These past few weeks have been less than exciting to report back on, but they’ve also marked a pretty big transition. I finally started work on the actual veil!
Last time I checked in, I had tacked the mushrooms down to fabric on my sample. I wanted to test this new approach and see how the stitches would look with the mushrooms spaced farther apart. I also wanted to experiment with finishing the edges.
The tacked mushrooms worked so well. Much better than having them stapled to the board. I really enjoyed working with the extra space between them. It gave me more room for the needle lace, which is a process I’m particularly enjoying right now.
The board itself was a little cumbersome though, and it still didn’t quite solve the problem of working on a larger piece. I was afraid I would bend the plastic pieces draped over the board.
When I finally took the piece off the fabric I felt disappointed, uncertain, worried… I couldn’t quite tell butmI wasn’t excited. I think part of it was realizing I still had problems to solve. The wider stitches looked beautiful under tension but a little messy without it. I was also uncertain because I still had a hard time picturing the finished piece. And I was worried that, despite all the time I’d spent solving problems and learning new things, I couldn’t guarantee the finished veil would look the way I wanted it to. And I had to sit with that for a few days.
I feel like I’ve said this before, but I came to the same conclusion again: it’s hard to venture into the unknown. I was tempted to add more tests to the sample, but I was starting to realize that I might never solve every problem ahead of time. I couldn’t let the unknown keep me from taking the next step.
So I decided that, at least for now, the testing was finished. It was time to start the actual veil.
As it turns out, the tablecloth was perfect for the job. I could fold and iron it to create lines to follow to keep that radial symmetry I wanted. I spread it out on the floor and temporarily sewed each mushroom piece to the tablecloth. (If you look closely, you can see the orange thread holding them in place.)
Still worried about accidentally bending the plastic while I worked, I tacked the entire tablecloth to a wall in my living room. My studio is all brick, so my living room will be my auxiliary studio for at least the next month.
I started the needle lace yesterday. I’ll definitely have to build up some new muscles working this way, but it’s nice not to be hunched over my work.
And I’m excited again. I’m also still uncertain and worried, yes, but adding excitement back into the emotional mix makes those other feelings a little easier to tolerate.