Hah!  Which came first?  Chicken?  Egg?

One of my attempts at Stumpwork.  The chicken is done primarily using Turkey knot stitch in varied colors using DMC stranded cotton.  The rolling eggs across the bodice are done in shadow-work and satin sticth using Floche (which I absolutely love to use on my embroideries). 

The dress bodice is made from extremely fine imported Swiss Batiste and the skirt is of cotton voile (I could not find dotted Swiss Batiste in yellow which was my first choice).  The bodice is interlined with fine cotton used for turbans in India (!), then lined with the Batiste. The underskirt is of the same Indian cotton.  Amongst the round buttons in the back, is a little metal chicken one for yet another touch of whimsy.

I have hemmed the skirt with embroidery (cannot remember which stitch 🙂 )  and repeated that on the sleeve edge. I grew tired of binding the armhole seams (I don’t serge) so I experimented with finishing off with a buttonhole stitch using DMC stranded cotton.  Came out pretty well I thought.

A velvet ribbon – to echo the velvet feel of the chicken – works as a sash which can be tied in front or back.

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