OK slushy bit first....
It's a year ago today that I started this blog!
And what made me start? Well, a number of reasons really, but the main one was the fact that I gave up the terrible weed (cigarettes that is!) and needed something to keep me occupied - and I'm pleased to say it has worked :)
I never thought I would get into blogging, but I am amazed at the amount of wonderful friends from all over the world I have made over the past year.
And yes, there have been low moments, but generally on the whole, bloggers are a very caring and sharing community and I count myself fortunate that I am a part of that .
So thank you to all you lovely people out there who read this blog and comment on what I have been up to.

Speaking of comments, as you know its impossible to reply sometimes because of a missing email address. Karen left a comment on the last post asking how I joined the seams at the back of these Dressels so I will answer it here.

If I am going to gesso or paint over the fabric I would just oversew the seam. As you can see below once the paint is applied you don't really notice the seam anyway. But bear in mind all these Dressels I have made so far have just been 'mockettes', different ideas I have been trying out. If I were making them to exhibit or sell they would be finished off a lot neater than this.
This seam has been oversewn:

This seam on the 'Ra-Ra Dressel' was joined using mattress stitch.
And this seam on the 'Denim Dressel' is ideal as the seam becomes a part of the finished design.
And this weeks Dressel?
I cobbled this one together in spare moments during the week. Do you realise how difficult it is to sew beads on to wire using a wire thread - especially when you only have the odd ten minutes before you have to rush off to work? The ends of my fingers were like a pincushion :)

This one is especially for Val (Homeleightigger) who thought of weddings when she saw the 'Blackpool Dressel'.

I used cotton over two layers of batting and marked out diamond shapes which I then machined over. A bead was sewn on where the lines crossed.
The fabric was attached to a cardboard tube then gesso was applied followed by a coat of white acrylic paint.
The 'veil' and 'tiara' were knitted in one piece with 0.2m gauge enamelled copper wire on the knitting machine in plain stocking stitch. Beads were then sewn on.
To make the 'bridal bouquet' I knitted a straight piece of wire in stocking stitch.
This was sandwiched between two layers of organza.I used the sewing machine to stitch an outline of a petal shape which was then zig zagged around the edges and cut out close to the stitching. The heat gun was used to melt back the organza on both sides, but not totally. This has left them nice and 'crunchy'.Curly-whirlys were made using 0-5 mm wire. Then all these pieces were fixed together and attached to the veil. And here we have it:

'Wedding Dressel'