process

the art of fashion
	the embroidery process
		at left you can see a detail of a design as it is first worked out on the computer. it is drawn and then each stitch is plotted out. the design at left has over 22,000 stitches. each element in the design must be plotted to stitch in the correct sequence as this effects the final outcome. the design featured on this page took over 30 hours just to program.
		this design has three appliqués. to get the right coloration and visual texture, i hand-dyed china silk.
		a template is used as a placement guide for the painted silk appliqués.
		the first appliqué outline is stitched.
		here the outlines of all three appliqués are stitched and ready for trimming. the hoop is carefully removed from the machine as any change in the fabric tension will result in the entire design being mis-aligned and wasted.
		the applique is trimmed. at left you can see the gold stitches that i'm cutting up to. this stitch line will later be covered with satin or other stitches. trimming is a slow process and is preformed with very sharp, tiny scissors as close to the stitches as possible in snips of 1/8" at a time. this design took over an hour to trim.
		a first layer of stitches (all in gold here) has been added to the trimmed design and it is pulled off the machine again to trim away connecting threads. the actual stitching of a design takes longer than one might think and requires constant monitoring and management. the design at left took 3 hours to stitch out.
		after all the design is stitched, the stabilizer is carefully trimmed away from the back.
		here is the final embroidery complete. now it's finally ready to be turned into a purse. any further embellishments such as beading, will be added after the purse is nearly through the construction phase - but that is another whole process which i haven't documented. see the completed purse.
		the same design in another color way and detail images below.