Saturday, September 18, 2010

Finished Tudor Hood

So it's taken three weeks of gathering beads/pearls, but I've finally completed the French hood. I found pearl necklaces at Nordstrom Rack for 3 times less than a bead store. I ordered lots of beads from Firemountain.com. Only about 1/4 of those worked for the project...the rest are going back. Finally, I've visited about 4 specialty bead stores, and finally found the pretty red crystals this weekend.
So above is my French hood, and below is Anne Boleyn in her French hood.
This shot shows that the hood isn't really sticking straight up...it slopes back gently.And here's a side shot of the hood...Compared with an early portrait of Princess Elizabeth (later Elizabeth I).
I'm pretty pleased with the final version. Now I just have to get my hair to cooperate and tuck up into the hood. Copious amounts of gel will no doubt be required to tame my bangs into submission.

Sunday, September 12, 2010

Tudor Hood Progress

More progress! I would have finished the project this weekend, but I didn't have the beads I need for the billaments. Finding fake pearls, garnet colored beads, and gold colored beads has been impossible! I keep visiting bead stores, and all they carry is the real deal...where the gold beads are $2 a piece, pearls come on tiny $12 strands, and garnets come on $60 strands. I've tried the internet, but I have a hard time picturing the right size, and how they'll look next to each other.
My silk arrived from Thailand this week. I cut out the black silk pieces and basted it onto the buckram base. Then, I cut the same pieces out in white linen, and sewed the linen on the inside of the crescent and base. This secured the taffeta in place, and I could remove the large basting stitches. With the two pieces finally completed, I sewed the crescent to the base, and the photo above is the result.Next, I took a long strip of gold organza silk, ran gathering stitches, and then steamed the gathered silk to set the pleats. Then I sewed the strip in place. This part of the hood was referred to as the 'crepine.'Finally I sewed the veil to the hood. The veil is essentially a tube of black silk that's attached along the top edge of the crescent.

So what do you think so far?