STARTING THE TIDY UP

The back shaping was a process of dropping off whenu evenly so it achieved an even cut away up to the shoulders.  These rows were worked quite quickly - very much like the shaping of a knitted garment where you knit two together at regular intervals and the number of stitches on the needles gets less and less until you are down to nearly nothing.  It is such a great feeling to know the end is in sight, especially as the days are being ticked off as I head toward assessment date.  I plan to have the bodice finished one week before assessment weekend so I have time to finish off bookwork and practice my presentation.  I think I am on schedule, although who knows how long it will take to work out the joining together of all the whenu at the neck and shoulders.  I have never seen it done anywhere before so will definitely be a case of trial and error. I'm sure someone has done it, but I have not come across any photos on the internet.  Sure would be helpful right about now!

My dressmaking skills are coming to the fore as I start the finishing off processes.  After weaving up the fronts and back, it took 16 hours to thread all the ends back and catch the missed whenu with thread so they would not poke through to the other side.  I had chosen not to do the traditional finish on the end of each row of whatu because I did not want the extra stitches to show.  Instead I knotted the aho and threaded it back through the whatu on the reverse side.  In my embroidery days I learnt that the back side of the work should look as neat and tidy as the front and this has always stuck with me.  So in celebration of this, here is a photo of the reverse.  I am very pleased with it.