The people have spoken! I've gotten lots of emails on top of the poll on the 360 blog and most folks say I should ditch the feathers. Janine sums up everyone's reasoning particularly well, so I'm going to quote her here.
"I voted for leaving off the feather trim. I think it is mainly because I don't view the trim as 'matching' the rest of the piece. I also think the sheer volume of the feather trim distracts from the wizard. Janine"
So last night I reluctantly put the pretty feather trim back with the other braids, trims and ribbons, pulled out a spool of Kreinik #16 braid and started to attach that to the outside edge of the wizard. I looked at other colors, particularly a tube of Kreinik Ombre in Misty Violet (navy, silver and touches of purple), but the silver looks the best. If I'd had a spool of the #32 braid I would have used that but since I don't, I doubled the thread and am in the process of stitching both lengths along the edge.
Most folks, whether they liked the feather boa trim or not, spoke of things like "cold" or "snow" or "snowglobes" and I think the silver Kreinik is both subtle, looks good with the wizard piece colors, and also gives a wintery feel. By coincidence I traded brands of beads with LD and now have a tube of Sundance beads which are clear and faceted. They look like little ice beads and I may scatter groups of them along the edge with the silver. I won't decide that until all the braid is attached.
I'm half-way through hand sewing it on. Right now it is slow going because I have to put my hand inside the piece like a hand puppet to attach the Kreinik across the top. I will speed up when I get the top arch finished and start down the other side. I am also not couching it but am attaching the Kreink by piercing it with a tiny sharp sewing needle. You can read how this is done here in section 7 near the bottom. I'm not using the flat Kreinik ribbon but the same thing can be done with #16 and #32 braid. The main thing to remember is that your thread will be abraded by going through the Kreinik so use short lengths and when it starts looking rubbed like it might break along the length, change threads. You won't have this problem with the flat ribbon as much. It is easier to attach this way, also.
http://www.needlepoint.org/StitchOfTheMonth/2005/december/directions.php
More details on the edging challenge as I figure out what I want to do and manage to do it!
You can see the Sundance beads on their website. They are really really really nice but no one in my area carries them so I haven't stitched with them much. If I remember correctly I have the Clear in size 14.
http://www.sundancedesignsonline.com/catalog.php?Line_ID=7&Subject_ID=All&Designer_ID=All&PageFinder=1&LimitRows=3
For those who don't know already, size 14 is perfect for 18 count canvas. Read more about various bead brands and see the recommended sizes of beads for various canvas sizes here.
http://www.firesidestitchery.com/FIRESIDE/FSgeneralpages/beads.htm
Jane/Chilly Hollow
Main blog at http://blog.360.yahoo.com/chillyhollow
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