FO - Garment of White

This is the finished Garment of White for Baby F's Christening tomorrow. I am more than pleased at how it turned out.

The completed front...


Detail of the stitches...


It was sewn by couching #3 perle cotton on linen. The cross is an original design. I haven't done any crewel embroidery since I was a member of my local SCA needlework guild (actually did get my competency in couching, blackwork, and general embroidery) at least 6 years ago. The tension of the linen loosened a bit as I went along, so there is some slight puckering because I didn't take the time to tighten things up again (something that tends to fall by the wayside when you are feverishly sewing at 2 in the morning). I designed the stitching as I went along so you would get this wonderful, subtle effect of the changing directions. The next piece I do in this fashion will most likely be done with 4 strands of embroidery floss in split-stitch rather than the couching with more planning on the design instead of making it up as I go along. From a needlework guild perspective, I would definitely classify it as journeyman-level work - my technique is sound, but there are too many small mistakes for it to be master work. I think I'm going to plan on doing some more SCA-style needlework as a diversion from knitting. I don't have any plans to actually play in the near future, but once the bean is a bit older, I'm hoping that I can make the time to get involved in my local group again.

The thing I am most unhappy about the finished piece is the sloppiness of the sewing. My only excuse is that I was cutting this out and feeling it through my machine at seven this morning after having been up all night. The fact that the side seams are remotely straight is a miracle. I know S thinks its wonderful (and it truly is), I just wish I had been more organized that I could have really spent the time making sure all of the seams were knife-straight and doing the hem-stitching that was part of the original design.