Category Archives: machine embroidery

Vivian Rose and Her New Smocked Daygown

Vivian Rose 2 hours old

 

Hurrah! Baby Girl arrived today, Monday, via C-section weighing in at 8 lbs. 7 oz., measuring 21 “.  Mother and Vivian Rose are both happy and well.  We are thrilled!

From the moment she was placed in her mother’s arms, she latched on and nursed for almost 2 hours.  Of course, it was not non-stop, but she never let her little mouth stray from the source of her contentment.  She screamed when she was moved to the opposite side and then went silent when she was in the vicinity of lunch.  So she was 2 hours old before we got a good look at her and took this photo.

Rebecca was very pleased with this pink Swiss flannel bishop daygown.

 

 

It matches the bonnet made earlier.

Continue reading

Bonnet, Monograms and Chicken Soup

What does this baby bonnet

have in common with chicken soup? Continue reading

Elves and Merry Christmas!

Three year olds Alastair and Aliya, share a hug. Don’t they look like elves? They are all jammied up after watching the nighttime Christmas parade. Their joy and excitement are infectious.

The world has been celebrating Christmas for nearly 2000 years now.  In the past 100 years, there have been many  changes documented in my beloved vintage Needlecraft/Home Arts magazines. Alastair and Alyia, in their knit and serged holiday pajamas are dressed very differently from this little guy in 1928.

But it this 1936 Home Arts shows that footed sleepers are not new. Continue reading

Bassinette Skirt Finished!

Hurrah!  The bassinette skirt is finished.  I’d make a lot of changes if I were to do it again without feeling rushed.  But it’s acceptable.

I  really dislike being interrupted in the midst of a big project, but that is what happened with this bassinette skirt.  After time passed and other projects rose to the top of the list, getting back to the UFO skirt was more like a chore.

Rebecca was so pleased with the first skirt that she took it home so at least the presenting side of the bassinette was covered.  Nesting, you know. But in the interim, I forgot—and neglected to check the photos in the earlier post–that all the sheep appliques on that skirt were satin stitched with white, pink or ivory.

With the Time Out Bad Boy sheep below setting the mood for skirt 2

and the curious, mischievous bee challenger,

this bassinette skirt will show the dark side of mutton flock behavior. Continue reading

For a Musical Biker Chef

chef stocking vert crop recol

When my daughter asked me to make a Christmas stocking for her husband, Harvey, I dragged my feet.  Knowing it needed to be unique and personal, I had no inspiration.  That was three years ago.  I reeeeally dragged my feet.

Last week, she sent a note asking would I please start working on Harvey’s stocking next summer.  That got to me.   She suggested something like a biking Santa or a chef.  Bingo!  I had my inspiration.

It shouldn’t have been that hard for me.  But he is an absolute computer genius so I was hung  up on that angle.  Now, focusing on his biking, cooking and musical skill, I could move ahead.

My fabulous son-in-law is an incredible chef.    My daughter, bless her heart, makes great toast and hot chocolate.  That’s all.  So Harvey does all the cooking, enthusiastically. Last year’s Christmas dinner has become a family legend.  And Rebecca sets a lovely table. Continue reading

Junior Entrepreneur

custom orders ready for delivery—monograms and “Homeschool Rocks”

After learning about economics and business in her homeschool curriculum, my 8 year-old granddaughter Laurel has gone into business for herself.

There was considerable discussion with her mother and me about the commitment and responsibilities this would entail, but she was undaunted.   She designed, printed and distributed a flyer at her Girl Scout meeting and then at a homeschool function. Continue reading

Fabulous Nursery by Kathy Dykstra

I love writing this blog.  Aside from the satisfaction of  recording my sewing projects and learning from readers, I have met so many new sewing friends.   Seeing pictures of your projects and hearing about your sewing makes my heart smile and my face grin.

Kathy Dykstra is one of these treasured new friends.  Her projects are seen frequently in Sew Beautiful  magazine and also have appeared in Australian Smocking & Embroidery which featured her extremely popular and highly sought after pattern, Temily. (If anyone has a copy of this issue with the pattern intact, I would LOVE to buy it from you.)   In fact, the current Sew Beautiful, Vol. 26, #6, features her pattern Wrap it Up! in sizes 4-10.

 

 

 

Her projects are Pinterest  pinned and repinned again and again.

Kathy shared these photos of the absolutely wonderful nursery she and her daughters made for little Olivia.

 

 

 

They began with Plan A, painted the walls bright turquois with lime green for trim.  When it was apparent that this baby was to be feminine little Olivia, Plan B was initiated and pink was added to the color palette. Continue reading

Candy Corn & Halloween Fun

There are sooooo many adorable Halloween applique’ designs for machine embroidery!  For granddaughter Laurel’s outfit, I finally narrowed the field down to this candy corn design, primarily because I had already purchased the spider web/candy corn fabric for fun.  This design just seemed right.  Candy Corn Cutie is from Embroitique.com

The girls A-line jumper in  Applique’, Martha’s Favorites by Martha Pullen’s has always been one of my favorites.  I bemoaned the fact that it went only to size 6 when it occurred to me that I could use the same quick and easy lining technique with any similar pattern.  I found just what I needed with a commercial pattern (on sale at JoAnn’s for $1.99!) and whipped up this piece for Laurel in no time.

It is lined with yellow cotton batiste because 1. I had it on hand and 2. because it is a relatively cool, lightweight fabric.   In Florida, Halloween season can be and usually is very hot.  Top stitching is worked around the hem, neckline and armscyes.  At the them, three rows of ribbon echo the white, yellow, and orange layers on the candy corn.

The leggings with a knit ruffle at the ankle are from Sophie’s Stitches.

NANA FUN—Our daughter, Rebecca, came for a few days with her husband and 3 year-old Alastair.  We had so much Halloween fun with the little guy.  Every year Granddad (Bob) decorates his shed which is the background for the bonfires the children love so much.   Often, they pause from running around or eating s’mores to climb up on his John Deer tractor housed in the shed, or pretend to drive the golf cart which also resides in this man cave.

It was late, so Alastair was in his jammies.

Sadly, cousins Robert and Laurel were tied up with football practice, piano lessons and Girl Scouts so they couldn’t make it over while Alastair was here.  But 4 year-old Alysha, our goddaughter’s child,  came for the bonfire and a day of fun. Continue reading

Back to Halloween

Getting back from the hospital didn’t mean getting back to sewing.  Until two days ago, I was restricted from even press the foot pedal on my sewing machine!  But now I’m really back to my sewing room which features stacks of projects in various stages of readiness.

Halloween is just around the corner so these tee shirts were embroidered for the grandsons, one orange, one black.  The cute design is from JuJu Designs #444  Jumbo Halloween Sampler.  (Wow!  I just checked and this collection and all of her others are now on sale for $6!)  It was very interesting to stitch out, as the sequence, to my surprise, included a reverse applique’ sort of technique midstream.  I had to study the design in BuzzEdit to get a grip on what and why. Continue reading

Making a Scene~Bassinette Skirt and “Francesco”

Side 1 is almost finished. A pretty bow will be made from the wad of ribbon sitting above the pleat.  A 3-dimensional bell will be hung from a silk ribbon and tied around the neck of the plain sheep on the far right.

Though it is not yet finished, this bassinette skirt has been such fun to embroider.  It is for our daughter who is expecting her second child and first little girl.  When she bought the bassinette, she saw the blank, unadorned side panel skirts as blank canvases. Continue reading