TPATD: Part 4 - Beads (Patreon)

QUICK RECAP: I made fiber fan art of Jen Wang's graphic novel, The Prince and the Dressmaker. Part 1 explains my inspiration, how I created the design, and how I picked out my fabrics.  Part  2 explains how I used appliqué to construct the face and dress. Part 3 covered my embroidery stitches. 

I tried out a handful of different beads before finding the right fit.

Too chunky.

Elegant, but blended in too much with the skin tone.

At the time, they were the only other beads that I had on hand, so I sewed 'em down anyway figuring they were "close enough".

While they didn't stand out enough from the skin tone, they looked GREAT in the hair bun!!!

Remember, the background is one of my favorite old t-shirts.

At the time, I thought I was done, so I got to work trimming off the excess material so I could turn this into a finished piece with a backing.

I don't know what this part is called, but you can watch a video of me on Instagram gathering up the background fabric so it stays tucked out of the way. It's very satisfying. (This picture below is just a screengrab! Not a video!)

At the last minute, I decided to get rid of the pearl necklace and earrings. WATCH ME RIP SOME THREADS (on Instagram)

Then I went out and bought a handful of different beads to try out. These are, again, videos that you can watch on Instagram.

Green Beads? Brass Beads? 

Ultimately, I decided on... blue beads.

Cool! So.... DONE!

Even sewed down a backing to cover up the underside.

In hindsight, I wish I'd sewed a couple more beads down for the earring, but, eh, s'not a big deal.

All in all, it took me about a month to make? Let's see, I started it on July 8th and wrapped it up August 12th. No idea how many hours it was. 

 It was a joy to work on, though. Through and through, I loved piecing this one together. And I've got a bunch of ideas for more appliqué embroidery projects I want to do now......