Decorative Stitching on a pattern piece.

Good morning!  (Well, at least it is morning for me as I begin this post.)
Yesterday, I forgot to add how I did the stitching on the neckline.  I don't have pictures, but I can lay it out for you.

• First, I cut out all the pieces except the two neck bindings.
• I traced the neckbindings on the fabric (I had already cut out the two facing pieces.) and then interfaced the area that would cover the bindings.  I used a water soluble marker to trace them.  I did this because I did not know if the stitching would make the piece get smaller. 
• Next, I did a couple of samples on smaller pieces of fabric to see how I wanted to get the design to lay out.  i bought a rayon thread that was close to the color of the fabric.  I wanted to bring out the yellow, so it is a little bit more yellow than ivory.  I think the tone on tone look is a little more elegant than contrasting stitching.
• The fabric still seemed a little wimpy for all that stitching, so I used Solvy water soluble stabilizer on the underside of the fabric.  I used 505 temporary adhesive spray to keep the solvy in place.
• After I finished all the stitching, I checked the size against the pattern pieces and cut them out.  They did not change in size - but I would always do it this way just in case!
• I found that the added advantage of leaving the pieces uncut while stitching is that it is much easier to turn and manipulate the fabric under the presser foot.  I messed one up and tried it on a cut out piece and it was a nightmare!
• Finally, I rinsed out the cut pieces by hand and let them dry before sewing them in.  This is unnecessary, but I don't like the feeling of the stiff stabilizer when I'm working with it.

My new Baby lock has hundreds of stitches on it, so I want to incorporate that into some of my garments.  This was a leaf and vine pattern.  I ran three rows of it with the middle row running the opposite direction.