Finished peacock bodice

After two more hours of work today, I have FINALLY finished feathering the peacock bodice front! I have it pinned to the bodice but still need to baste it on (it doesn’t get permanently sewn to the bodice because it will be removed for laundering). It is gorgeous. Here is a photo:

The photo does a pretty good job of capturing what the final thing should look like. The white teardrops are placeholders, and will be replaced by more “teardrops” of trimmed peacock feathers.

I think it will be stunning.

By the way, if you are one of those “Must try this at home!” kids, feathers are a bit of a pain to sew on. You have to sew them down in two places to prevent them from twisting. The finer feathers more or less have to be sewn by hand. You have to be careful not to split the feather while stitching it down…

…peacock tail feathers can be sewn on by machine, but again, you have to be careful, stitch it in two places, and don’t hit the shaft of the feather with the needle, or the needle will cleanly split it in two, leaving you with a ruined feather.

It’s not impossible, just sorta complicated. It helps if you have about twenty or thirty hours to spare, too. (“Do not try this at home, kids!”)

Anyway, it’s gonna be gorgeous. I just can’t figure out which day to wear it on.

The tie-dye tutu, by the way, came out nicely but not as bright as I had hoped. I will probably sew some gold sequins on it to “tart it up” a little – but it will have to wait until AFTER I finish the other tutu.

I am taking tomorrow off from work, perchance to sew some more. 🙂