Recent sewing

In an unprecedented occurrence, the kids' Christmas outfits were completed before Thanksgiving. This will probably never happen again. My only stipulation in picking out the patterns and fabric was "must be easy". I chose a lime green corduroy embroidered with reindeer. Caroline got a very big-girl skirt (can't wait to make some of these for spring/summer). Helen got a jumper. And Peter got a Johnny. I was really enthusiastic about these projects because they were each unique. I'm fairly certain the girls will be able to wear theirs again next Christmas. Peter, however, will not and that makes me a little sad.

In non-Christmas sewing, I finished 3 easy daygowns for my dear friend Nell, who recently delivered her first babies - triplets! She is awesome. The girls are identical twins and I thought two unique gowns would make telling them apart a little bit easier. I did some shadow embroidery (my favorite part!) to coordinate with the trim. This is my favorite style of infant daygown - poly-cotton blend for no ironing, buttons in the front for easy on and off, no fussy collar or itchy trim. I hope Mom, Dad, Camille, Ann Fisher, and Rob love them, too.

 

Fall sewing

I saw a smocking plate in a Sew Beautiful magazine last year that I knew would be perfect for Peter. I asked for Daddy's approval to smock something for our boy and received it. It took me a while, but I finally finished three little mallards - perfect for our future duck hunter.

Aren't they adorable?

Once the smocking was done, the outfit went together very quickly (like during two nap times). I used the Children's Corner "Johnny" pattern.

Just in time for duck season

Helen is wearing a dress I made four years ago for Caroline. Peter's Johnny has the same brown tattersall as the sunflower dress. I wanted something coordinating for Caroline's dress, but without all the smocking. I'll have to get a picture of just Caroline in it. I used the Children's Corner "Ruthie" in a purple floral cotton print and a butterscotch gingham for the collar and trim. This is a great pattern. The sleeves and yoke are fully lined, which means very little hand sewing! I say this about every project, but this is one of my favorite dresses. Plus, it suits Caroline's sweet personality so well. And she loves purple. Win all around.

Now I need some ideas for Christmas sewing? Any suggestions? Another Johnny for Peter? Ruthies for both girls?

THE dress

After some encouragement from my biggest fans (Kevin and Caroline), I decided to enter my white heirloom dress in the Delta Fair. To my surprise, it won first in its section (adult or child heirloom item). It also won Best in Show for its category (French heirloom sewing). I had no idea whether it had won or not, so it was a lot of fun to find it in the Best of Show display case. I was already so pleased with the dress. This is just icing on the already-frilly cake!

The details

I had so much fun making Caroline's flower girl dress. I loved every bit of the process - planning the design, selecting the lace and fabric, picking out the embroidery pattern, constructing the dress and lace bands, drafting the slip. I took my time with this project and it was well worth the time and effort. I documented some of the process it took to get to the finished dress.

I had been thinking about what kind of dress I wanted to make for almost a year before I made my final decisions. The "problem" with heirloom sewing is that the choices are endless! I bought all of my fabric and laces in January of this year and began work almost immediately. I chose to borrow an out-of-print (vintage, I suppose?) Children's Corner pattern called "Grace". I wanted a pattern that would showcase a lot of embroidery because I love to embroider.

Looking at the lace and experimenting with embroidery design options

 

Go big or go home. I opted for a more intricate design. I was glad I did.

I used tape, a window, and a water-soluble pen to mark the design on the dress back, front, and sleeves.

Practice equals consistency with embroidery. Here I'm working on my bullion stitches (in green).

Slowly but surely, it's getting done. Sometimes I was sure I was crazy for choosing something with so. much. embroidery. But if I had 5 minutes, I'd sit down and make a few stitches. I brought it with me in carpool line. Most of it got done while watching TV with Kevin.  I couldn't believe it when I took my last stitch. There might have been cheering and a happy dance.

Marking how much to cut (yikes) off the top of the lace edging

Slow and steady is the key to joining lace. I couldn't believe how smoothly this part went. I kept thinking, "I'm doing it! It's working!"

This day I had a little helper who wanted a project of her own. A yarn needle, some thread, and a pack of wooden beads kept her occupied for a very long time.

I also had to make some significant cuts (yikes again) into the sleeves for a strip of embroidered insertion. This sleeve is ready for the gathered lace edging.

Speaking of gathered lace edging, I prefer to attach it by hand.

This is one of the last steps - attaching the lace border to the bottom of the dress. I measured Caroline and marked the dress in January. I mistakenly did not have Caroline try on the dress in May before sewing this band on and cutting the fabric. Caroline had grown almost an inch! Luckily, it didn't look too short. I had some bad dreams about it being too short. Lesson learned.

Almost done! I couldn't wait to soak that blue marker off!

I used the dress pattern to customize a slip for this dress specifically. I finished the arm and neck edges with a tiny hand-sewn French rolled seam.

I chose not to do buttons and buttonholes on the back placket. Instead, I used a vintage Victorian bar pin. It got lost in the graduation craziness. I didn't feel too sad about it because it wasn't expensive, nor was it a family heirloom. I need to get some little beauty pins.

I starched and ironed this thing 4 times before graduation! Kevin said the whole house smelled like starch. That fabric was stiff!

I couldn't be happier with the finished dress. It was a really special moment for me when Caroline put on her dress for the first time. It fit her perfectly (except for the tiny length issue) and I felt like the delicate details of the dress reflected her sweet personality. Caroline was so pleased with it and said she felt like a princess wearing it. I thought she looked absolutely beautiful!

So that's the diary of my first big heirloom sewing project. It sounds crazy, but I'm already looking forward to the next one!

Easter outfits

I know! It's been almost a month since Easter. I just today took pictures of the girls in their dresses.

For the girls' dresses, I used a Bonnie Blue pattern called "Jenna Leigh". It's a wrap dress that buttons in the back. I've made this dress a couple of times before (my goodness - Helen was little!), but hadn't done the smocked yoke version. I'm hoping this floral print will make a good transition into the fall and winter months.

For my sweet baby boy's outfit, I made a bubble (Maja's Heirlooms). The pattern has 2 inches of smocking, which takes no time at all. I decided to mix some embroidery with my smocking and created a little bullion stitch bunny. I'm completely obsessed with how cute the bunny is. It's a Peter Rabbit for my Peter!

I had so much fun putting this boy outfit together. Isn't it adorable? I love it. I'm so happy there are more little boy outfits in my future!

And it just wouldn't be a photo shoot at our house without some drama and silliness.

Pumpkin dresses

I love to sew. You'd be frightened by how many of my thoughts are about what I am sewing or what I'd like to sew. My sewing time is a bit limited these days. While making a red and green dress smocked with Santas would be fun, it's just not very practical. I try to make dresses that will last several seasons. That's not easy to do with baby clothes, since babies grow so quickly, but the girls are at an age where I can add extra length to the hem and they can wear the dresses for a year or more.

Last year I made green tattersall dresses that were finished just in time for Christmas. I sewed two buttons on the front of each dress and embroidered a Christmas tab that buttons on and off. Here's a picture of Caroline's.

I also had a friend machine embroider the girls' monograms on some bibs that I made. This is just a generic look for any season of the year.

So now it's time to debut the fall look for the green dresses. I embroidered pumpkins on the new tabs.

I'm very happy with the fall look. The Christmas tabs are ready to be buttoned on right after Thanksgiving!

Easter dresses

I went all-out for the girls' Easter dresses this year - satin batiste, smocking, lace, ribbon, pearl beads. These are some fancy dresses!  I got my inspiration from a picture in a magazine.  Would you believe that the Monday before Easter these dresses were in 8 separate pieces each?  Yikes.  I kicked it into high gear.  I wound up hemming Caroline's dress Saturday night, but thankfully the girls didn't have to go to church dress-less.  :-)

I love my girls in blue!

Helen is such a character.  This picture makes me giggle every time I see it.

I even smocked and embellished the backs.  See what I mean by "all-out"?


So here's the deal: I told Kevin that next year when I start talkin' crazy about birthday dresses AND Easter dresses, he needs to slap me. Birthday dresses and Easter dresses will be one and the same in Spring 2011. Help me remember that, will you?

The Day of Resurrection

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Get your own

We've been preparing for Easter all week long. We hunted Easter eggs. We dyed eggs. We made special treats like marshmallow sheep and bunny rolls. And most of all, we are so grateful to celebrate by serving a risen Lord! We hope your Easter celebrations were as special and blessed as ours were!

The day of resurrection! Earth, tell it out abroad;
The Passover of gladness, the Passover of God.
From death to life eternal, from earth unto the sky,
Our Christ hath brought us over, with hymns of victory.

Our hearts be pure from evil, that we may see aright
The Lord in rays eternal of resurrection light;
And listening to His accents, may hear, so calm and plain,
His own “All hail!” and, hearing, may raise the victor strain.

Now let the heavens be joyful! Let earth the song begin!
Let the round world keep triumph, and all that is therein!
Let all things seen and unseen their notes in gladness blend,
For Christ the Lord hath risen, our joy that hath no end.

The birthday dresses

The birthday dresses deserve a post of their own, don't you think?  I wanted to make the girls a dress that would would for early spring with turtlenecks, late spring with short sleeves, and summer with no shirt underneath.  I'm all about getting as much use out of a dress as possible.  I used the same jumper pattern that I used for the blue corduroy snowflake dresses.  I chose a floral cotton print.



For a fun little embellishment, I embroidered the girls' first initial on a tab that is attached to the yoke with buttons.  It's something I've wanted to try for a long time.  I like how it turned out.  What I didn't plan was how perfectly the embroidery would mimic the floral pattern of the fabric.  I picked the design out of a book without even realizing how perfectly the little lazy-daisy flowers and leaves matched the fabric.  A very nice surprise!


I'm looking forward to a full six month's worth (or more) of these dresses!

Loveliness

Happy Valentine's Day!


Craft time: Valentines for classmates, family, and friends


I added an embroidery floss tail and wrote "Have a MICE day!" on the back. Then Caroline signed them herself.


Sweet treats: sugar cookies with glaze, decorated with markers


Favorite: roses


Silliness: a "pacy" found in her safe-to-play-in kitchen cabinet