Sweet, Sweet Wee Care Gown

I have written here before about Wee Care and how near and dear to my heart it is. One of the highlights at SAGA covention every year is the Wee Care Trunk Show as well as the collecting of Wee Care gowns from chapters and members from all over the country.

Each year at convention members/chapters bring or send gowns. blankets and bonnets to be collected at that convention and donated to a local hospital in the town where the convention is held. I believe this year that the 1100, (yes you read that right, ELEVEN HUNDRED) items collected were donated to the NICU units at  Children's Hospital of The King's Daughters and Portsmouth Naval Hospital. 1100 items. That is remarkable. Stitchers have the biggest hearts.

Posted at Chadwick's Heirlooms

The little gown above really caught my eye. I just love its sweetness. It is reminiscent of Sarah Howard Stone's "Babette" pattern. In a teeny tiny version.

The precious contrasting ruffle, trimmed with ecru laces and finished off with three sweet teeny bullion roses. It looks to be made from Swiss batiste. Only the finest for these precious angels.

Valentine Love-Wee Care in Pink

 

February says love, or so says Hallmark. And so does Wee Care. So what better way to celebrate February than with Wee Care. (Excuse my messy dining room table in the background.)

This little gown is from Lezette Thomason's Angel Gown pattern. It is very quick to make up and you can get two gowns out of one yard of fabric. It never says on the pattern but I think this would fit a 4-5# baby. I did both of these gowns in an afternoon and evening. While the men around here watched that football game. I did take a break and make some jambalaya. I am sure that is why the Saints won. I have wonderous powers. :)

I used Imperial batiste and did lace shaping on the front as opposed to embroidery. I did not cut the fabric out from behind the lace.

The hem and sleeve edge are both finished with beading and edging.

 

The pattern called for 1/4" neck binding. After doing 1/8" so much I have come to prefer it, so on the second gown I made it the more narrow bias binding. 

 

I love pink ribbon. 

Now back to Goin' Fishin'

Home again, home again jiggety jag

Whew!!!!!!!!!! That about says it all in one word. Had a great time, even though I felt way behind before I even left. Just not enough hours in the day. I got home last night from SAGA convention. It was a blast as always. It will take me a couple of days to chronicle this oversized stitching slumber party as it deserves, so bear with me. If you have never been to a stitching "gathering" whether it is a class given by a shop in your town, workshop hosted by your local SAGA, EGA, ANG or ASG, or a large convention such as this, I encourage you to do so. I frantically left home after our local SAGA chapter meeting the night before, slung my belongings together and drove to Indianapolis. I was met at the front door of the hotel by three friends. They were there before the bellman had my carp out of the car. It might be friends you only see once a year, but oh the fun you will have.

My intentions were good to take photos and blog every day while I was there. Well you already know that didn't happen. I was too busy laughing with my friends, running my mouth, eating out, having impromptu show and shares to find my "round tuit."  BUT, I thought of it everyday; does that count?

The first evening there we helped set up all of these for the Wee Care Display. The dress stands look much better dressed. It is really remarkable the awesome gowns some of our members lovingly make. Some are very basic and others are quite elaborate but all are beautiful.

There was a welcome reception of finger foods and saying "Hey" to everyone you hadn't already seen and listening to a few words by one of our long time members about the beginnings of SAGA 30 years ago. It was SAGA's  "Pearl" anniversary this year.

Then it was onto dinner with about 10 of us. It began a week of laughter, friendship and comraderie. Then back to the room for the first of many show and shares. You have to bring goodies to share with one another. It is how we are inspired. We assembled Wee Care bonnet kits to give out in the hospitality room.

 I also passed out the ear plugs. Just in case you have a noisy room mate. Thankfully none of us were that way, but just in case. The girls I hung out with had two rooms next door to one another. We just flung the bar into the door and traveled back and forth between the two in our pj's. There may have been some chocolate and liquid refreshment on occasion. MIght have been, not real sure.

We giggled like school girls, caught up on everyone's lives, gathered our supplies for class the next day and got to bed way toooooooo late.

Stayed tuned for the next installment.

Almost time for SAGA convention

It is that time to start compiling my belongings to pack the car for SAGA convention. Whew. This is what a Wee Care jungle looks like before it is tamed and packed up. Sorry for the fuzzy picture, I was in a hurry. We won't even talk about whether class supplies are together or laundry done. The answer to both of those is NO! Have to run, lots to do before I leave Tuesday.

Parting shot, a tiny 1-2# size Wee Care gown with a picture smocked rocking horse. There is a lot not right with this little gown but it is still sweet.

Going to the fair.....

Well yesterday was the day to drive to the fair and pick up our chapter member's entries. Thank heaven the weather was kind this year. There are some years that it is broiling hot in the dusty rural area of Missouri. But this year the weather was delightful. High 70's, sunny skies and a nice breeze. That doesn't mean that the horse barns didn't still have an "aroma." As is always the case, we made our way to the home ec building first. That is what I came for after all. Not a bad showing. I had four entries this year and came away with four ribbons. Three blues and one white. Two of my blues were best of show for their division. Not too shabby.

I will be real honest and say that the fact that both of my best of shows look as if someone slept in them. Aghhhh. I guess they had to be handled quite a bit for judging. It is just a killer when you spend so much time ironing it. I wanted them to be presentable when they arrived. I laughed out loud when I saw the ribbon looped over the bonnet of the pink linen set. I guess someone thought that was the way it was supposed to be. Could be a trend I guess.

In the top picture you can see a portion of the quilt that got the gold award for the home ec building. It was spectacular. It is a whole cloth quilt w ith millions of the tiniest hand stitches. If I had been thinking I would have gotten a picture of the whole quilt but here is a teeny portion.

On to the next thing. What you are you sewing these days?

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.

Wee Care smocking

It is time for the fair again. I am sad that the two big projects I wanted to get finished have not happened. I am even more sad because I hear that submissions to the fair's smocking category are down this year. :::Sigh::: So, I have been furiously trying to get a Wee Care gown smocked this week. I am headed to the sewing room now to apply the bias binding on the neck and sleeves. I may re-do some of the embroidery on the hem if I have time.

If you ever want to get a good look at your stitching, take a picture of it. When you upload it, you will see every lump, bump and bruise. Oh well, don't have time to re do it all.

Back later with more.

Have you been following Needle N Thread's thread painting lessons? I have to catch up. Eeek! All of my kids will be home next week so don't know how much stitching I will get done. Peaches are almost done too, need to get some jelly made.

Just a quick stitch Wee Care gown

I needed to see something finished. I had smocked a Wee Care gown last week in the car on the way to Springfield. I grabbed it yesterday and stitched it up real quick. Took about an hour to stitch together. When you are working on something that feels like it will never be done, like a linen daygown, you just need to see some results.

Our SAGA chapter has Wee Care workshops where we assembly line Wee Care gown kits. Sometimes in our hurry we make boo boos. I didn't pay close attention when I pulled out this Wee Care kit that the pleating took a little wonky path. So, the neckline has a little cow lick on the right. I don't think it will be noticeable once the gown is on. If I had noticed to begin with I would have re-pleated it. ::sigh::

But, it is sweet and done and I feel like I finished something.

OKAY OKAY!

Okay I have gotten emails, and now comments on what a lackadaisical (how is that for a word) blogger I have been. Truth be told, I have been in kind of a funk. I haven't sewn much and I have taken even less pictures. I am like a first grader, I like pictures with my text. I guess that is why I was never very into the Wall Street Journal, not enough pictures.

And I am SO OVER winter. Like many I am usually the casual weather complainer but I am officially tired of the wet, cold, white and FRIGID. I used to scoff at those who traveled south for the winter, I am rethinking my position. Costa Rica is looking a good. Remind me of this when I am bemoaning the August heat.

Also this weekend is the last weekend of Mardi Gras, I always miss Mobile this time of year. The parades, the balls, the beads, the moon pies,

the marching bands,

the white tie and tails of costume de rigueur. And like most native Mobilians I will step right and let you know that Mardi Gras started in Mobile over 300 years ago. We're proud that way.

Here is a little tune, to let you get in the mood.

And to top it off, the azaleas will be blooming soon. So since we know I can't have text without picturesI added a few. Some are from the Mobile Press-Register and others from flickr.

Spring Hill College Chapel

So I will try to be more attentive, I did get back in the sewing room this week making some pre-constructed gowns for my daughter to smock for her friends. She took them with her before I could get a picture though. I used the same pattern that my local SAGA chapter is using for Wee Care gowns now. It gave her enough area to confidently smock without being overwhelming. Blue batiste with ecru lace and pink batiste without lace. Both pretty. Hopefully she will take a picture of them completed and I can show you.

I am off, I promise to be back soon. Delphi is having another sew up you stash so I should have lots to show for my time.

What is this?

Exactly what is this? Is it a scrap basket? Laundry? bedding for the cat? Wouldn't he love that?

No! It is a basket of love. It is Wee Care gowns waiting to be smocked and constructed like this sweet wee gown above. Our chapter is trying a different gown for us. For this gown we used Ginger Snaps Raglan gown from her Daygown Book IV.

I have a boy gown in the works too. But for now a sweet trim, a tiny embroidery compliment the simple geometric smocking.

Dolly needs a new dress

Not getting rid of all of your UFO's can be a good thing. This doll dress is left from a class I took in 1997 at my first SAGA convention. It was a class on Madeira applique by Wendy Schoen. The only reason I have a doll dress is because it was a class project. I think doll clothes are great and perhaps when I have grand daughters I will relish in making doll clothes; (I have a hard time imagining that.) but doll clothes just are not my thing. But that is okay, I have this project and I finished it because my local chapter is having a raffle of an American Girl Doll and wardrobe. (If you are interested in tickets let me know.) This UFO was so old I had to piece together enough fabric to finish the dress and I am sure there were more scraps left from the collar but I couldn't find them, so I had to piece together cuffs for the sleeves as well. In the pictures it looks like the buttons are different sizes but they are the same size. Shoot I even used some of my prized antique baby buttons for this project.

Who ever wins this doll probably won't know or care that they are antique mother of pearl buttons. I enjoy using them. Better to use them than leave them in a box to be sold at a garage sale later on.

The doll raffle is to fund our chapter Wee Care project so I am happy to contribute. Below is another class project from Norfolk's SAGA convention in 2003. It is a bishop out of Swiss batiste. The unique feature of this dress is that there are no side seams. Kind of cool.

At this rate I MAY finish convention projects before I die. I probably would have to stop going to convention to catch up though.

Do you see a Kitty?

I haven't had time to resize the pictures from the fair. But I did stitch another Wee Care gown on the way. I used an older picture smocking plate by Kathy Crisp "Mini More". I used the kitty. I think it looks like a kitty, the husband is not so sure. So what do you think?

For a more tailored and gender neutral look I trimmed the sleeves with entredeux instead of lace. I often smock my wee care gowns with Finca Perle cotton 16. It is the perfect weight to smock these tiny gowns. The 16 is the same size as two stands of cotton floss and it goes so quick. I have a couple of UFO's to take on the plane to Florida with me. I can't travel without some stitching to take with me. I will be back Sunday. I am going to see oldest daughter. Keep stitching.

Wee pursuits

I have a teeny Wee Care gown. I stitched this almost completely on the way back from the fairgrounds. So you can stitch a Wee Care gown in four hours or less. This gown uses the Grady gown pattern developed by the Atlanta chapter for Grady Memorial Hospital. There is no bias neckband. It is done by adding 1 inch to the top of each piece and then pressing over 1 inch before pleating. The smocking is stitched about 3/4" inch below the folded edge through all layers. This catches the fabric that has been pressed to the back. A ribbon is then run through the casing that is left when the stitching is complete and the pleating threads are removed. It is not may favorite look, but it gives a lot a leeway in dressing a tiny baby because the ribbon casing is adjustable. This is the gown pattern that my chapter uses to supply Wee Care gowns to Cardinal Glennon Children's Hospital. This alteration could be made to any bishop really. There are additional Wee Care patterns on the SAGA website at http://www.smocking.org/weecare_program.php

I love Wee Care!

What is strange in this picture?

You can see the top of the cutting table! It feels great, so great that I am anxious to get in there and get to work on something. Anything. Along the back of the table on the left is my Wee Care basket, which right now is woefully under supplied. I keep cut out, constructed, waiting to be smocked Wee Care gowns in it at all times. In the center is a pillow I made from a class project from SAGA convention a couple of years ago. On the right is a pile of UFOs that I don't want to get buried somewhere. Now lest any of you run screaming from the room under the mistaken impression that these are all of the UFOs I have, please rest easy that this is a TINY pile of a FEW of them. I have a double cabinet and a couple of containers in the double closet full of UFOs as well. These are just the ones I want to get to soon. I had to go buy a new seam ripper from all of my trails of last week. How sad is that?

I had to chuckle at myself today when I was vacuuming. To vacuum is a 3 step process. You have to first sweep the carpet. Yes I said sweep. So many tiny bits of seam clippings, piping ends, tracing paper scraps, interfacing scraps etc etc to pile and scoop up first. Then I used the nozzle to get as many loose threads as I could before I used the vacuum so that I don't wrap quite as many around the brushes in the vacuum cleaner.

Why go through all of this you ask? I have a child who when she comes home thinks it is her responsibility to clean house. Her mother doesn't do a good enough job I guess and I am not going to sway her opinion. But she has this nasty habit of getting grumpy while she does it. One of the things that makes her really cranky is threads wrapped around the brushes of the vacuum. Is this the same child who tried to vacuum up a petrified peanut butter and jelly sandwich found under the bed? Who didn't wash her uniform skirt her entire senior year of high school on a dare? Who thought that the only way to clean a bathroom was to throw away a year's worth of empty shampoo bottles she has stashed in the vanity instead of throwing away? Could this be the same child?

So just to please her when she comes home, I go through this lengthy process to vacuum the sewing room. Perhaps she'll notice. Now I am off to mend a stole for my husband, a tie for my son and finish off two Wee Care items I stitched in the car yesterday on the to and from the fairgrounds.