...something different

I'm back at work tomorrow, and I can't say I'm looking forward to picking up where I left off. The older I get the harder it is to hit the ground running! Still, we've made the most of our week off and even got through most of the jobs on our household to-do list. 

Over the past two days I've also been getting crafty, designing and making a decorative clip-on accessory for turning a napkin into a bib! My friend's getting married next Saturday, and she's worried about spilling food on her dress during the wedding breakfast, so I said I would make something pretty and bridal to hold her napkin in place. This is what I came up with:

It's a white organza ribbon with pearl beads in shades of blue (to match the bridesmaids' dresses) threaded on to it, with clips at both ends. It goes around the neck and then clips to the corners of the napkin to hold it in place over the bosom area! I made the little beaded/embroidered felt corsage to match the flowers in her bouquet (sunflowers and thistles) and attached it to the clip on the right hand side as a finishing touch. 

It may not be everyone's notion of bridal chic, but my friend has a great sense of humour and it's a pretty but practical solution to a genuine problem! Plus the ribbon can be removed after the wedding and the corsage can then be worn as a clip-on brooch.

The best thing about this project was the creative thinking and problem solving involved in making it up as I went along. I had some fluffy purple novelty yarn that I knew would be ideal for the thistle head, and spotted the green knobbly bead when I was shopping for the pearls. I used a wire beading needle with a collapsible 'eye' to thread the yarn through the bead and then wrapped the 'stem' with green embroidery thread. I Googled 'thistle leaves' to get a rough idea of the shape and then cut them out freehand along with the sunflower (two overlapping circles with petal shapes snipped into the outer edge). Once I'd sewn the bead 'seeds' to the centre of the sunflower I soaked the leaves and petals in watered down Mod Podge to make them a little stiffer and more durable. This worked really well, and helped add a little 3D curl to the petals. I originally drew the veining on the leaf with a Sharpie, but decided it would look nicer picked out in backstitch. I used a darker yellow Sharpie to give depth to the petals, but in hindsight I think watercolour paint would have been better for adding shading/detail to both leaves and petals, especially if applied while they were still damp. 

Next time that's what I'll do. I enjoyed this little project so much that there will definitely be a next time. Maybe not for a bridal clip-on napkin accessory (it's kind of a niche OOAK item), but definitely for a pretty little beaded/embroidered felt brooch. Just imagine this in brooch form:

Delicious! But for now it's getting late, and I have to be up early, so here's a serendiptous rainbow-tinted photo from this morning's walk at the park, and then it's time for bed.