The Ballets Russes in embroidery, thank you Britney Pompadour! 3/3

Hello !

To finish this cycle around the universe of the Ballets Russes and our new collection, we have prepared a very nice surprise with the embroidery brand Britney Pompadour.

Embroidery is one of Russia's strongest heritages, with the emblematic figure of Grand Duchess Marie Pavlovna Romanova, who joined forces with Coco Chanel to develop her know-how in France and integrate it into the Haute Couture collections of the time. She founded the Maison Kitmir, which worked with the finest couture workshops and received a gold medal at the 1924 Decorative Arts Exhibition.

I wanted to integrate this important part of the Russian identity into the collection but as I am not really experienced in embroidery I proposed to Maÿlis, the founder of Britney Pompadour, to collaborate with me to offer you a very nice gift!

Her brand of embroidery kits is ultra fresh, her designs stand out by distancing themselves from the classic (and beautiful attention!) heritage of more traditional embroidery. She has a history of collaborating with illustrators to create original and contemporary embroidery designs and I was thrilled to have the "Britney touch" for a set of new designs that are as reminiscent of the Ballets Russes universe as they are of Maÿlis's vision of Slavic embroidery, paired with one of the highlights of my new collection: the Maïa dress/blouse.

The model has large yokes that lend themselves perfectly to embroidery and you can choose to have a large pattern on the middle of the bust, or a frieze of small patterns to highlight the cuts. The small patterns can of course be used as a reminder at the bottom of the sleeves and can be used on a multitude of models. I had fun embroidering this little lightning bolt on the collar of my shirt Sparrow, but on a pocket, in the hollow of the shoulder, or on a wrist adding an embroidered element will personalize your sewing even more. 

If the large embroidered design took me several days to embroider, spending a little time each evening, making a small lightning bolt or a flower is really very quick (especially if, unlike me, you are already used to embroidering).

So here are the exclusive embroidery patterns we offer you! I present here a small step by step image on the example of a small flowery pattern, but the procedure was the same for the large pattern as a bouquet of flowers.

To make my embroidery, I chose a beautiful white cotton fabric (the one from the white Sparrow shirt my husband wears). Having considered the size of my piece beforehand and my coupon being large, I transferred the design by transparency directly onto my fabric using a Pilot Frixion pen that goes on the iron heat. You can also use Solufix (a material that is ironed onto the fabric and washes away together) and Britney Pompadour even sells Solufix sheets on her store to print directly!

The designs are to scale, just print at "real size" or at 100%.

For the needles, I ordered the 3/9 kit from Bohin, my drum is about 13 cm in diameter and for the threads I used DMC threads as recommended by Maÿlis. The colors recos are also provided with the model, I confess I did with the colors I had available (and which date from my first attempt with embroidery there is ... pfiouuu, a long time ago).

I then positioned my drum so as not to encroach on the design and attacked. I started by embroidering the outline with backstitch, then filled in my various designs with flatlock stitch (and a little more backstitch especially for the pistils). I then ironed my fabric, then washed it, then ironed it again and tadammm. Well... I'm a beginner and clearly my work can be improved but the overall effect is really cool so don't hesitate to give it a try!

You will find in the downloadable file the patterns, the instructions and the material, a step by step photo of my realization of the pattern (click here to find the product offered!)

I can't wait to see your wonders, feel free to share on Instagram with @maisonfauve @britneypompadour and @maisonfauvexbritneypompadour so we can see your embroidered creations and again a huge thank you to Britney Pompadour for giving us such lovely designs! You can see her work on her Etsy store and her website:) 

On your drums, on your needles, let's go for a nice embroidery session!