My friend Nina recently got a new job as the leader of Sunnhordland Guide service. Like the guides before her, she needed a proper guide-gown. Years ago I designed a viking-inspired with a princess-cut, sewn in raw silk, and it still looks pretty timeless.
This is the belt being made. Freestyle machine-embroidery on water-soluable fabric. And then the letters are sewn down on raw silk. The letters spell the old Catholic prayer of Ave Maria, and was engraved into the old church-bell.
Beautiful. I have only worked with raw silk once, and my fingers still tingle at the memory.