The Tatted Veil

Good Monday morning to you. My insane week will begin just as soon as the rest of my family awakes, but since that will be a while yet, I have time to share my newest piece with you. So, I shared the creation of the motif and the veil itself, well on Friday, I received in the mail the last component needed to make the piece complete, the feathers. First a quick lesson I learned about feathers during this process, there is a dramatic difference between 'craft' feathers and good ones. I had picked some up at Michael's thinking they would do. They shed and I just wasn't happy, so I ordered some from a supply shop on etsy and they were magnificent. So, what I'm saying is look for the good stuff even if it takes a while and costs a bit more, it is so worth it.

After a brief consultation with Twitter using a picture with the pieces laid out together, I started the laborious task of sewing everything together. It was suggested that I fan out the feathers from this configuration, so I pinched and sewed the strip they were on to give them a bit of a fan. I didn't even tat the flowers to the base, but sewed them as well, adding crystals to the centers as I went. In this first shot, you can't see them, but there are also stripped feathers stretching out beyond the soft Ostrich ones and those I tried to fan a bit as well. I thought about just gluing the whole thing together, but that seemed lazy and if one is going to make a high end product, one must make a concerted effort to make it as high quality as possible.

The end product was praised enough on Twitter that I felt confident to go to my favorite Milliner for advice and opinion. Lucky for me, she is kind enough to answer my questions regarding pricing and design so I think I have that sussed out. I was humbled by her responses that it was in fact well constructed. Every time I try an entirely new product with my tatting, I freak out over whether I am qualified to make the piece at all. Seriously, I used the Internet to get tutorials on birdcage veils. Then I just guessed as to which feathers might work and I tried to make them look nice enough that I would wear the piece.

I am so lucky to have experienced people around me to ask in the end or I would be stumbling in the dark. She also suggested some additional pieces to add to create an entire line of hair accessories. So as soon as I receive my white order of feathers the bridal version will appear and then pieces without the veils on clips that match and if I can figure out the best way to construct them, bobbies with the matching flowers. Clearly none of this is happening this week, but in the near future. I'll try to get listing photos of the finished veil this week so that I can list it, but with the crazy, I don't know that it will happen. Yeah, I'll let you know. Now, I'm off to celebrate the daughter's birthday.