Commissioned wristlets instead of refashioned skirt

Well, you see what my last post was about. I've gotten a little sidetracked since then by a... *trumpet trill* Commission!

A week ago last Tuesday a bride purchased my frilly wristlet in my etsy shop and asked me to make some for her bridesmaids. How could I say no?

I offered her a few fabric choices, and she chose the blue and white. So cute!

First, I made a pattern, remembering as much as I could from putting the first one (the bride's wristlet) together a month or so ago. I traced this onto poster board and cut it out, so as to have a more durable pattern. Next, I cut out everything: fashion fabric, lining, batting, batting backing, interfacing, etc. I figured I'd do everything in an assembly-line way to save time. It worked pretty well.

Next I made quilt sandwiches out of the fashion fabric, batting, and backing. I then quilted them together using a straight stitch and my walking foot. To make things a bit easier, I just followed the lines on the fabric.

I finally put my ruffler foot to use on this blue satin blanket binding.

At first I stitched the blue ruffles to the gold ribbon, but then had to pick it out once I decided I wanted the blue ruffles on each side of each wristlet. I had used some rayon binding that I had in my stash, but ran out. The satin blanket binding that I picked up at Joann's was a bit glossier and smoother, so I picked out the rayon stuff and added the poly satin back in.

Here I am putting the lining together.

I've figured out a way, with my laptop hooked to my camera, to use my cordless trackball mouse to take photos. I then just have to angle my arm so I can click the left mouse button with my elbow. LOL. In this way, I can (hopefully) start doing tutorials!

Getting ready to put the zip in after I've stitched the pleated bottom to the flat top.

I stitched both the outer fabric and the lining to the zipper. I then pinned the lining in place on the inside of the outer fabric (wrong side to wrong side) and topstitched just on the outside of the zipper seam for a more finished look. After that, I hand-stitched on each pearly button (knotting each one separately).

After the buttons, I threaded the gold organza ribbon thru and around the button shanks in a decorative way. After that, I hand-stitched the gold ribbon down in a few strategic spots around the buttons, then used a faggoting stitch on my machine to stitch it down in more visible areas.

Here's a photo of all four wristlets, showing off their different linings.

A shot of all four wristlet fronts. I later added a simple zipper pull of a pearly shank button on a bit of organza ribbon, knotted after passing through the white zipper pull "eye."

I hope you've enjoyed browsing through my process. These were quite a bit of fun to make, and I plan on making more wristlets from the same pattern soon.

Maybe I can get back to that skirt first, though. :)