ll have a blast! The Wing Needle track is a wonderful guide for bead placement. If you’ll look carefully you can see that I’ve begun to stitch white seed beads at the left center below.
My collection of beads and ribbons has grown to unusual proportions and I can get overwhelmed sometimes with what to use. I’ve taken steps to solve that problem by creating a “project tray” as I begin to embellish each hexagon. For me it help to narrow down the choices and it gives me a plan forward. I don’t always use everything in my project tray and I often add things as I go along.
The funny caterpillar looking thing in the picture below is actually a string of purple, green and white glass flower heads I purchased at the Houston IQA Festival in 2015. The small plastic bag of pink ribbon roses is straight from the store. They don’t look all that great when you buy them but they are easily manipulated into a “better looking” rose shape with just a needle and thread.
If I know I’m going to have a ribbon and undulating ribbon streamers on a project I try and do most of my beading ahead of the ribbon. It’s just easier to bead when there’s less for the thread to get caught up in! Thread: I’m a big fan of Nymo. I use either white or off white. I bought a bunch on eBay a few months back, I was disappointed when it arrived as it is tan but I’ve found I can use it easily when I’m working with color.
So…in the picture below you’ll see I’ve added seed beads to the green ribbon as well as ribbon roses to the left of the bow, green etched glass leaves that I think I bought at Florilegium in Weston, Mo., the glass purple/green/white flower heads (that I gave yellow beaded stamens) and finally, small pearls.
The tiny sequin flowers that edge the Battenburg lace are from CCartwrights. The little flower sequins come in a multitude of colors. Hold on to your wallets when you shop at CCartwrights, they have wonderful stuff!
The small row of flowers in the top right corner (and the pink ones scattered in the project) are from Darice. Sadly I haven’t been able to find them, they’re not producing them in the soft pastel colors anymore. If you find them anywhere, BUY THEM ALL!
Below you’ll see the embellished hexagon. All that’s left to do is to add a layer of white 50/50 batting and a white (bleached) muslin backing. The backing is cut 5/8″ larger all the way around, the outside raw edge is folded to meet the edge of the hexagon. Press this seam and finally make the final fold over the edge of the hexagon to form a 1/4″ frame around the block.
Hope you’ve enjoyed! Happy Stitching,
Rhonda
Instagram: @RJCD Pinterest: RDort1
Rhonda Dort 