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

Good morning !

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

Embroidery is one of Russia's strongest craft legacies, with the Grand Duchess Marie Pavlovna Romanova as an emblematic figure, who teamed up with Coco Chanel to develop her expertise 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 include this very important part of Russian identity in the collection, but not being really experienced in embroidery, I suggested 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 wonderful attention!) heritage of more traditional embroidery. She is used to collaborating with illustrators to create original and contemporary embroidery designs and I was delighted to have the "Britney touch" for a set of new designs that are reminiscent of the Ballets Russes universe and Maÿlis' vision of Slavic embroidery, associated with one of the flagship models of my new collection: the Maïa dress/blouse.

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

If the large embroidered motif took me several days to embroider, devoting a little time to it 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 models that we offer you! I present here a small step by step in image on the example of a small floral motif, but the procedure was the same for the large motif in the style of a bouquet of flowers.

To make my embroidery, I chose a very beautiful white cotton fabric (the one from the white Sparrow shirt my husband is wearing). Having considered the size of my piece beforehand and since my piece was large, I transferred the pattern by transparency directly onto my fabric using a Pilot Frixion pen that goes away with the heat of an iron. You can also use Solufix (a material that is ironed onto the fabric and comes away together when washed) and Britney Pompadour even sells Solufix boards on her shop to print directly!

The designs are to scale, just print at "actual size" or 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 Maÿlis recommends. The color recommendations are also provided with the model, I admit I used the colors I had available (and which date from my first attempt at embroidery... phew, a long time ago).

I then positioned my hoop so as not to encroach on the pattern and I attacked. I started by embroidering the outline with backstitch, then I filled in my different patterns with the flat stitch (and a little more backstitch especially for the pistils). I then ironed my fabric, then I washed it, then ironed again and tadamm. Well... I'm a beginner and clearly my work can be improved but the general effect is really cool so don't hesitate to get started!

In the downloadable file you will find the patterns, instructions and materials, a step-by-step photo of my creation of the pattern (click here to find the product offered!)

I can't wait to discover your wonders, don't hesitate to share on Instagram with @maisonfauve @britneypompadour and @maisonfauvexbritneypompadour so that we can see your embroidered creations and again a huge thank you to Britney Pompadour for offering us these pretty patterns! You can see her work on her Etsy shop and her site :)

Grab your drums and needles, let’s go for a great embroidery session!