First pics

I've begun stitching. Before this could happen, I needed to create some exemplars, which involved much stitching, and trying several different color combinations in one flower. This also involved looking at extant items again and again, matching colors and looking at shading. I'm pretty happy with the results so far; the pansy could be bolder, and that may get reworked. I'm trying out gilt silk twist on the strawberry leaves; I'm currently undecided about it. I like working with metal threads in general, but this is very thin, and it's subtle, so I'm not sure if it will be enough. I may complete all four leaves, and judge from there. I also still need to make some exemplars for the insects. I love the ceylon stitch from the Plimoth jacket, but I'm just not seeing it often on the extant piece. My inspiration piece from the Met(64.101.1258)has the caterpillars and worms done in the detached buttonhole, so I'll probably stick with that. I'm also still unsure about the detached buttonlace for wings and pea pods; my husband loves the idea, and we do find it on some jackets, but I'm just not noticing it on the coifs. (Perhaps I'm not looking closely enough.) The coif is outlined in a spring green stem stitch. Many of the coifs I've looked at have green for the outline, like 34.226 from the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, which has become another "go-to" piece for me.