Is this not the ultimate summertime outfit? Comfortable, loose fitting and colorful as the tropical fruit smocked on the front.  It goes so well with the Noel’s gorgeous red mane.
With Kathy Dykstra’s Temily pattern from Australian Smocking and Embroidery, Jo created an outfit as refreshing as a glass of cold orange juice on a hot July day. The child just looks cool. I love the contrast of the orange gingham against the pure white shirt. Continue reading
made by Suzanne Sawko
Having a good sewing friend is a huge blessing. Having one close enough for frequent lunch dates is an even greater blessing. Suzanne, my nearby sewing buddy, feeds me inspiration with every Panera bite I take.
I’d like to tell you how much I absolutely love her projects, how much I learn from her, how I am so inspired by her creativity and skill, but I won’t. Suzanne said I could only use her photos if I wouldn’t gush about them. Humph!
So, while looking over the things she has made for her 4 yo granddaughter’s fall kindergarten wardrobe feel free to gush if you must because I cannot. Also, remember that we live in central Florida, so the styles are all appropriate for our subtropical climate.
Several other garments will be posted for your enjoyment with as little comment as possible. Can I say that I would like to copy every one of them? No, she wouldn’t want me to say that.
For the top, Suzanne began with this vintage pattern from her stash. Continue reading
Posted in Basic no-embroidery Machine Projects, girls, smocking
A wedding is not a marriage. A wedding is only the beginning of an undertaking that may or may not, someday, develop into a marriage. What the couple have on their wedding day is not the key to a beautiful garden, but just a vacant lot and a few gardening tools. (David and Vera Mace)
Because it’s June, the favored month for weddings, I will re-run some earlier posts about my daughter’s wedding. Sure, a lot of sentimental fluff is included but that’s because I’m a sentimental gal. There are also some useful ideas for wedding sewing.
This month, my fabulous husband and I will celebrate our 46th wedding anniversary. I wish every couple could have this much happiness.
1968. Because we wanted to be married in Florida, where we would start our life together, fewer than 30 guests attended. But we didn’t care. My mother made my dress.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Rebecca’s garden wedding for 130 guests at our home was a hands-on affair, orchestrated almost entirely by family and friends. Only the photographer, ceremony string quartet, reception Cajun band and wait staff were hired.
As soon as Rebecca and Harvey’s engagement was announced, my dear friend Susanna presented me with her own well-used tote bag.  It was embellished with the text MOTB–Mother Of The Bride. She had used this bag extensively while planning her own daughter’s fairy tale wedding.
Susanna graciously offered to serve as wedding coordinator and was promptly engaged in that volunteer capacity. From that time on, in our conversations and planning sessions, familial relationships were designated by letters–MOTG (mother of the groom), AOTB (aunt of the bride), Grandmother of the Groom (GMOTG) etc. It was fun.
Posted in home dec, ladies, machine embroidery, recipes, wedding
It’s been such a long time since I have posted, but I’ve been having too much fun with 5 yo grandson Alastair to sit still and write. He has been with us for 10 delightful days.  More on that below.
Meanwhile, I did manage to sew up a little suit using a commercial pattern. You know how those 5 for $7 patterns from Joann’s stack up. As always, I was in a hurry and grabbed the first one which would work. I should have looked through my Children’s Corner and Michie patterns. Some modification was needed to meet my vision for a fully lined project. Continue reading
Posted in boys, Disney, machine embroidery, Nana fun
Julie’s Children’s Corner Johnny–how many French knots do you think there are?
It seems like forever since there has been a new post at Janice Ferguson Sews. Busy, busy, busy is what I’ve been but only some of that busy-ness has been sewing. Sigh….
Now the distractions and other responsibilities are mostly behind me so I can share more sewing projects and chat. Before the joyous Easter celebrations are even further in our past, I want to share some of the Easter outfit photos I received from our creative and talented readers.
Julie shared these photos and information about the precious, classic Johnny she made for her nephew. She also smocked a dress for her niece. I’d love to see that. Continue reading
Posted in boys, brother-sister, girls, heirloom sewing, Holiday Projects, smocking, uncategorized
I know this outfit is crooked on the hanger. There was a stiff breeze blowing and I could not keep the shirt hanging properly.
We always talk about how busy we are, but I have never let other things make me cut it so close with Easter outfits for the grandchildren. Just like when my children were small, I was up until after midnight Saturday before Easter.
But I finished all four outfits.
Alastair’s Easter suit was a very satisfying project. Like few hurry-up projects, it finished up quite nicely, leaving me generally pleased.  I learned that sometimes surrendering my picky-ness for a rush project is okay. It is more important to have an OK outfit done for Easter than an up- to-my-picky-standards outfit done a week later. This was made in about a day and a half, and those were busy days aside from sewing.
As a self-described Only-When-Absolutely-Necessary digitizer/machine embroidery designer, I worked up this design for a Children’s Corner Callie. Â It was made in a huge hurry for my granddaughter to wear to the Bunny Lunch at church the day before Easter.
I hope you all had a joyful Easter. We had a beautiful weekend-long celebration with a houseful of laughing adult children and grandchildren. Our daughter, Rebecca, her family and our son Ryan’s family were here. He is a pilot and, sadly, was unable join us. We’re happy that he loves his work, but we miss him at so many family gatherings.
Friday night, while taking a break from my sewing, I made more than 100 little raisin bread/cream cheese/jelly sandwiches for Saturday’s Bunny Lunch at church. My dear, helpful husband sat with me and cut away the crusts from 5 loaves while I spread the filling. The sandwiches were topped with cream cheese carrots sprinkled with a little orange sugar which pleased the children.
Tie design from is Linnie Pinnie, with single bunny extracted from Bernina’s Warm Wishes from Ingrid collection.
One more Easter outfit finished. This is for Vivian Rose to wear to the Bunny Lunch/Easter Egg Hunt at church on Saturday.
The pattern is Children’s Corner Callie, made from some anonymous pink fabric from my stash and trimmed with this sweet vintage Liberty bunny print. It has been aging in my stash for so long that these playful rabbits are elderly by now.
More details later. I still have Easter sewing to finish. Tick tock tick tock…..
slip for Baby’s Easter bow dress
This pink slip was made to be worn under granddaughter Vivian Rose’s white batiste Easter dress. It create a soft pink shadow effect.
The slip bodice was monogrammed with white thread. Continue reading
