I will be competing in a Golden Seamstress Competition this coming April. As part of that competition we are designing a full outfit which shall be constructed starting at 10:00PM Friday evening and completing by 6:00PM the following evening. Some items are allowed to be created in advance. Accessories not made of fabric may be done in advance (Shoes, buckles, buttons, purse hardware, belts, etc.)
In preparation for this competition I will be creating 20~25 black buttons.
Here are the first few created.
I've finished four so far. The rest of the buttons have been started. I tied the string around the bead and placed them onto the card as a place holder. This way I can just pick one up every now and then to work on. So far it seems to take about 30~40 minutes per button. Once the team finalizes the design I'll add either a glass bead or a metal bead at the end of the button to match the trim on the outfit.
Here is the site and info for the competion:
Tenth Annual Quest for the Golden Seamstress
"For the tenth year, the seamstresses of the Middle Kingdom will take up the challenge to create a complete set of garments, from the skin out, in eighteen hours. Twenty teams of from 1 to 6 active members are to start at 10 PM Friday and continue to 6 pm Saturday. Team members are expected to remain on-site during the competition."
http://www.expo-conv-svcs.com/QS/home.html
The team is still in the design phase. We are planning a couple working practice sessions to see if we will be able to fit it all in. If all goes well the outfit will look something like this...
