so sad

The best laid plans and all that.  This post has been sitting in my drafts file since Feb 1st waiting for me to add some photos. 

I'm finally getting some work done on a friend's reticule.  I'm sure she'd like to be able to use it sometime this year.  The fabric is lovely, and so are the silk ribbons.  I started transferring the embroidery design onto the fabric the other day and ran into a couple of snags.  First, silk dupioni is a bear to write on.  Either bits of the design don't show up, or they get missed due to the texture, or they start to fade out quickly.  I traced the pattern onto some Press n Seal, but have decided getting the plastic out from the stitching without nipping ribbon might be a little difficult.  I'll be tracing everything onto a light-adhesive washaway stabilizer instead.  That way, I can trim away most of the excess and use a fine line paintbrush to melt the rest to a state where I can disengage it.

I purchased some more silk ribbons from Beehive Needleworks a couple of weeks ago.
This is an incredible shop!  They carry so many fibers and gorgeous beads and sequins.  This is my haul from my first visit:

The beads are size 11 and 15 seed beads.  15s are teeny!  The silk ribbon is for an upcoming stitch along project.  I'll be using wallowberry silk dupioni for the tissue holder, and I think the contrast of colors will be stunning.