Category Archives: clothing

My Little Tie Guy

Gator tie 2

VBS day #1–Gator tie, 6″.  I should have made the 8″ size.

From the moment he first saw the mirror reflection of himself wearing a tie, our 7 year old grandson, Robert, adopted the cravat as his signature fashion accessory.  Even for Wednesday night church potluck suppers, he has always liked to wear a tie.   Selecting just the right one for Sunday morning has always been a lengthy process.

With a grin, Robert recently confided to me that the kids at church call him  “Tie Guy.”  I frequently teach his Sunday School class and have never heard this, but he declares it is true–and who am I to argue with a 7 yo who wants to wear a tie to church?

 

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Day #2–vest and bow tie. Even though I enlarged the design, it is still too small. And yet he loved it.  Instead of the embroidered buttons in  the original design, real buttons were added, along with his “cypher”  (click here and scroll down the post to see why RCF is not a monogram).

 

But it’s just not practical to wear a tie to Vacation Bible School.  So when he asked me to make him a tie for each day, these embroidered tee shirts were the perfect solution.  Because Robert so rarely asks me to sew for him, I spent time each day searching for “tie” designs and my evenings stitching his shirt (and sometimes one for his sister Laurel) for the next day.  Each afternoon was dedicated to their homeschool lessons.  Whew!  I was worn out by the end of the week. Continue reading

Desperation Bubble

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Have you ever been  desperate to smock and thwarted in the effort?  Desperate to stitch hand embroidery and been hampered? Desperate to sew in a power outage?  I bet the answer is yes.

It reminds me of my crazy friend Catherine who, 25 years ago, had taken her boys to the beach.  Settled down in the sand on an old quilt, under her beach umbrella, she pulled out her smocking only to discover that she had everything but a needle!  Desperate, like me, she walked up and down Daytona Beach asking each sunbather if she might have a #7 crewel needle that Catherine could borrow or buy.  That, my friends, is desperation.  To no one’s surprise but Catherine’s, she came up empty handed.

How this bubble came to be is a result of such desperation.  It didn’t turn out as planned, it didn’t turn out great,  it didn’t really please me.  But it did scratch my itch  for some form–any form!– of needlework. Continue reading

Smocked Pini-4 for Vivian Rose

Coming soon! Grandbaby Closet Sale–All those special items too small too soon or just plain outgrown need to go to a new closet  At least one of Vivian Rose’s daygowns has never been worn.  Also coming soon (we hope), hair on her pretty head!

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Rebecca, baby Vivian Rose and I are quite pleased with this little Pini-4.   The smocked skirt is Liberty of London and the machine monogrammed, self-lined bodice is hot pink microcheck.

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There are no buttons or buttonholes, only ties at the neck, center back and underarms.   With a little careful planning or by following the pattern exactly (I just can’t do it!), this super quick and easy pattern COULD be a joy to stitch.   So I neeeeeeded to add piping, sure and how about some  tatting–oh yeah!  And I wanted to line it with my preferred method rather than as directed. Continue reading

Another Contemporary Heirloom?

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Four-month old Vivian Rose is growing like the national debt, so I am busy, busy, busy sewing for her.   The pink Imperial broadcloth “apron” is paired with bloomers of black floral lawn, which was a stretch for traditional me.  Black for a baby???  I keep reminding myself  that this blog’s subtitle is “modern projects for old fashioned Nanas.”  But can an Old Fashioned Baby pattern be  a modern project?

 

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Coming soon–black buttons and buttonholes.

 

The pattern is Baby’s Summer Clothes by Old Fashioned Baby, the largest size of which is 6-12 months.  The sleeveless apron with the scalloped hemline is the version I chose. Surely, I thought, it would fit a 4 month old baby for a few months.  But not this queen-sized baby girl. Continue reading

Smocked Nighties for 2 American Girls

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For Laurel’s 9th birthday I finally finished smocking this nightie.   The matching gown for her American Girl Molly had long since been done.   But when little Vivian Rose was born I was wrapped up making baby girl things, so this project was pushed to the back burner.  I was so glad to have both pink things out of my sewing room.

 

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Like the Molly’s nightgown, Laurel’s has a machine embroidered heart in the unsmocked area at center front.  The designs are from Martha Pullen’s Little Pleasures collection which includes two nearly identical hearts in two sizes.  A little editing made them match almost perfectly.  Laurel notices and appreciates details like that.

 

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Continue reading

Alysha’s Birthday Dress

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Happy Mother’s Day to each and every one of you who has mothered a child of your own or a child of another. (Frankly, I cannot imaging anyone who sews or reads this blog who has not reached out to children and grandchildren of their own and/or others.) The love and attention showered on our precious children is the best use of our precious time.

I’m at that happy time of life when I can enjoy my beloved adult children as well as the beloved grandchildren they have given us. My daughter Rebecca and daughter-in-law Shelly are both incredible, wonderful mothers whom I admire and love dearly. I wish each of you a happy day filled with appreciation from and for your loved ones.

Around here it has been busy, busy, BUSY!!!! We’ve been blessed with almost back to back and overlapping visits from our four grandchildren and even more happy chaos.  In a future post I’ll tell you all about Laurel’s luau 9th birthday party, new fleece blankets for each grandchild and the progress of our newly tamed feral cats and the kittens.

So once again, I am rerunning an old post, though I do have a few new thoughts and plans.  I hope  to make a very similar dress for new granddaughter Vivian Rose before her first birthday.  FYI, Alysha is almost 5, adorable and the apple of her grandparents’ eyes.

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Continue reading

Easter Outfits by Judy Day~~Going with the Flow

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Many of you have been there—that place in time where your idea of what your child or grandchild should wear differs from that child’s opinion.  Selecting fabric, pattern, smocking design, etc. is so easy when  they are little, but as they develop their own personal taste you have to go with the flow.

 

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Judy Day has done just that with fabulous results for her 9 year old granddaughters. Judy has always made holiday outfits in groups of 4, one for each girl and one for  each girl’s doll.   But this year, she recognized and acknowledged her girls’ growing sense of individual style.  Well, at least their different color choices.

Here is Judy’s story about the Easter outfits.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Continue reading

Sew Lucky, Sew Beautiful and Sew Much More

Vivian Rose, 3 months in her Farmhouse Fabrics bubble.

Vivian Rose, 3 months in her Farmhouse Fabrics bubble.

Farmhouse Fabrics Bubble Sample

This adorable bubble was a sample at Farmhouse Fabrics.  Did you know they are made available for sale periodically, for very reasonable prices?  As luck would have it, this little beauty was a 9 month size, nearly a perfect fit for”chubbalicious” 16 pound Vivian Rose.  She is one well-nourished nursing baby!  I was lucky to snatch up this bubble shortly after it was posted for sale.

The body fabric of the bubble is cotton sateen trimmed with what feels like pima cotton.  It is very well-made and nicely understated.  Vivian Rose’s mother thinks  this will be Baby’s 4th of July outfit, along with a big red headband.  She might even have a little more hair by then!

Sew Beautiful

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The current issue of Sew Beautiful includes a blurb about  this blog, Janice Ferguson Sews.

My Sew Beautiful magazine has not yet arrived, but others who have theirs in hand have let me know that  Janice Ferguson Sews  has been included in a blog list!  The picture, however, is of a dress I have never seen.  Oh well, it’s a pretty dress.  I welcome all you new readers visiting my blog and hope you will stop by often. Continue reading

Baptism

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What a joyful day this was!  Our two older grandchildren, seven year old Robert and eight year old Laurel, were baptized.

 

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Cousin Alastair, 4, loves a photo opportunity so he stepped up to be included.

 

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Continue reading

Ruffled Smockable Bubble

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The six month size fits her perfectly with a crotch extension.

This past week with our grandchildren has been delightful—and exhausting!  Laurel wants to teach two of her friends to sew, so she did a practice lesson.   Robert spent an entire afternoon with his grandfather assembling a free standing basketball hoop.  Alastair spent time with his cousins handling and socializing the feral kittens we have housed in the old chicken house.

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Alastair with one of his favorite kittens and one of his favorite bandaids.

Each day, I thought surely tomorrow this bubble would be completed!  Finally it is, after this special time with Robert, Laurel, Alastair and baby Vivian Rose. Continue reading