The Yellow Rose of Texas

This project has taken a while.  I have learned quite a bit from it. The dress is one that I have made several times.  The cuffs on the under sleeves are embroidered.  The bonnet was all hand stitched and took me just over a week.  The purse or reticule has been embroidered by hand.  It also took just over a week.  I have not done satin stitch embroidery before.  I learned that you can really tell when you have done padding stitches under the satin layer and when you haven't.  The embroidery pattern is called the Tree of Life.  It is an authentic 18th century pattern.

The bonnet had some lessons as well.  The foundation of the bonnet is made with a stiff fabric called buckram.  The outside of the brim and the outside of the crown have had wire attached to make it malleable.  The foundation has been covered with cotton batting.  I did this so that the weave of the buckram would not show through the yellow cotton fabric.  If I make another bonnet like this one, I will run the wire around the outside of the brim then around the back.  The directions had me stop the wire at the front edge of the brim which gives a weak joint.  By running the wire from the front of the brim to the back of the crown, it will make this much stronger.  I also learned not to pull the covering too tight or it will make the buckram buckle.

The client that this is for plays the Yellow Rose of Texas for a historical group that performs at rodeos.  I did a little research on this character from history.  Here's an article that I found:  http://www.amaranthpublishing.com/yellow.htm I didn't really know that she was a real person from history. 

All in all, I am very please with the way this project has finished.

On a personal note, Mary is now in 5th grade and she really seams to be enjoying her teacher.  She has grown to just over 5 feet tall.  She makes dinner quite often.  She is good at broiling meat and making salad as well as making spaghetti.  She likes to experiment with new recipes.  She has made pizza, including the dough, pretzels, refrigerator cookies and a couple of kinds of candy.  Most things have turned out really well.  She is in the process of decorating for Halloween.