Song of the Shirt: Chemise Vests

Here is a beautiful fragment of a late 19th century camisole or corset cover...the broderie anglaise around the neckline has all be worked by hand, as has the tiny insert at the centre...it was just a fragment, with mends and tatters I wanted to show the beauty of it...display it as a precious fragment of someone else's life, long before mine began;it would probably have been worn by a lady of means.
My intention.....on adding my own embroidery, lace and mother of pearl ornamentation,is to draw attention to the piece, hoping that all the work will blend together as one. Also, the amount of time that I have spent on the stitching I feel honours the amount of time already spent on it so long ago.
It seemed right to mount it on a wonderfully soft piece of the vintage shirting from the quilt, a shirt and then quilt which undoubtedly came from a poorer home...the contrasting lives of several people joined together and celebrated in a new object of beauty, but also one that I hope will "speak" and provoke thought.