Yes, I’m doing samples. In particular, I’m trying two different versions of each hem. One will have organza in the hem (to give it a bit more body), and one will have china silk in the hem (to give it some body, but a little less stiffness than the organza). This will also give me a chance to practice hemming, so t’ain’t all bad. I have four scraps of fabric ready for hemming, and will take them with me to a craft group tonight. Lots of handwork and great conversation – what’s not to love?
I am also sampling for wedding favors. Someone suggested bookmarks to me – a brilliant idea! – and I have been playing around with edgings. Here’s one look that I like:
Obviously my mitered corners suck, it needs to be longer, and I need to do some serious work on getting those bias strips even, but I like the idea, and think it looks good overall. (The rest can be fixed with practice.) The only question is whether I can get production to the point where I can crank out 75 of them in some finite amount of time, and also whether I have enough leftover coat fabric to make them. I’m going to play with them (and practice my mitered corners) some more, and see what happens.
Meanwhile, I have beamed on my warp (a quick thing since it’s only 9 inches at 40 ends/inch), and will start threading tonight.
I forgot to mention earlier – for the foodies among us, I found a source for fresh bergamot, Seville orange, and other exotic citrus! I was so excited that I ordered 12 pounds of fruit – 6 pounds of Seville oranges and 6 pounds of bergamot. After some work over the weekend and last night, the peels are stripped, cut, and candying in sugar syrup. Over the next couple of days I will gradually crank up the sugar levels until it’s shelf-stable at room temperature. I LOVE candied bergamot peel dipped in chocolate (or just plain), so this is quite a treat. I’m thrilled to have found this source.
I hope you don’t mind me jumping in again: you can wash and dry the organza to make it less stiff. I prefer working with it over china silk.
Why make life more difficult than it needs to be? Bookmarks need to be flat and thin. A straight zig-zag down all edges creating a four sided short fringed bookmark would look great, be a quick project and leave your guest smiling at such a beautiful souvenir.
Nice idea! Another suggestion–instead of binding the bookmarks, it might be quicker to “line” the bookmark. Sew what looks like a pillow case–wrong sides together; turn it right-side-out; close up the opening left for turning. This method would leave just one face of the handwoven fabric visible.