This project is the first insane amount of beads on a garment that I attempted. Well, I am still in the process of attempting it. It has been a work in progress for over a year now. It has a cotton upholstery fabric exterior, cotton duct middle and 100% linen lining. I had to piece together scraps to complete the lining, so from the inside it's rather ugly. Piecing together scraps to make a garment is rather period after all anyway. After completing assembly, I was not altogether pleased with the stiffness of the collar so I added two more layers to the collar area to help it stand up a little bit. Upon close inspection you would also note that the lining is made up of two differant shades of blue linen. Scraps. I pieced the lining together with scraps I had lying around from past projects. There are over 1,000 clear glass beads sewn on to the doublet. I have applied a duponi silk to the edge. While I am fully aware that the silk I have chosen may not be period, I intenionally chose a very textured slubby looking silk. I chose that style of silk on purpose to add to the appeal of the design. I didn't want to trim the edge with clean smooth silk as I felt that the texture would clash with the rest of the cotton surface. I liked the less shiny rougher looking silk edge. After applying the silk around the edge I intend to apply a thin silver metalic trim over the seam. So far I have only applied the silver trim to the tabs.
While this project has been in the works for some time, I'm not entirely sure I'll finish it any time soon. Since I have begun this entirely handstitched garment I have put on a little weight. Unless I lose some of that weight I will not be able to wear the finished garment. At this point I have lost a little interest in finishing a hand crafted outfit that I cannot wear.
Here are some pics of the garment in progress.
