The Celtic Shrug

Every now and then I make something that I really love. The Celtic Shrug is one of those pieces. The idea grew out of a black shrug in a similar style that I made for a friend. Both shrugs were made of high quality pleather, and both featured specially made lace embroidery that I created with my embroidery machine. That is where the similarity ends. The brown shrug was destined to be the Celtic Shrug from day one. In my mind, I could already see the rich brown pleated taffeta on the ends of the lace sleeves.

I knew what color threads I wanted to use for the Celtic knot on the back. The hardest part was locating some really nice brown taffeta for the pleats and lining.

I started by making the embroidery on a piece of netting.

Once I cut out the shrug pieces, I sewed the embroidery to the center back, and cut out the pleather behind it ever so carefully. 

I added an inner layer of netting for stability. Once it was all assembled, I cut a hole in the lining behind the embroidery and turned under the edges. 

The sleeves are my favorite part, I think. Or then again, maybe it's the back. The shrug lasted one whole hour in my Etsy Shop and seems to have found a happy home.  J