Pearl

This is one of my "stitching buddies", Pearl. We rescued Pearl in January in freezing ice and snow from an Industrial Park where Pearl and her litter mates had been abandoned. Pearl was the only survivor. Had her vet-checked and off to our farm, for a new life of love and warmth. Three days after bringing her home, Pearl became ill. At the animal hospital, we were told Pearl would not survive the night. But she did! We made several trips a day to the animal hospital to sit in the quarantine unit, and hold this tiny kitten with ivs, laying on a heating pad; letting her know that she was not abandoned again.

Ten days later, we were able to bring our 1 1/2 pound girl home from the hospital. Pearl was named after all the beautiful black pearls we saw in Tahiti. We are smitten by our fuzzy black Pearl! If you would like to offer help for rescued animals, please visit http://www.theanimalrescuesite.com/ Your daily click only takes seconds and provides bowls of food to animal shelters all over the US.

Rose Block for 2009 Wall-hanging

This is a 9" square block I designed for the 2009 ArtBra Project Wall-hanging. This year's theme, thanks to Barbara Blankenship, incorporates roses and deep rose silk doupioni mixed with other rose-color fabrics. Please visit the ArtBra Ladies Flickr to see all the blocks. This year promises another outstanding wall-hanging which will be donated to a Breast Cancer Center in the US.

The center patch is a Scalamandre silk embroidered Lampas inspired by 19th Century French embroidery. It is accented with a vintage rose lace motif. In the bottom right corner, the rose damask patch is embellished with hand-dyed pale pink and soft yellow 3/4" silk satin rolled roses accented with variegated silk ribbon, white rice pearls, a brass perfume bottle charm and a French glass flower bead.

Three Spider Web Roses at the bottom of the block were created with Sorbet RibbonRuffles with a glitter edge and accented with Marigold Rococo Lace buds.

This beadwork will certainly inspire.
The colors of the beads and the application allows the rows of beads to appear "loopy". The stitching reminds me of the stitching on some of the Indian and "Niagra Falls" pincushions I have collected. The beadwork is stitched on a dark mustard crepe silk ground.

This is a detail shot of the bottom of the mint green flapper gown. The netting is in shreds and the weight of all the beads is impressive.

Flapper Gown Green netting

This is an amazing piece of beading. There must have been a matching green taffeta slip that was worn beneath this gown. It is very heavy. It's beaded with random chains of mint green paillettes and the designs outlined with crystal seed and bugle beads. In the center of the desings are small silver-metal glass coated beads. These beads are highly desirable. I believe they are a mercury glass bead in small flat "pancake" shapes. At RibbonSmyth we sell small bags of all the flapper gown pieces and I make sure each bag includes some of the mercury beads.

Flapper gown beaded on Ivory Silk

I am always in awe of the bead work on vintage 1920 Flapper Gowns. Anytime I can find these gowns, that have seen better days, I purchase them. They are hard to come by. I photograph them for the bead designs and then cut up the gowns. I harvest the beads to use on special projects. It seems a new creation is always enhanced when using vintage beads. Some of the designs on the silk pieces lend themselves to collage work. As I inspect the beading, I'm reminded of the women and girls, that stitched tirelessly in another century, to create these gorgeous gowns. And the quality of the beading varies from gown to gown. There is nothing better than stitching with a vintage bead. The sparkle, fire, cut of the bead, is far superior to beads we can find in today's market. Now, most all tambour work is executed in India. No longer will you find tambour work taking place in the French couture houses.

Stitching with vintage beads, reminds me of where I acquired the beads. I have a chance to enjoy the "hunt" again! Because I know I will never be able to use all the vintage beads I acquire, we sell small packets of the Flapper Gown beads on our website at http://www.ribbonsmyth.com/

Years ago, I came home from a trip late at night, to see a box at our back door. A friend, I had met at one of my Lesage lectures, had left a box of flapper gowns. What a treasure.

She had heard the Lesage lecture, where I tell about my time spent
at the House of Lesage. She thought I should be wearing a flapper gown, when giving the lecture. And when I can, I do wear a flapper gown for the lecture. The gowns are very heavy and stored rolled up in a cotton sheet. They look like a small bundle of beads and silk, but when you put on a flapper gown, the bias-cut of the fabric, drapes beautifully.

Flapper gowns are beaded using a tambour hook. The tambour hook is a small hook that creates chain stitches. One hand is above the fabric ground and the other hand is beneath the fabric ground "feeding" the bead or sequin onto the hook as you stitch. All stitching takes place on the back of the fabric. The design would be "pounced" onto the back of the fabric with chalk. The fabric would then be placed into a frame or a "metier" and then the work would begin! This particular dress is tamboured with ivory silk chain stitches and then crystal rose montees, and tiny paillettes with sequins are stitched on top of the silk chain stitch.

Pink Valentine Post Card Kit

This was a fun card to design using pink baby Ric Rac

The top patch is pink satin, which comes in the kit.

At the corners of the Ric Rac frame are small purple pearlized pearl beads that I purchased in the bead district in Paris.

The middle patch is winter white silk doupioni and the bottom patch is mauve moire.

The cards are great projects as they take a small amount of time to create but offer great results.

The Venice lace yardage in the kit can be dyed. I used it as white lace for this card. I made a small 3 petal flower with the lace and added a pearl in the center of the flower.

The small lazy daisies are 2mm gold silk ribbon.

Valentine Fabric Post Card

This 9-Piece Valentine Post Card Kit includes red velveteen, vintage image, lace, Fast-to-Fuse Card and a variety of trims to create a simple offering.

Pink Colorway PostCard Kit also available.
Please click on link above to order.

Vintage Holiday Postcard

Vintage Holiday Postcard

Here is an Elegant Postcard that can be created quickly and offers a beautiful small gift. Purchase a small gold metal easel with the little postcard, so it may be displayed. RibbonSmyth has all the components! One small RibbonSmyth RicRac Pack will embellish several postcards.
Adding glitter to your card offers an "Old World Feeling" to your creation. This is an optional step.

The card measures 4"x6"
Click on the highlighted word to be directly linked to the supplies

Supply List
One Fusible Fast to Fuse Postcard shape
One French Fusible PostCard Back
One Cherub Vintage Image
One Vintage RicRac Package
One pack Victorian Miniature buttons
One tub of Antique White Gold glitter
Any type of clear-drying craft glue
One Fantastik or cotton swab
Four 6" fabric scraps
Fabric scraps or RibbonSmyth
Velvet and Doupioni Assortments
I used one gold piece of moire fabric
2 pieces of doupioni silk and one maroon velvet piece
Nymo beading thread -champagne color
4 1/2" x 6 1/2" piece of muslin
Rotary Cutter and ruler

1. Hand-piece the fabric using Nymo thread onto a piece of muslin
2. Using a hot dry iron, trim the white edge off the image and fuse the image to the pieced fabric.
3.Tack assorted ricrac and metallic trims over the seams and around the vintage image using Nymo beading thread.
4. Using a Fantastik, paint brush or cotton swab, lightly dab around the vintage image with a mixture of white glue and water. Sprinkle a tiny bit of White Gold glitter around the image and a bit on the velvet as well. Shake off excess glitter into a piece of paper that has been folded. Now pour the contents of the glitter, in the paper fold back, into the glitter container. The glitter is ultra fine and offers a gorgeous vintage touch to your card.
5. Using Nymo thread, tack two small loops of RicRac in the top right corner of the image on top of the velvet. Stitch 3 small buttons in place.
6. Place the finished stitched piece on top of the Fast to Fuse postcard shape and using a hot iron, fuse the piece to the Fast-To-Fuse using a press cloth.
7. Position the French fusible Postcard onto the back of the Fast-to-Fuse Postcard shape and fuse to the card.
8. Using the rotary cutter, trim the card to 4"x6"
9. Using metallic ricrac and thread, place the metallic trim over one edge of the postcard and stitch the trim around the card with Nymo thread taking small stitches. Allow one end of the metallic trim to overlap the other end. Tack into place and trim the end of the trim.
10. Sign your card with a Christmas greeting!

We wish you a very Merry Christmas!

Crazy Quilt Purse

This is another side of the small crazy-quilt purse. I used several pieces of silk doupioni from the RibbonSmyth Doupioni Silk Pack. Simple seam treatments using Buttonhole Silk Twist or 4mm silk ribbon, stitched with a Feather Stitch or a Herringbone Stitch, quickly cover the seams. I used torn pieces of lace and appliqued them onto the silk pieces. The torn pieces were the focal for adding small Mother of Pearl Disks, 4mm silk ribbon stitches,and finished with bead assortments. I used a Scalamandre curtain tie-back for the cording for the draw-string closure.