And then there were three...Arabian costumes left to make!  So last week was a good week, I got one costume finished.  The closest one to hitting the finish line next is Diane's fun purple and teal Arabian costume.  I decided to take the bridle on this one in a different direction.  I've still got a lot of details to add to the bridle before it's really considered done, more tassels, reins, and rhinestones!  The drape tassels are also all completely done and ready to sew onto the saddle as soon as I have that part ready for it!  Hopefully I'll be able to finish this one or come really close to it this week sometime!  It sure fits Rasha nicely!

Jessica's costume saddle got put together last week!  The seat is covered, and the trim is mostly added except for some brown along the bottom panel where I ran short on brown thread!  The good news is I've got some more now so I can continue on with that.  I've got the nose chain done; we decided to go with gold coins and a gold charm on this one.  I tried to take a good photo of it today but that one came out blurry so I'll have to try again.  This one might be finished or close to done next week already if all goes according to plan!  I also took a picture of this set on my bay PSA to get an idea of how it looks because the set is being made to fit a bay Bint Soraya resin.  I really think the turquoise just pops on a bay so I think it's going to be great!

Heli's costume is being born one careful stitch at a time so far, and I have to say I'm having a blast embroidering the panels for this set.  I've got the main colors blocked out on each panel now, and next I will go in and embroider the stars with silver thread.  After that I will freehand in all the various swirls and curls that will go into making the panels rich with detail and authentic in feeling.  This design is a collaboration of some of my own ideas combined with looking at reference photos of real native costume designs.  I hope to have this costume done by the end of July, which shouldn't be too hard once the other two are all finished up!

And that's how my work bench is looking for the past week!  32 hours of sewing....here's hoping to do it all again this week!

Thanks for reading & happy collecting!

Melissa Halvas :0)