I love embroidery

This week's theme over at PRP is "Its all in the details."  The focus is on the small little details that really can make an outfit special.  I (Major Moma) am sure there will be beautiful pin tucks, piping, and other wonderful elements in every one's creation.

But what is my favorite detail?  Using my embroidery machine!  Yes, the lovely hand embroidery ladies do is wonderful, but for me, this industrial style is perfect.

When I came home from a year deployment, my husband had the Brother 4000D waiting for me. 

And I love it.

So, that is what I used for my detail driven outfit.

It is a dress with leggings.

The bribe of the sucker got her outside, but smiles were not in the deal.

If you have hung around the blog for any length of time, you would see that this year I have had a thing for zebra prints. And I still had some zebra twill my friend sent me from Korea that I had not cut into. At first, I was thinking that it would make a great jean-jacket for my daughter. But, then I changed my mind.

The dress is from the November 2012 issue of Burda Style, pattern # 152.  It has an umpire bodice with a pleated skirt.  The skirt is slightly curved and with the pleats it creates a bit of a tulip shape.  I really like the shape of this dress.  But my daughter did not.  She thought it made her look 'fat'.  Oh please ... you are a 9 year old bean pole.  I wish I did not have to have this conversation.

The neckline is like a boat neckline but has this little band on it for a collar.  It calls for a snap on the shoulder but I put a pink zipper there instead.  And really, the neckline is so wide, no snap or zipper is necessary.  At least not for Abi.

I bought the embroidery files from embroidery library on sale.  I normally don't use such big files, but it was fun to add such a beautiful picture.  I loved how it is a zebra patterned butterfly on my zebra print fabric.  (I own a leopard version too that I have yet to find a suitable project for.)

And I did not stop at the massive amounts of embroidery (large picture on right side, large butterfly on left, and small butterfly on right sleeve) that took hours to do.  I added a 3-dimensional element.  I appliqued pink felt flowers onto the flower bunch and next to the big butterfly.  Also in the flower bunch, I tacked on layers of tulle and silk organza cut in the shape of the flowers on top of embroidered flowers.

This may have been too many details ... 

But the pants are simple.  These are basic leggings that I drafted using my wild ginger software.

What is your favorite embellishment?