Perfect love sometimes does not come until the first grandchild. ~Welsh Proverb
And this one is mine–the little bundle of joy who ignited the perfect love I could not have imagined until she was born.
When her brother Robert came along, I felt the same way. Wow! This is amazing! Then her cousin Alastair was born and I was carried away with that same overpowering love. That’s when I realized that the well of love in a grandparent’s heart will never run dry.
I’m sorry to be so gooey and sentimental, but my emotions are pretty intense right now. I will hold Alastair tomorrow night, I will see Robert Charles tomorrow afternoon and Laurel, who has been here since 9 a.m. for homeschooling and is spending the night, has charmed me since her arrival. The emotions of grandparenthood are deep and yet always close to the surface. Bob and I just shake our heads in amazement at the wonder of grandchildren.
But on to sewing and my White Wednesday post for Faded Charm. I smocked this white nightgown for Laurel for Christmas. Some time ago, she asked me to make her a nightgown that “goes all the way to the floor.” So this one does.
As I do so often, I resorted to a ready-to-smock. The size 6 broadcloth bishop dress is one size larger than the size 5 she has just grown into, but it is perfectly generous for a gown. Because she is a little small for her age, the dress required a growth tuck to keep her from stepping on the hem, which is trimmed with tatting. Tatting also trims the sleeves.
Smitten as I am with ready-to-smock garments, I do make some changes. In earlier posts, I’ve mentioned that I always replace the utility buttons with mother-of-pearl. But an additional modification is the removal of the label at the neckline which, against tender kindergarten skin, feels stiff and scratchy. But is sewn into the neck binding so removing those stitches would release the pleats. I’ve found that by cutting very close to the binding, the remaining threads can be pulled out with tweezers, leaving no trace of the offending label.
BE MINE smocking plate by Ellen McCarn
Attached to the label is the size tag. I remove that from the label and sew it into a side seam where it is unlikely to cause any irritation.
The smocking plate is Ellen McCarn’s Be Mine, which I have smocked at least 10 times in the past 25 years. Do you do that, use a pattern or plate over and over again? After some searching for a design with hearts–Laurel’s request–I defaulted to a tried and true design, rather than going for something new and different. Maybe if I had more time, I would have sought out a new challenge, but I knew that this plate smocked up quickly. Time has become an increasingly more important consideration for my selection of projects and patterns.
It seems ironic that at this time of my life, I feel so short of time to pursue my love of needlework. When our children were little, my dear friend Mary (Hale) Hoffman and I often lamented the fact that most smockers had either children and little/no time to smock or no children to smock for and all the time in the world. Our time for leisurely and extensive smocking/sewing would come with grandchildren, we believed. This was yet another mistaken belief of our youth.
A bit of wisdom is one of the rewards of growing older. Grandchildren are another.
The idea that no one is perfect is a view most commonly held by people with no grandchildren. ~Doug Larson
Love the “all the way to the floor gown”. Laurel looks like a precious princess .
I also find that I do not have enough time to do all the smocking that I have swimmimg around in my head. I am still using alot of the smocking plates that I used for my girls who are now 32 and 31……still using the same patterns as well!
Simply lovely bishop dress on a beautiful little girl!
Thank you, Karen. I just love bishops for little girls, and I especially love this little girl! Grandchildren are just wonderful!
Janice
I was just blessed with my first Grandchild and can’t wait to make her first bishop. Several years ago you came to Satellite Beach and taught our smocking group. It was such a long time ago, but I think it was about how to clean our pleaters and pleat on different fabrics. You gave each of us a pre-pleated baby bib to finish at home, but there were no directions. It was a pale blue batiste with a small section of pleating in the middle of the bib, 7 rows by 25 pleats across. Would you be able to tell me how to finish it or are there directions for this cute bib? I want to know also if there is a way to put something like a soft flannel behind it to soak up the drool? Did you write a book that shows how to construct a bishop and it has funny little pictures and captions throughout the book?
Karen
Congratulations on your new granddaughter and your new status as a grandmother! It is heaven, for sure. And what sewing fun you have ahead of you! I remember coming to Satelllite Beach and, if I recall correctly, that was the trip where I had the intersection catastrophe as Suzanne Sawko and I were leaving town. As I accelerated when the traffic light turned green, with 4 lanes going in each direction my tailgate flew open and all my stuff for the market fell out into the road. I halted traffic in each direction with the confidance and authority of a seasoned traffic cop and scooped up what I could. Meanwhile, Suzanne drove off to get our projects in the mail before the post office closed so that we would meet our deadline for Creative Needle magazine articles and I literally got ants in my pants as I stepped in a huge ant mount at the side of the road………..As Maurice Chevalier sang in GiGi, “Ah, yes, I remember it well.” Except that I really do remember it well!
I’ll see if I can round up the directions for the bib. They were included with the project and were on an 8×11 1/2″ sheet of paper with the pattern outline. I’m up to my eyeballs in Easter outfits for my 3 grandchildren but as soon as I can, I’ll get that to you and make a few suggestions about the flannel under bib.
Yes, I did write that Bishop Book and Suzanne did the illustrations. The bishop dress is still my all-time favorite pattern.
I hope you will check my blog regularly. Almost every day I post something new. And I hope you will let me know what you are sewing for your new granddaughter. Congratulations again, Karen, and welcome to the sorority of Nanas.
Janice