C is for

Page from Letters and Monograms from the House of Malbranche

available at Wendy Schoen Design

is for cozy. Cozy as in a new

 

warm and cozy flannel slip for winter time. Our baby is very cold natured. And when she is cold, she is cranky. Like any good Mimi, I will do what I can to make her happy. (Bill Cosby says, "I'm getting old, I'm trying to get into heaven.")  This is a not the best picture of this little slip but I was in a hurry. It is made from cashmere cotton purchased from Bessie Mary. You can't see it in this picture but I machine embroidered a small motif in the center of the yoke. Just for a pretty. I think the tuck is way too high visually but it works well. I'll show you later what I mean by "working." I followed the pattern instructions for constructing the hem.

I used the pattern "Essential Underthings" from

Australian Smocking and Embroidery's Beautiful Bishops book.

I took out about 3" fullness from both the front and back skirt because of the heaviness of the fabric. As you can see from the above photo, the skirt is gathered quite tightly into the yoke.  I shortened the length by 2 or 3 inches as well. AS&E's dresses tend to be longer than our mommy likes them.

Now to the "working" of the slip. Not only does it make our baby warmer, it really helps hold the skirt shape of the dress worn over it. Here is a side by side picture of the fall bishop. On the left is without the slip, the right is with the slip. Mommy says it makes her look like a little bell.

I hope you are staying cozy and warm as well, faithful reader. Back to the sewing room for me!

Thankful for more blessings

I am one again thankful for more blessings from friends. You know I do sew as well, that is why I posted two projects I had done before I posted this one. I didn't want you to think that I was a total slacker! I said total, I didn't try to intimate that I didn't have slacker tendencies. All of that aside...

Once again a treasure of a friend gave the gift of her time to sew for our baby.

Our Baby Mommy is in love with bishops. It is a good thing because while they look good on any baby, they really look good on our baby!!

This precious red polka dot bishop is from a poly/cotton fabric found in the closet. I have no recollection of buying, using or being gifted with this fabric. It was just there. The pattern is once again "Beginnings" from Australian Smocking and Embroidery, issue #73. The smocking plate is Cherry Surprise, also from AS&E, # 42.

A simple design on a simple fabric is sometimes best. I think we sometimes try to do bigger and better when simple is all that needs to be said.

Best of all is seeing it modeled by our baby.

She wore it too church last Sunday with her new red Mary-Janes that she promptly kicked off. She has recently discovered the mirror and how to laugh. It does a Mimi's heart good to see Mommy and Baby having such fun together.

More blessings from friends

 

My friends are afraid this baby may be nekkid. LOL, just kidding. When I knew I couldn't keep up, I recruited reinforcements. My friend, Dawn, also a stitching buddy graciously agreed to smock a bishop for our baby. I had made a bishop as a gift from this butterfly print pique a while back. When our baby Mommy spotted what was left, she claimed it. And here are the beautiful results. Dawn is a superb stitcher. She can smock circles around most of us. These are her photos.

Close up of the gorgeous smocking. Also is the piping detail at the neck. The pattern is "Beginnings" from AS&E #73. The smocking plate is "Jewel" by Wonderfully Made, available from your favorite heirloom retailer. I just love it, and better yet, so does her mother.

 The back, where the smocking meets perfectly in the back. I never have that luck. Or should I say skill. Buttons are antique mother of pearl that were in my Jeannie basket.

 

But this beautiful dress would not be complete without its model. She is 3 and half months old, weighs 16# and this is a size 6 months. Fits perfectly.

Notice the cheek chewing. She is beginning to cut teeth. That has proved a little dicey the past few days. Not a happy camper. But pretty no matter what.

Thank you again Dawn!!!

Flying bishop

Like I asked before, how long does it take to smock a baby bishop? One transatlantic flight and a layover. The only thing missing are the bullion roses around the bottom. Those are almost done now.  Here it is waiting to dry after I blocked it.

A close up of the smocking. My daughter wanted an ecru and white bishop similar to one she has seen on Sara's blog. And I realized I had not done a bishop for the baby yet. This one was pleated already so I pulled out my trusty Anchor color card to choose floss colors.

First posted at Country Bumpkin

Since I didn't have a lot of extra time when I was preparing to leave town, I used a kit I had purchased a while back from Australian Smocking and Embroidery. The dress is called Beginnings from issue #73. It is a poly/cotton fabric. I love using Swiss voile, Swiss Batiste etc, but sometimes I think a new mommy might appreciate something a bit more wash and wear. This mommy is not adverse to ironing, but everyone needs a break now and then. An added bonus? This design stitches up crazy fast! So I am off to finish up the roses and do construction.

Sweet pink and 200 posts!

I can't believe that I have run my mouth 200 posts worth! Well some people could probably believe it. It is no secret that I have a wealth of opinions. Well worded or timed could be argued, but a wealth of them none the less. 

And in starting the new year right, another project finished. It is a shame, it has been smocked and sewn for a few weeks, all it lacked was buttons, buttonholes and a hem. I hate finish work almost as much as I hate prep work. I want to do the fun part.

This little bishop is from a kit featured in Australian Smocking & Embroidery Issue #68. It is made from a poly/cotton winter twill. Originally it was meant to be long sleeved; I will admit I am not a fan of long sleeved bishops. I don't know why, just not. I have used this fabric before here. I love this fabric. It feels like a lightweight flannel because of the brushed nature of the fabric. The only thing I don't like about the fabric is it is hard to hem without showing, so this time I did a tucked hem, it doesn't show that way.

Since it was a kit, the bishop was already preconstructed and pleated.This presented a problem with the sleeve seams. I wasn't going to take the pleating out and start over to achieve seamless pleating. So I improvised. I have said before, "I don't care how you get to Cleveland as long as you get there." When I was smocking it, I jumped the seams with my smocking as much as possible. You see a bit of a "dimple" at the seams, but I prefer that over a lump at the seams. The smocking design is a compilation of several designs. I decided I didn't feel in the mood for the design featured in the magazine for this kit, so I used a combination of Mother of Pearl in AS&E #29 and my own thing  and then added a few cast on flowers from Gail Doane's Sew Cute Couture.

This was also the first time I had ever piped a bishop neckline. I love it. Cheryl over at Time-Really-Does-Fly, pipes her bishops all the time and I love the look of them. The kit came with the pink satin piping. I conquered my fear and went for it. I love it. 

I think it came out pretty cute. This is for a gift. So the combo of the poly cotton fabric and elasticized sleeves should make it pretty easy care for a new mommy.

I hope you have had time to stitch a bit.

Sewing by proxy

Remember when I posted about the reader who contacted me because she wanted help making a christening gown for her granddaughter?

Well a few hours on the telephone, a dozen camera charges and a couple of hundred emails later and here are the results. She has done a gorgeous job. I knew all along she could do it. She hadn't smocked since this baby's mother was a child. Just like riding a bicycle, she is back at it with great results!

She used Eternal Love from AS&E Issue 42. She purchased her supplies from Bessie Mary. Thanks Jan!

It was delightful fun helping someone rediscover a forgotten passion. I just know that her granddaughter will benefit from this refound love of smocking and heirloom sewing. The christening is this Sunday, and I know it will be a day for all of them to cherish. I am glad to have been a part of it.

The pictures may have my stamp on them, but the stitching was all hers. Great job Mary!

The finished Wee Care...going to the fair

Here is the Wee Care gown finished and ready to ride to the fair. I delivered it yesterday. It is made from silky voile. I had just barely enough scraps left from the last christening gown to squeeze this out. It is my new favorite fabric. The gown pattern itself is another favorite. It is Mother of Pearl/Oyster from Australian Smocking and Embroidery Issue #29 by Robyn Beaver. I have used it for not only Wee Care but for many newborn baby gifts. It is a tried and true.

The smocking design itself is from an ancient, out of print Sew Beautiful, Special Occasion 1992. It is Watercolors by Wendy Ragan

The original smocking design is done on linen. I have always wanted to do this gown so I chose it for the gown I planned to enter in the fair. It would be a beautiful design to use for a christening gown.

I really like the Madeira applique hem. The original calls for the embroidery all the way around the hem. Not enough time for that this time. I used a cheater method to pin stitch the hem. (I'll try to show that in the next few days, but my kids are coming home so I have to shovel a path through this house first.)

The smocking is stitched with overdyed floss by Needle Necessities. That company has sadly gone out of business but there are overdyed flosses available from other sources now. Cross stitch and needlepoint shops are a good place to look for it. The colors I used were very pale so it gives a very subtle yet colorful effect.

Now lets see if it bring home a ribbon. The Wee Care gowns entered into the fair are donated to the university hospital. I hope it brings comfort to a hurting family.

There is no original thought..

Bunny of La Sewista is in the process of making what promises to be a gorgeous christening gown. I had commented on her blog last week while she was planning to pleat the fabric for a bishop gown with a lace overlay. When pleating two layers of fabric most patterns, books and instructions will tell you to baste the fabrics together and treat them as one as you send them through the pleater. This makes great sense on the surface. As sewists we want to control things. So it sounds like it will help us control the fabric. But a pleater works by sending the fabric through 3 ridged rods that look like gears and onto the needles. Much like the feed dogs on a sewing machine there is no way for the fabric layers not to shift as it goes through the "gears." And one fabric is going to feed faster than the other. By basting the fabrics together, you don't allow the fabric to move freely as it goes through the gears, and it fights against itself and the basting. causing skipped and y-pleats. Otherwise known as a hot mess. One of my son in laws would say "its a physics thing." Now understanding that statement may help his phenomenal golf game and probably makes a lot of sense to a lot of people but life science was my gig not physics. I may not understand it, I just know that it works.

The best way to pleat two layers is to roll each fabric on its own rod, put both rods through the handles, feed the fabrics in at the same time. Each fabric enters the pleater on its own. Very rarely will you not have one layer of fabric come up shorter than the other. As you pleat pay close attention to the fabric as it is enters the pleater, not the rolled fabric on the rods.

Bodice of silk organza/silk batiste christening gown.
Fabrics pleated as one.

Now in reference to the post title, before anyone bows down to my infinite wisdom and knowledge I must confess I was clued in by someone else. I sought advice from Gail Doane when I was embarking on a christening gown made from silk organza and silk batiste. Gail has been featured several times in Australian Smocking and Embroidery, Sew Beautiful and teaches for SAGA and other groups around the world. So when it comes to questions about construction, Gail is the one I ask.

That is what is great about the sewing world, we all learn from each other.

I've been found out!

It appears as if oldest daughter has found me, and linked me! Geez louise now I have to be careful of what I say about her. I think she is just stalking me because her two sisters have pictures and she doesn't. But I can fix that, and you have to always be careful what you ask for.

Age 4
First dance recital
Spring 1983

Gotcha!

Truly though she is the apple of our eye

Age 8 months
Wearing Mommy's Christening Gown
(shown in post below as most prized possession)

and its hard to believe how grown they all are. I started sewing for her when she was just walking, but I didn't start smocking until she was about three. I don't think I still have this dress but when I think back on it, it was pretty awful. It was done with the iron on dots you pick up by hand, there was no back smocking. I didn't know about back smocking so the ruffle on the top was all sprung out. It is amazing how far you come over the years. I have taken lots of classes in recent years but for most of my sewing life I have been self taught from books. So not really too bad in the scheme of things I guess.

Flower girl
Age 4





Dress for her flower girl
Adaptation of Australian Smocking and Embroidery Snowdrop Issue #30
Sleeve and collar from AS+E Storybook Issue #66
The smocking is a bit better 20+ years later.


Blushing bride and handsome groom
Nov 11, 2006

Love you honey. Now go back to that blog of yours and clean up that language! You weren't raised that way.

Bees doin' it; birds doin' it....

So I guess I might too. Create a blog that is. Not really sure what I will do with a blog besides join the masses that have one. I enjoy reading other blogs so I figured "Why not?" The down side will be that it puts my poor grammar skills out there for the world to see. OUCH!

I plan to share my projects and perhaps some knowledge along the way. Please bear with me as I learn how to post and format these pages.

I will post pictures of some of my passion.

This is one of the gowns I have done in recent years. It is smocked and hand embroidered. I love monograms on gowns with the intent that the gowns will become family heirlooms. This is a basic square yoke gown with an embroidered inset down the center. The embroidery took about 100 hours to complete. I loved every minute of it. My husband also had the privilege of baptizing the baby who wore this gown. What a blessing.

This gown was a challenge in that I had never made a gown with a rounded T-yoke. I used Sarah Howard Stone's French Hand Sewing Vol II. I ended up unstitching the center panel three different times. Doesn't sound like much until you realize that the seams were all trimmed and roll and whipped by machine. That is a lot of teeny stitches to take out. But the result was worth it.







This last gown is my most recent. I am always on the lookout for "victims." This was for the first grandchild of a friend of mine. At first I was sad that this grandmother didn't want a lot of embroidery on the gown. I was quickly won over by the lusciousness of silk organza over silk batiste. What a dream to work on! It is not snow white but it is whiter than it appears here. Its more of a natural white. The bullions are done in pale pink.

I hope you have enjoyed seeing some samples of my passion. Until the next time.