Handmade garments are revered for their artisanal craftsmanship, intricacy, and devotion of time. While I’ve always admired the work of embroiderers and weavers, I never thought of myself as someone who could accomplish the same level of quality as these masters. However, that didn’t stop me from trying ! In one of the monthly newsletter e-mails from Folkwear Patterns, I noticed an advertisement for an online embroidery class featuring their 142 Old Mexico Dress.
That blue cotton dress with its bright pops of colorful embroidery had me salivating ! But I know my limits and decided not to let my spirited ambition take hold of my sewing caprices. Instead, I settled for the shorter blouse length, which was equally as beguiling.
Sarah Pedlow of ThreadWritten presented a detailed Zoom class filled with the history of Mexican embroidery and a guide to stitching the charming floral and foliage patterns. I found her calm nature relaxing and came away feeling confident that I could stitch like a seasoned professional. Although it took me almost a year to finish the project, I was proud of my feat.
And here is the finished garment…
There was a little bit of puckering (especially on the back because it was my “practice” side), which can be chalked up to inexperience.
Wearing this blouse has been as delightful as was the stitching itself. In fact, I enjoyed the “slow sew” embroidery process so much that I signed up for another Folkwear/ThreadWritten collaboration: Ukrainian embroidery featuring the 116 Shirts of Russia & Ukraine pattern. Now that will be fun !
Toi, Toi, Toi,
Mary Martha
Costume Closet Couture 