I finished this shell blouse a couple of weeks ago, and while it was pretty straightforward in construction, I decided to add some embellishment to the front by making a corded design. It was a major pain to turn the cord, as my fabric was really too heavy for this, but I persevered/ stubbornly continued on and ended up with this.
After turning the cord, I put the shell blouse on my dress form and played with the design by twisting the cord and pinning it. When I decided on the design I wanted, I pinned it all in place, checked it with a tape measure for general symmetry, and hand basted it to the blouse straight through the cord with silk thread. I then went carefully around the cord slip stitching the loops in place and tacking at the overlaps with matching thread.
Although it is far from perfect, I really like it, and I plan to try again with a lighter weight fabric. If you are interested in trying this technique, check out the Coletterie tutorial here.
Happy Sewing! Abigail @ Farmhouse Garden
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
“Far from perfect”?? What are you talking about, it’s beautiful! You should be proud, nice work!
Anna’s absolutely correct – this is gloriously perfect!
Pat-on-the-back & 3 atta-gal’s to you for persevering with the cording!!
It’s so gorgeous!
That is so beautiful! I love the job you have done!
Lovely work! The embellishment is elegant, rich and subtle.
That’s really lovely! I have this pattern in my size and I think it’s way oversized. I had to take it in across the front A LOT in order to make it fit right. Otherwise it wouldn’t stay on my shoulders! I think I may try this embellishment.