Category Archives: clothing

Baby’s Easter Dress

Posted on April 12, 2014 | 14 comments
dress pink2

Vivian Rose’s white Easter dress with pink slip

UPDATE:  Finally I have a photo of Vivian Rose in her Easter dress.

VR Easter 14 crop

 

NOTE:  Please excuse the poor quality of these photos. They were taken midday, making it nearly impossible to get a shot without shadows.  The breeze was blowing and the dress kept moving.  And photography is not my strong suit.

Are you all busy with Easter sewing?  Busy, busy, busy has been the status around here for some time and it’s not been all about sewing.  With Aunt Rheeta’s visit,  Rebecca’s 3-day visit with Alastair and Vivian Rose,  and sleepovers with our other two grandchildren, progress on Easter outfits is way behind schedule.  But I loved every minute of these visits and have no regrets.

During that time, however, I did manage to make some progress on  Vivian Rose’s holiday finery and now that things have quieted down, I  have just finished her dress and slip.

 

dress no slip

dress without pink slip

Continue reading →

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Posted in hand embroidery, infant clothing, machine embroidery, shadow work, uncategorized

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A Happy Little Dress

Posted on March 9, 2014 | 6 comments
happy dress front

Children’s Corner Katina pattern.   Extra buttons were added so the strap length could be easily adjusted when the dress is tried on. If not needed, the upper MOP buttons will be removed.

 

With its cheerful colors and simple design, this dress just makes me smile. The combination of Liberty of London tanna lawn, blue gingham checks, and yellow whipstitch piping seems to chirp predictions of happy days filled with warm sunshine, blue skies, and colorful flowers.

 

smocking up close

 

A bit of smocking front and back makes Katina just the sort of cute and comfortable  frock I’d like my 14 month old granddaughter to wear all summer long.

 

happy dress back

Katina back

 

I’d like to have added a cute hairbow to the ensemble but Vivian Rose has expressed a very strong dislike for anything on her head—except for strawberries and other food she rubs in.    Sigh…

Of course, a pair of ruffle bottom bloomers was needed to finish the outfit.  The edges of the 2 1/2″ wide ruffles are serged with a 3 thread rolled edge, using wooly nylon in  the upper looper.

 

bloomer ruffles Continue reading →

6 Comments

Posted in Basic no-embroidery Machine Projects, girls, serger, smocking

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“Git ‘er done” Projects

Posted on February 25, 2014 | 8 comments
simple, everyday onesie with lamb embroidery

Git ‘er done #1—simple, everyday onesie with machine embroidered lambs from Ultimate Baby Layette collection by Martha Pullen.

 

Though many of us would prefer to spend all of our sewing hours stitching heirloom christening gowns, lacy Easter dresses and smocked bishops,  there are many less exciting projects that demand our time–and I’m not talking about cooking or cleaning.  My “git ‘er done” list has gotten so long that I had to get a few out the door.

DEFINITION for readers living outside of  US South:  It’s southern dialect for “Get her (‘er) done” — an imperative statement expressing a desire to start a job or complete an unfinished task.

Many objects and actions have a feminine persona (like when a farmer refers to his truck as a she, or when a captain of a ship calls his vessel a she). In the same way, a task may be given a feminine context. In the southern American English dialect, something can be “gotten done.” Hence, “Git’r done.” Continue reading →

8 Comments

Posted in church projects, embroidery blanks, infant clothing, machine embroidery

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Parade Catastrophe

Posted on February 21, 2014 | 16 comments

parade dress all2

It’s a good thing that I bought 9 yards of  Michael Miller’s Children on Parade fabric, because I think I will need every inch of it to get one dress to look like  Cheryle’s.   I’m sure she is SuperWoman for stitching such a perfect little garment. I won’t bore you with the painful details of the errors made while trying to duplicate her pretty little parade dress.  Most of my mistakes were the result of my jumping in, both feet first, without checking the depth of the water. Continue reading →

16 Comments

Posted in Basic no-embroidery Machine Projects, girls

Nap Time and Too Many Children on Parade

Posted on February 11, 2014 | 23 comments
cot sheet all

cot sheet for Vivian Rose, made of heavy pink twill with a border of Children on Parade by Michael Miller

Valentine NEWSFLASH!!! Sarah Jane, the fabric designer for Children on Parade and many other adorable prints, has posted on her blog a downloadable PDF for an absolutely adorable, printable (4 to a sheet) kids’ Valentine card. With Olympic hearts and a gold chocolate coin taped to the back, it will delight all your children’s friends. Check it out here.  Thanks, Mary Sue, for the link!~~~~~~~

Our 13 month old granddaughter, Vivian Rose, is now enrolled at a Montessori school two days a week.   After the first day, I called her mother, my Rebecca, to see how it went.  When she said it hurt to hear Baby Girl wailing as she did, I sympathized and said it must have been hard to leave her.

“NO!” Rebecca said. “She cried and cried when I picked her up! She didn’t want to leave!  When I dropped her off she gave me not a single backward glance and toddled off to the play area.  That hurt a little.”  Vivian Rose is one independent little girl.

 

The font is JuJu's Sugar and Spice. Isn't it so cute?

The font is JuJu’s Sugar and Spice. Isn’t it so cute?  The set comes with numerals, upper case and lower case in 3″, 5″ and 6″ sizes.  The letters had to be staggered in order to fit in my largest (8″ x 12″) Brother Quattro hoop.

 

But like all of the “Ones” in her baby class, she has a scheduled nap time.   For that, Rebecca asked for a personalized cot sheet, much like those I had made for Big Brother Alastair and his friend Carson.

My Oh My, so sew much drama ensued.

But first, I have to ask if you have seen this most adorable dress made by Cheryle Cole-Bennett whose facebook page is  SeeSeeMe Custom Designs.

 

jenni-leigh-play-fabric

The fabric is Michael Miller’s Children on Parade.

Continue reading →

23 Comments

Posted in baby accessories, girls, machine embroidery

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Think Spring Dress

Posted on February 8, 2014 | 21 comments

UPDATE: There have been several inquiries about the sleeve finish so the process is detailed at the end of this post (below the groundhog eating wolf).

It’s been so long since there has been a new post at  Janice Ferguson Sews that faithful readers might have thought that I was missing in action. I’ve been tending my dear husband who had knee replacement surgery two weeks ago. Post-op he spent a week at the same rehab center where I recuperated from my joint surgeries and gained some valuable insights into life.

So I have been spending time with him, running errands and doing his many, many household chores. Whew! That man does more around here than I ever realized! He’s my grocery shopper, gardener, pool boy, morning feral cat feeder, garbage hauler, very best friend, and more. I have really missed him.

At last, he’s back home, stepping lightly with his gentleman’s cane and walking the fast track to a complete recovery.

That's not really him. And it's not really me.

That’s not really him. And it’s not really me.

And I’m back too, with a finished project to share with you.

This cheerful little dress just makes me grin. Looking at it reminds me of our Florida springtime with raspberry pink azaleas, white dogwoods and the bright turquois waters of nearby Blue Springs.The fabric says spring to me.

think spring dress all recol Continue reading →

21 Comments

Posted in Basic no-embroidery Machine Projects, girls, heirloom sewing, smocking

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First Birthday Dress~Finished

Posted on January 21, 2014 | 39 comments

UPDATE: And look at it now.

Viv "eating"Aunt Peggy's chocolate pudding. Surely a some got in her mouth.

Viv “eating”Aunt Peggy’s chocolate pudding. Surely some got in her mouth.

first birthday dress for Minnie fan

first birthday dress for Minnie fan

Our precious granddaughter Vivian Rose recently celebrated her first birthday with family and friends at a party in her own back yard.

Cousins Laurel and Alastair

Cousins Laurel and Alastair

Continue reading →

39 Comments

Posted in Disney, heirloom sewing, infant clothing, machine embroidery, Madeira applique

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1st Birthday Dress

Posted on January 3, 2014 | 11 comments

goods VR 1 dress

It’s hard to believe grandbaby Vivian Rose will celebrate her first birthday in a few weeks.  Time does fly!  Her mother requested a Minnie Mouse dress for the upcoming Minnie birthday party.  Baby’s entire family is made up of enthusiastic Disney fans, so I am lucky to own Brother embroidery machines with built in Disney designs.

I have to admit it took a while to adapt my heirloom taste to a cartoon character dress.  But now, I think I am ready to begin.

Here’s what I have assembled.

  • Pattern:  Baby Butterflies by Petite Poche
  • Fabric: pink Pimatex from Farmhouse Fabrics,  white Swiss pique and black pima gingham from stash
  • Trims:  Swiss black entredeux and black scallop edging from stash
  • Designs:  small Minnie designs on my Brother ULT 2003D.
  • Buttons:  ooops-forgot to include those in the picture, but they are 3/8″  round, black with shanks

NOTE:  At first glance, reader Donna thought the entredeux looked like a zipper.  She’s right!  It does.  But it is NOT a zipper.

It took a while to get my mind right, but now I am excited about this project.  It won’t be traditional heirloom, but it includes enough heirloom goods and  techniques to make me comfortable.

I’m off to the sewing room to cut it out.  Yeah!  What a great project to start 2014.

What are you working on?

11 Comments

Posted in Disney, infant clothing

Gingerbread Christmas Dress

Posted on December 22, 2013 | 6 comments

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Vivian Rose’s first Christmas dress has a gingerbread theme.   With a long standing family tradition of making holiday gingerbread houses, I knew her mother would like it.  Her brother sported gingerbread in his first Christmas outfit.  This is important because Baby Girl doesn’t care one way or another.

 

IMG_1071

trying to climb down off her father’s lap at her brother’s Christmas program

 

It was first worn for Big Brother Alastair’s Christmas program.  She would have looked better with her long sleeve white shirt with a lettuce leaf finish at the cuffs and collar, but it was a very warm day, too warm for long sleeves.  Ahhh,  the joy of winter in Florida! Continue reading →

6 Comments

Posted in girls, Holiday Projects, machine embroidery

Christmas Dress Embossed

Posted on December 19, 2013 | 13 comments
Laurel, fighting off the passion vine

Laurel, fighting off the passion vine which is tumbling down the arbor

 

Hurrah!  The problems with my server seem to be resolved so Janice Ferguson Sews is back!  After all this time, I hope there are still a few readers left.  There are so many things lined up that I want to share with you.  This is the first.

Granddaughter Laurel’s dress was meant to be just a church frock.  But when time got away from me, it was upgraded to her Christmas dress.  Nonetheless, she wore it to church the first Sunday of Dec. because I had nothing else made up for her.

These pitiful pictures were taken in a rush after church and before Laurel had to hurry off to another event.  And if you think this photo is bad, wait until you see the others!  But they do show you the details of the dress.  I should have taken a minute or two to press her dress and sweep the walk.

 

L gate top

bodice embossed with Embossed Frame Monogram Alphabet from Designs by JuJu

The bodice is burgundy cotton velveteen, the skirt a heavy poly silk.  The sleeves and neckline are bound with poly silk bias.  Since I first saw the embossed designs, I’ve been wanting to stitch one.  When planning this dress,  I realized the velveteen was a perfect fabric for this  technique. Continue reading →

13 Comments

Posted in girls, hairbows, Holiday Projects, machine embroidery

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