First Strip

So the first full strip of my coat is complete! It's 25 braid segments and 32" long on each side of the 'shoulder' join--the coat itself should fall to about mid-thigh.  I did one full one (after starting up all of them at once) so I could make sure the gradation effect matches up with the subsequent strips. 

And now I think I can finally show you the reversible nature of the braid--when they were so small, it was hard to show, and even harder to explain. Now just to make 3 more double sided strips and 7 one-sided ones. 

Row D on the Dear Jane has begun! I don' think I'll be working too heavily on it at the moment, if only because there is so much handwork invovled with the braid-strips that when I want a break from them, I don't really want to do more handwork. I might start up making a sample jump-suit for the class on my off time.

And just as a neat little aside, my boyfriend works at the Masonic Temple in Philadelphia, and brought me home some bits of old costuming that they were throwing out. In addition to some robes that'll give me some good quality cotton sateen and wool, there was also this lovely embroidered sash, and a military-looking hat from the Knights Templar. He guesses these were from around the turn of the century.