Becoming a Queen -- Part II

There is no "Becoming a Queen" without a Coronation --

A crowning of the royal sovereign...

And so, when it came time to decide on a gown design for Your Majesty, I looked to the coronation gowns of queens in history. And it was the worldwide inclusiveness of the embroidery on the British gowns that struck me.

Historically, the robe played the primary role in the British Coronation ceremony. Typically, the dress was kept fairly simple since the robe had a tendency to obsure everything underneath.

But with the advent of Queen Alexandra, the dress rather than the robe began to take on increased significance.

Queen Alexandra paid close attention to her gown for the coronation of Edward VII (pictured left)...It was made from gold tissue and white net, embroidered with gold spangles and gold/silver floral sprays. At the time, Queen Alexandra chose to include Indian flora, the National emblems of rose and thistle, saxon crowns, fleur-de-lis, and the Royal crown as decorative, embroidered motifs.

Queen Mary's dress extended the trend started by Queen Alexandra for the coronation of George V (pictured middle). Her gown included elaborate embroidery of the National Emblems. And lastly, Queen Elizabeth (pictured right) in 1937 further expanded on this theme by including not only the National Emblems but the Imperial emblems of the British empire as well.

So when it was time for the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953, the historical precedent had been set. And, it was this dress, the Coronation gown of Queen Elizabeth II, designed by Royal couturier Norman Hartnell, that become the ultimate inspiration for my gown...

The embroidery was designed and carried out by the Royal School of Needlework, taking 3,500 hours between March and May of 1953 to complete. The Queen chose not to wear a surcoat which lent even further significance to the gown itself.

The design was executed in seed pearls, crystals, colored silks and gold and silver thread. The embroidery was laid out to take into careful account the changes in the composition of the Empire since 1937 and the evolution of the Commonwealth.

The National emblems of the Tudor rose (England), the leek (Wales), the shamrock (Ireland) and thistle (Scotland), as well as all the emblems of the Commonwealth...the maple leaf (Canada), wattle flower (Australia), fern (New Zealand), protea (South Africa), lotus (India), and wheat/cotton/jute (Pakistan)...were all included on Queen Elizabeth's gown.

Since Mr. Hartnell had also designed Queen Elizabeth's wedding gown, her mother requested that more color be added to the embroideries so the gown would not appear too bridal with its silver/gold embroideries on ivory satin.

In doing his research for the design, Mr. Hartnell ran into a bit of a struggle regarding the inclusion of the Leek for Wales, preferring to use the floral motif of a daffodil:

Hartnell checked them with the Garter King of Anno and was horrified to discover that the emblem for Wales was not a daffodil, but a dull vegetable, the leek. The Garter flatly refused to allow the use of the daffodil. Hartnell finally 'borrowed' the leek on the cap of the Welsh Guards and his embroideresses interpreted it into an attractive motif using fine silks and diamante. The leek became a source of inspiration and most of the other emblems were interpreted in the same way.

The leek appears at the very middle top of the skirt just below the bodice.

To get final approval for the embroidered emblem designs, Mr. Hartnell presented this sampler to the Queen and her Mom...

(I noticed that the leek and/or daffodil is left out of this piece which makes me suspect that the final decision regarding the humble vegetable had not yet been made at the time that the sampler was completed?)...The only change to the embroidery design was to deepen the green for the Irish shamrock....

After the embroidery of the gown was completed, Mr. Hartnell added an extra shamrock on the left hip for good luck so that Queen Elizabeth's hand might rest upon it all day long throughout the ceremonies...

And so my challenge was to interpret these items in miniature on my little 8" gown...

Here is the rose, the maple leaf, the lotus and the wattle flower (gold sequins)...

The shamrock, fern, thistle, and wheat...

The protea flower...

And the leek!! (down in the lower right corner)...

And last but not least, tucked just under the ribbon garland, on the left hip...an extra shamrock...for good luck...

Because my gown had taken on such a British character, I decided to marry the British Union Jack flag with the American flag for my background, printing the words of the Norwegian proverb on silk...

In every woman, there is a Queen. Speak to the Queen and the Queen will answer.

Reminding us all of the majesty that exists within each one of us.

Your Majesty.

THE END

Sources:

Ceremony & Celebration: Coronation Day 1953 by Christopher Lloyd

Be Dazzled! Norman Hartnell: Sixty Years of Glamour and Fashion by Michael Pick (amazing book!)

Fashion-Era website

Becoming a Queen -- Part I

Hello again. It's nice to see you back at court.

Yesterday I mentioned that I was not intended to be representative of any one queen in particular and certainly not any one nationality. However, through the iterative, artistic process, I became most notably a British queen...And here's why...

I most loved the stature and bearing of Queen Mary...She was quite buxom which gave her a large display "case" for her copious jewels...

Queen Mary was always festooned with jewels. And I liked that too.

In Allie's Dreaming Maiden pattern, the entire doll is built on top of the hair piece...and her Dreaming Maiden had nice long flowing blond hair. And , at the risk of the gentlemen whom I govern taking me less than seriously, I wanted to wear my hair up...

So I decided to adopt the veil of the Russian Queens (they were quite beautiful, by the way)...

With the addition of the veil, I wanted ensure that I would not be mistaken for a bride. And that led me to adopt the garland ruban or the ribbon garland that the British queens wear for State functions. Perfect.

And I loved the idea of creating in miniature, the Royal family orders which are worn on the sash...

Here's my favorite pic of the Queen Mum and you can see the orders pinned to her sash...

Now that there was a general plan, it was time to get busy.

Using Allie's freezer-paper curved piecing method which is detailed in her book, I was able to have a great degree of control over the piecing and placement of my fabrics. I LOVE Allie's curved piecing...it's much more genteel than the angular nature of flip and sew...So far, so good.

Next up was the part I dreaded most...the face. But here's where Allie's tips helped again.

I set out with the intention of making multiple faces so I cut out 5-6 pieces of flesh-colored fabric (I recommend a really tight weave like kona cotton) and I traced the face onto ALL of them.

Using a .005 micron pen, I used Allie's suggestion of tracing a picture (great idea)...

These were my three finalists. From my experience, pictures of faces with the biggest eyes worked best. Even with only one strand of sewing-weight thread, stitching takes up a lot of space and tends to "close" the eye so it's helpful to start with a bigger eye to begin with.

I chalked on all the versions and then let my committee of nieces choose the one they liked best...

I had noticed Allie's Maiden had a very nice shading to her lips, which I liked and tried to replicate. And that the almond shape to her eye was left open on one side which also gave more of a wide-eyed look....So I replicated that as well...

I can't tell you how relieved I was to finish the face.

Now onto the fun part, the hair and the tiara!!

I wanted the tiara to be nestled in amongst my curls and you can see from this first rendition,

that my hair is a bit flat and my tiara is a bit too coarse having been stitched onto ultrasuede...

I knew I needed to add curls and dimension to my hair and to figure out some way of making my tiara more realistic...

I posted about how I solved my tiara problem in my post, A Tale of Two Tiaras, back in Dec 2009 -- I just didn't say what I was using it for at the time *wink.

And here's where I ended up. With curls, jewelry and a better crown...

I stitched the bodice and the arms separately as Allie instructed, embellishing them with gold thread, rose montees and pearls.

Then came the fun of making the Orders. They're only about 3/8" tall...I just printed very tiny pics of George V and George VI on silk and sewed them inside the oval jewelry findings I had in my stash...A few tiny stitches with 2mm silk ribbon and Voila...

I gave myself a slight bosom...Truth be told, even though I admire Queen Mary's endowment, I didn't want the burden as I aged...

To be continued.

Welcome, Your Majesty

Hello everyone.

I am Your Majesty.

Not "Her" Majesty who lives in a castle, wears crowns, and rules over lands and subjects...

But Your Majesty.

The Queen that lives inside each and every one of you.

My outside appearance is a compilation of many different historical figures just as you are the progeny of the many strong people, influences and character traits which have shaped you.

I was inspired by this Norwegian Proverb:

In every woman there is a Queen.

Speak to the Queen and the Queen will answer.

I hope you will join me here as I hold court over the next few days to tell you my story.

We'll start with the sketch of the Queen I will become. It's how we all start out, isn't it?

As hopes, ideas and dreams...

Welcome, Your Majesties.

It's nice to meet all of you.

Allie Aller's Crazy Quilting

This is what Allie looked like when I first met her. It was 2006.

I'll never forget it. Those curves!! What color! How she sparkled!

I had just just learned to crazy quilt and was busy absorbing everything I could find. I found this picture on Flickr and saved it to my favorites...and proceeded to track Allie down and was delighted to find she had a blog...Allie's in Stitches.

"How did you do that curved piecing?", I wrote. And she told me how she did it, God love her.

We became closer online friends as I watched her work through this quilt, Crazy for Flowers, which I also love and admire:

I have learned so much from Allie and her generous spirit throughout the years so I couldn't have been more thrilled when she told me she would be writing her first book!

Woohoo! All of her wisdom in one place...I couldn't wait.

So, yesterday, when the book arrived in the mail, I made a big cup of hot tea, sat down in my reading chair and opened Allie's book. And I was mesmerized for the next few hours.

I love love love all her ideas for piecing...curved piecing, freezer paper piecing, chunk piecing...it all gives flexibility to building CQ blocks. I often have small bits of beloved fabrics and Allie's ideas for piecing makes best use of those precious fabrics with minimal waste. Yay!

I loved the discussion of using different weights and types of threads and fabrics. And loved that the focus wasn't really on seam treatments (though the seam treatment eye candy on page 38 is pretty great)...

Allie was targeting the book to sane quilters who might want to try CQ. So, she gives many ideas for making quilts of your crazy work...But, for a non-quilter like me, I found the book even more useful.

I came to CQ as an embroiderer and not a quilter, so this book is a treasury of ideas for how to quilt, finish and bind my blocks into large projects. Something I am not so good at. Without a doubt, this book was written to be used and referred to again and again. There isn't another CQ book quite like it out there.

I think this book will now give me the confidence to try a full quilt.

My favorite tricks of all...are on pages 25, 30 and 99...I'll share them over the next few weeks as I try them in my own work.

There are 14 original crazy quilts in the gallery section many from folks that I have admired over the years. Honestly, these ladies are talented. They're each more lovely than the next.

The last part of Allie's book has six projects with step by step instructions to complete each one.

But it's this project...

This soft doll...The Dreaming Maiden...

That is nearest and dearest to my heart.

Over two years ago, Allie asked if I would be willing to make this doll and create my own version to be included in her book?

*Gulp* "Are you serious?" Wow. What an honor. To be honest, half of me was thrilled and howling at the moon; and the other was scared half to death.

Long story short. I decided to make Allie a Queen. It couldn't have been anything else.

A Queen for my friend Allie, the Queen of Flowers.

Thank you Allie for your book. And thank you for including so many of us in its pages.

Better clean yourselves up for tomorrow...the Queen is coming to Plays with Needles...

(Note: I wrote another post about Allie here...after she came to teach to our Guild...)

A Needlepoint Groupon -- Wednesday, February 23

I spent my part of my morning taking pictures of these canvases, threads and supplies for my friend Ruth.

When I said the other day that the needlework industry needed to get with it, I forgot all about Ruth Schmuff of Bedecked and Bedazzled.

It turns out that Ruth is going Groupon tomorrow!

For those of you not from the States, Groupon is an online coupon purchasing program that is city-specific. Local businesses offer extreme discounts if a certain number of subscribers agree to purchase the deal. It's great. I've bought everything from movie tickets, to meals, to bus trips to New York City.

Well, I'm pleased to announce that Ruth will be offering a Groupon tomorrow for a Beginner's Needlepoint Class at her Baltimore shop, Bedecked and Bedazzled.

For only $79, a new customer can receive a 2-hour beginning needlepoint class; canvas, threads, stretcher bars and tacks; and either that beautiful leather jewelry box or luggage tag to finish the item.

It's designed to reach a younger stitching audience and I think it would be perfect for a few of my older nieces.

If you're in the Baltimore area, maybe you know someone who would love the opportunity to learn how to needlepoint and spend a day with the girls too!

You can read more about the offer on Ruth's blog here. And you can check out this post I wrote about Ruth's shop a year or so ago.

Ruth is always doing something cool. My hat is off to her for using modern conveyances to attract new needleworkers to our craft.

P.S. If you've sent me an email in the past five days, I'll get back to you. I was away from the computer all weekend and I'm still getting caught up!

Lacing

Sorry folks.

Today's post isn't sexy at all.

It's boring. But necessary. Even important. But definitely not sexy.

The topic is lacing. It's what we do at the end of a project to give our needlework a finished look.

Scarlett O'Hara recognized lacing as the critical step she needed to endure in order to get that nothing of a waist into her ball gown.

But this picture of she and Mammy is the only sexy picture in this whole post. Now you've been warned so no complaining later...

Over the weekend, I laced and finished all eleven of my bead journals and submitted seven of them to the Woodlawn Needlework Show. (Yes, I decided to go for it.) And now I have the callouses and split fingers to show for it.

As I was lacing piece number 8, I finally remembered all of you....you lucky people.

And thought that maybe someone somewhere out there may need some tips on lacing. The rest of you whippersnappers can skip over this post and wait for a more sexy topic to emerge...

Warning: A high degree of patience is required for this activity. Lacing should not be attempted while consuming alcoholic beverages.

Step One: The Materials

• Finished work
• Acid-free foam core (I purchase from the framing department at Michaels or JoAnns)
• Exacto knife for cutting foam core
• Darning needle
• A photocopy of the back side of your work
• Warm and Natural batting (it's thin and 100% cotton, from JoAnns)
• Upholstery thread
• Sturdy pins
• Tekobari or other long laying tool
• Your knees

Step Two: Template and Layers

Robin Atkins taught me to take a photocopy of the back of my work. This gives a template to cut out the foam core in the exact shape of your finished piece. This was a brilliant step since most often our hand work changes sizes as we work the material. I always mark the back with a "T" for top.

Cut out the foam core with an X-acto knife using the photocopy template.

Cut Warm and Natural batting layer about a 1/2" wider than foam core.

Layer work (face down), batting and then foam core -- taking care to make sure that the tops are, indeed, all at the top...and that the edges of the foam core line up with the edges of your work.

Step Three: Summon your patience

Lacing is tedious especially when you have work that is highly three-dimensional like mine. Best to have limited distractions and lock up your children before you begin.

Step Four: Stretching and Pinning

Starting at top-center, begin pinning and stretching work working from the center out toward the edges, pushing pins into the foam core to hold the stretched fabric.

Once top and bottom are pinned, flip work to the side and pin and stretch from center working out toward edges...

When finished stretching and pinning, you will have pins all around your piece and you're ready to start lacing.

Step Five: Lacing

Using your darning needle, thread up a lot of thread -- you don't want to have to start a new thread if you don't have to. For larger pieces this is unavoidable. I used 6 yards of thread for each of these 5" x 5" pieces.

A note on the thread. I like Upholstery thread. It doesn't break and it has a twist that grabs the fabric and helps to keep your thread taut as you lace.

The goal of lacing is to certainly to have a stretched piece of needlework with even tension, without bumps and bulges. To me, the back also should have as little bumps and bulk as possible.

I lace the top/bottom first and then the two sides. Before I start, I trim the fabric at the corners to eliminate the excess bulk.

Also to reduce bulk, I use a half-hitch knot to get started. Do not knot your thread. First, I wrap my thread through the same starting hole about three times. Then, I slide my needle under the three wraps and make three half-hitch knots to secure my beginning thread.

Then I lace by slipping my needle from under the fabric, catching both the batting and the fabric, as I lace back and forth.

Notice my knees in this picture. I always hold my work between my knees as I lace so that the front of the work isn't smooshed in the process.

When I reach the end of the row, I wrap my thread around the final pin a few time just to temporarily hold it.

Then I take my laying tool, and go back over my lacing stitches, using the tool to pull the stitches tighter and my free hand to hold tension as I work my way back to the last pin.

Remove the pin and release the thread, keeping tension on thread. Holding lacing tight, I make a tacking stitch or two to hold the lacing in place before I begin lacing the sides.

Repeat for the sides. Remove all pins.

Step Six: Tack down corners

Using a sewing thread, I tack down the corners to make an even smoother backing. Sorry, no picture for that.

Step Seven: Sew on backing (optional)

If you are framing your piece, there's no need to put a cover on the back.

For my bead journals, I am having a friend make a shadow box and I plan to rotate my pieces through the frame as my mood dictates. I was trying to avoid the expense of framing them all individually.

I chose ultrasuede to cover my lacing and used the same photocopy template to cut the ultrasuede to the right size, taking care to match the tops together. Ultrasuede is expensive but is great as a backing fabric because it stretches and conforms as you stitch and the individual stitches sink nicely into the fabric and are hidden.

I then added a label to the back identifying the piece and my name and address. I should have put the date too so I'll add that when it comes back from the show.

That's it.

The only other thing I did was place each journal into a box to keep them from being crushed in travel and storage. I will also put the story of each piece inside the boxes for posterity and safekeeping.

And so, to the friends who are still here after this arduous post, I wish you all the best with your lacing.

It's not sexy. But it is rewarding.

If you spend so much time working on the piece itself, it makes sense to take some care in finishing it properly.

And please. Feel free to share any tips or tricks that you may have for successful lacing. I'd love to hear them.