Category Archives: Embroidery

“Chic Not Shabby”

More purple creations are coming out of my studio! This one is in neutral shades. The wool is almost taupe, but it’s not. The purple in the dress is a neutral grape shade with a touch of neutral pastel pink in there too.

The great thing about neutrals is that they go nicely with a lot of other colors. Do you know what it means to call a color neutral? It means that it is made up of all three primary colors. If a neutral color has only a touch of one or two of the primaries it may not even look like a neutral, but it still is considered one.

When I was in college we made hundreds of paint chips using red, yellow, blue, and white. Did you know that if you have the correct red, yellow, and blue you can make any color under the sun? We made colors all the way around the color wheel and then we made the neutrals. It was an assignment that most art majors hated with a passion, but I loved it!!! I still have all of the paint chips I made too.

I think that with Alice’s golden brown eyes and blonde/brown hair she looks beautiful in neutrals, don’t you?

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The embroidery on this sweater wasn’t as easy peasy as it might look. I tried four different shades of purple before I found the correct one for the colonial knot flowers. They are such a tiny part of the embroidery, but they needed to be right. At first, my color choice was the darkest shade in the dress, then I went a shade lighter, then I picked a basic lilac. They all disappeared into the knitting, and didn’t accent the roses at all. Finally, I picked a bright pink violet which was bright enough and light enough to make the roses pop. The greenery color needs to be just right too, but I got lucky picking the correct shade right from the start. Yay!

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Alice loves her beret. Her favorite part is the ivory colored rose bead; she thinks it is the perfect touch.

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Alice’s “Chic Not Shabby” ensemble will be available tonight at 7:00 pm CST, cindyricedesigns.com. Check my “Shop What’s New” page tonight at that time.

My “Calico Cutie”

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Usually I cannot remember the names of fabric collections that I use for my outfits. I get asked quite often, and I’m sorry to say that I just don’t remember, especially when it has been in my stash for a while. The name of this fabric, however, stuck with me because it was named after one of my favorite childhood television shows and books, Little House on the Prairie.

I was probably older than the target audience when this show first aired, but still loved the cozy peek into pioneer life. My younger sister, who was really into this show had the book, so I also read that. I’ve been enamored with log cabins lit with cozy fireplaces ever since.

This tiny calico print is filled with shades of purply flowers on a navy ground. You all know I love every single shade of purple, but I don’t work with navy blue too much. When I received this fabric I wasn’t thrilled with it (it seemed too dark to me), but it looked so pretty with this lilac mohair sweater, so I took a chance and made this fabric into a dress. I am glad I used it! It is a different look for Gina. In fact, I love her in this dress set!

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Gina’s light as a feather mohair/silk sweater matches the beret which is knit in a heavier weight of Peruvian wool. I preferred the “less fluffy” fiber for her beret. I am now quite comfortable knitting in the round, so that is how I knit Gina’s beret. A simple white silk ribbon bow and bead decorate the beret.

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I had this ribbon in my stash which was the perfect color to accent the waistline of the dress.

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My newly acquired white tassel styled cotton lace from England looked perfect with this print.

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Of course Gina wanted a little bouquet to give you. She picked deep purple and white blossoms which she tied together with white silk streamers, and a bow made with matching embroidery thread.

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“Calico Cutie” will be available tonight (July 19, 2016) at 7:00 pm CST, cindyricedesigns.com. Check the “Shop What’s New” page at that time for more information on this ensemble.

Today It’s the English Walled Garden

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I was going to wrap up my posts from the Chicago Botanic Gardens today, but I have too many photos yet to show you. So,… here is day three, and there will be a day four.

Today, I am going to show you photos from the English Walled Garden. This is perhaps my favorite garden of all; I could easily spend the day here with my knitting basket. It’s a cozy space made up of six rooms, with peaceful nooks for sitting and listening to water sounds, brick walls and walkways, shady apple trees, climbing vines, and pots of scented geraniums. You can even reserve this space for receptions. Here is another link for more information about the English Walled Garden.

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These lilies were in full bloom underneath an apple tree. They caught my eye as they were quite striking being a pearly white with burgundy outlines on the center petals.

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Violas were blooming underneath another tree. A few blue morning glories and clematis were climbing up a trellis.

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Out in the bright sunshine was a plethora of red cosmos as well as happy daisies.

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Pots of scented geraniums lined each side of the many sets of steps. I rubbed the leaves between my fingers and tried to distinguish the different scents. Luckily, the pots had tags as I got many wrong.

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I am used to see cut Gerbera daisies with straws on their stems to keep them upright. These Gerbera daisies had no problems standing up straight at all. They were a vibrant red orange color.

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One of my favorite flowers, tiny lobelia, was growing in pots.

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These delphiniums appeared to be iridescent. They are beautiful, but seem to be so delicate. As I was standing by the flower bed taking these photos, a stem snapped in two.

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