A Long & Short Stitch Stumpwork Ladye

 I have been so busy getting our oldest daughter moved into her first house, and getting the childrens end of school things taken care of I haven't had much time to stitch, but the inside panels are coming along slowly~ thought you would enjoy seeing the Earth side Ladye come to life~   On all my dollys, I start with the shoes first~ they're my favorite! Ladye got a nice sensible pair of humble black silk shoes with brown silk rosettes on the throats. Next came her petticoat, all done in long and short stitch of coarse to match the rest of the panel, and trimmed at the hem with a bit of antique silk and silver metal cord.
 

  I love making stumpwork figures~ they are like a big jigsaw puzzle! They may look intimidating at first, but are quite easy~ just start with the layer furthest back, and build up from there. One of the fun things is making the clothing~ weather you are working in a ground fill or needle lace, is experimenting first to get the shape of the separate pieces so they will give you the look you want~ you can work as simple or as elaborate of clothing as desired. I like to use paper towels to draft my pieces~ I fold and manipulate them to my desired effect, then transfer that as my working pattern piece. Above, I am holding the piece that will be the very bottom skirt hem, that is gathered in folds around by her feet.

  The pieces are transferred to dutchess silk satin and worked separately~ I like to work as many pieces as I can at once, so make sure they all coordinate. One must be careful tho~ with a high relief stumpwork you must be patient and work one piece, then attach it, then draft the next piece. As you move along thru the figure, the pieces worked below will affect and shape the pieces above it

 After her petticoat, the side of her skirt came next, padded to full out its folds.

  The next piece is the bottom skirt, here, I have worked it in long and short stitch, then cut it out and ironed the seam allowance under around the required sides

  If you are thinking what a mess of pins....YES! WHAT a mess of pins it took to tame this monster!!

 Be sure to work the base/background  underneath of hems and such, because everyone wants to peek under to see legs!

 Ladye Earth all finished~ She holds her apples in her hand and has silk wrapped purl over a long and short stitch base for hair. I sculpted all the figures for my flat top, and love love love how they come out~ so delicate and the mache is light weight enough that they wont drag the panel off the casket!  I think she looks happy~ I am sure happy with how she came out~