Graceful Traditions

After several months of debating and worrying, and redoing, and then undoing, and doing, and I forget what all else we did….but finally Carolyn and I have the Grace III Collection, Traditions finalized and ready to be released. Actually, Carolyn did pre-release it at the American Embroidery Conference earlier this month.

Grace III is a bit different from the previous Grace collections, although it does compliment the previous collections. Instead of one large collection, we decided to break it up into four distinct yet equally breath taking collections. It was a rather difficult decision to make but one that I am sure friends will appreciate. The choice will be there to purchase the sections individually as well as the complete collection at an affordable price.

Did I hear a sigh? LOL…yes. That is indeed what both Carolyn and I thought when the elaborate Grace III-Ribbons Collection was  used to create the enormous christening gown. The gown itself was prepared in parts…the embroidery in Missouri by me and the actual conception and sewing by Carolyn in Georgia. It is so amazingly large that both of us at times wondered if we wanted to convert it into a wedding dress.  Instead of using ivory or off white silk, we decided to use beige Dupioni silk for the dress as well as the under skirt. The dress itself has the Designs from the Ribbons collection and the Edgings collection on it.

My favorite is the tiny faux jacket top that Carolyn designed for the christening gown. It is not a separate piece, rather part of the bodice except it looks like a jacket. Very different yet perfect to showcase the ribbons and the edging laces. That is one of the beauties of Grace III, that a sub-collection can be used all by itself or used with one more to create the most beautiful creations. The bonnet shown in the picture on the right is from Grace I, Bonnets and Booties.

The Ribbons are insertion laces except for one design which has been specially designed to become an edge. I have long wanted to be able to insert lace ribbon embroideries onto so many different garments and home decor items. Ofcourse, now I can’t wait to get some days….free days….when I can do something special for myself.

My favorite part of the ribbon collection are the tails of the ribbons. There are two ribbon variations and two tail variations. That is how the scalloped look was achieved on the hem of the dress as shown above. In the ribbons collection, the tails are created as insertion laces. However, both the tails are also included in the Edgings collection as freestanding lace edges.

The beauty about the tails is that they can be manipulated to create so many different looks and I’m working hard at finishing a nightie for my dd along with a robe. I started the ensemble three weeks ago and everyday I have full intentions of completing it but …..it will be done one of these days.

The Christening gown is one example of how to use some of the Grace Traditions designs. However, as always, I have to use the designs in other ways than something which is considered specialty.

Okay, so my take was not exactly ordinary but I tried. I think when I explained it to dd, she asked me how many times did I ever had a tea party. I may not have tea parties but I do love the look of Tea cozies. I think my several words of elegance and “lady like” mannerisms and traditions sort of fell short on dd. I had to admit that in 90 degrees fahrenheit, I really couldn’t justify having a tea party on my balcony…more like iced tea in those temperatures would be the preferred drink.

Can you blame me that I wasn’t too ingenious in coming out with something “modern” with the designs. However, Carolyn on the other hand, had a great idea and one that I wish I had thought of instead of making this elegant lingerie set for dd. A real show stopper. I can just see this blouse with a set of matching lacy bottoms, can’t you. The diamonds on the edge of the top are from the Traditions-Diamonds collection. The designs come as freestanding lace with a center insertion of fabric and can also be used as edge designs. My preference, however, lies in the neckline of the blouse which is a bit daring yet absolutely adorable.

As to the release of the collection, both Carolyn and I hold full time jobs during the day which makes it rather difficult to do too much in the evening. However, we are looking at releasing it within a few days and hopefully will have special discounted prices during the introductory period.

Meanwhile, iced tea it is, with a table topper using the Grace Traditions designs for my patio furniture, while I try to stay cool during the heat wave on the East coast.

Note: Many friends have emailed me that my blog page gives them an error at the top of the main page or sometimes at the top of other pages. I have spent the last two weeks trying to fix my databases only to find out that Word press had a new release which apparently has a bug that causes that error. The best that I can suggest is to refresh the page and it would go away…hopefully. I am sorry for the problem and hopefully it will be resolved soon.