Category Archives: smocking

Re-run: Smocked Brother-Sister Frogs

Posted on March 12, 2011 | 2 comments

LaurelRobFrogs21

This post is a rerun.  I’ve spent most of every day this past week tending to my dearly loved  89 year-old aunt.  She has been hospitalized and has suffered a rather dramatic fall into dementia, so I have been trying to arrange a move from her assisted living facility to a higher level of care in a nursing home.

Between dealing with her needs and tending my 2 year old grandson Alastair, I have run out of time and decided to re-run some old posts until I can get caught up.   I doubt if any readers have read all  or even most of the 386 posts from the birth of this blog.  So here it is……

I love to see siblings in coordinating clothes.  My son and daughter are fully 4 years apart in age, so I was only able to indulge in this practice for a very short time.

But my granddaughter Laurel is just 15 months older than her brother Robert so I have made them many “matching” outfits.  Laurel loves it, her mother loves it and Robert, frankly, doesn’t care one way or the other.

Continue reading →

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Posted in boys, brother-sister, clothing, girls, ready-to-smock finished projects, smocking

AG Molly’s Lace Tape Nightie

Posted on February 24, 2011 | 4 comments

zMollyLTgownwhole

Laurel is so excited about her doll’s new nightgowns that she is making Molly dress for bed and take afternoon naps. This model was part of the wardrobe for another Sewing for Dolls school that Mildred Turner and I organized.

If I recall correctly, it was the school on Cape Cod. After class, our dear friend Barbara took us on wild rides in her incorrigible van whose tape player spontaneously broke out in sea shanties. It didn’t bother Barbara who thought the random music added a little excitement to her life. Meanwhile, our delightful  hostess Debbieanne, a Cape Cod tour guide, was guiding us through the history of the area as Cape Cod Girls blasted away.Barbara’s volume control was also broken.So were our ears.

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How well I remember this ditty, a favorite of the phantom cassette player manager. If you would like to ride vicariously with Barbara, close your eyes, stand on one leg and turn the volume up to its loudest setting while you listen to a sample clip on YouTube. .

Continue reading →

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Posted in doll clothing and accessories, heirloom sewing, smocking

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Part II Goodbye SATB2011

Posted on February 8, 2011 | 2 comments

I hope you are not yet tired of the details of Sewing at the Beach 2011 because I am still enjoying the fresh memories of a great school.

The young man in the handsome blazer was a doll and a great escort for the cutie pie in the smocked dress. She had been well-coached to smile at people. But the minute her eyes turned away from a member of the audience, her dazzling smile warped into bored fatigue. It was late for little ones.

As a wrap up, I would like to share with you a few photos of the students projects, fashion show and banquet table party favors.

Then I want to introduce you to living proof that sewing is, indeed, a bona fide Elixir of Youth.   Continue reading →

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Posted in boys, clothing, doll clothing and accessories, girls, home dec, ladies, machine embroidery, quilts, smocking, turn tube hem, uncategorized

American Girls Addy Nightie

Posted on February 1, 2011 | 4 comments

Addy all

Here I am, so busy I can hardly find time to comb my hair. Meanwhile, granddaughter Laurel has been waiting somewhat patiently for the smocked nightgown I’ve started for her Molly doll. Finishing this nightie has been an urgent request of Laurel’s because, she tells me, Molly has to sleep in her CLOTHES, Nana! Outrageous, I know. If there were a DPS (Doll Protective Services) agency, Laurel would be panicked.

But yesterday I came across a stash of doll clothes I made many years ago and, whoopee! they fit the American Girls dolls! They were projects for doll schools that Mildred Turner and I organized and taught around the country some years ago. In these schools, students sewed a wardrobe that Mildred and I had designed for 20 porcelain dolls. This, I think, was the nightdress for Melanie, our Gone With the Wind character doll for the Atlanta school. What fun we had at those schools.

Addysmocking

At any rate, the bias bound neck is a little snug and the gown touches the floor on the 18″ American Girls dolls, but Addy is not complaining.

In order to draft an American Girls bishop pattern I had borrowed Addy from my godchild, Caitlin, for whom I bought this doll 16 years ago. Her 2 1/2 year old daughter Alysha, has been dragging Addy around the house for more than a year now. Continue reading →

4 Comments

Posted in doll clothing and accessories, heirloom sewing, smocking

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Molly’s Novelty Bishop Dress

Posted on January 24, 2011 | 2 comments

Laurel is dancing on the ceiling with excitement over her new American Girls doll clothes.  I was pretty excited myself when I discovered  that a packed-away treasure trove of samples would fit Laurel’s doll Molly.  These were all made for the doll schools Mildred Turner and I did around the country.

The dolls for those events were 20″ porcelain.  Styles were shorter then, so the 2″ difference in the dolls’ height is to 18″ Molly’s advantage now. I would have enjoyed making these garments even more if I had known that someday I would have this precious granddaughter to share them with.

I’ve always been a big fan of the bishop style.  The ease of construction, the comfort for a child, the versatility of the pattern–all these features appeal to me.  This dress is what I call a novelty bishop.  About a hundred years ago, at the first SAGA regional convention in Spartanburg, SC, I took a pleater class from Connie Harbor.  She called anything that was not a standard yoke dress or bishop, a novelty, requiring special pleating.   Hence, the name.

There are earlier posts on this technique which substitutes a solid fabric for the smocked portion of a print bishop dress.  Smocking on prints can be tricky and on this classic Liberty of London tanna lawn print it would be even more so.  Continue reading →

2 Comments

Posted in doll clothing and accessories, smocking

Perfectly Pink Christmas X 4

Posted on January 8, 2011 | 2 comments
 

4 matching Christmas cousins

4 pink beauties

 

Judy Day never ceases to amaze me with her breathtaking creations and the vast number of projects she designs and completes.  Her grandchildren are so incredibly fortunate.  And it sounds like at the tender ages of 6 and 7,  they have begun to recognize the beauty of the garments Judy makes for them.

Here is Judy’s story about her perfectly pink Christmas: 

These dresses were in my mind years before I ever put needle to fabric.  I saw this dress in the Sept./Oct. 2000 issue of Creative Needle…now that I look at the date, it was before the girls were born!
Kennedy

Kennedy with her matching AG doll

 
When I see a magazine article I really like, it goes on the corner of my cutting table for future ideas.  Continue reading →

2 Comments

Posted in clothing, doll clothing and accessories, girls, Judy Day's creations, smocking

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Peach Bishop

Posted on October 11, 2010 | 17 comments

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This is one of my all-time favorite smocked dresses.  I made it for Rebecca when she was just 4 years old and now, 30 years later, still enjoy seeing it hang in the nursery closet.

There are several interesting features to this peach Imperial batiste bishop dress.  The  extra deep smocking front and back, white sleeve overlay, and original smocking design made it a pleasure to design and stitch. The bottom rows of the smocking design were drafted to mimic the sleeve overlay fancyband.

EXTRA DEEP SMOCKING: The number of rows smocked front and back on this dress greatly exceeds the recommended amount for this size.  You can see that the smocking goes far below the beginning of the armhole curve, normally the absolute last row of stitching.  Smocking rarely goes beyond this point because 1) it would exceed the width of the child’s shoulder and 2) it is impossible to pleat through that curve.

 

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The first restriction is eliminated by smocking only a few rows at the neckline, well before the edge of the shoulder.  Secondly, the pleating is done before construction, allowing pleats to go to any depth.

 

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This is most easily done by working with a block of fabric, rather than a cut out front and back.  The armhole curve is traced with a washaway marker onto the fabric block before pleating front, back and sleeves from a straight edge to a straight edge.  Later, the pleating threads are pulled out up to the seamline of the armhole and knotted off.  Then the armhole curve is cut out and the front and back pieces are joined to the sleeves.

SLEEVE OVERLAY:  The white sleeve cap overlay includes a Swiss embroidery from Capitol Imports, entredeux and French Val lace edging.  This detail alone elevates the easy care bishop to a more elegant level.  Continue reading →

17 Comments

Posted in clothing, girls, heirloom sewing, smocking, techniques

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Drakes

Posted on September 26, 2010 | 2 comments

These ready-to-smock garments are a real responsibility!  All were purchased for Robert and Laurel who have outgrown the remainder of my stash.  So now I am scurrying to finish up the boy’s things for 18 month-old Alastair.

His mother has requested some duck themed clothing, since his Alastair’s middle name is Drake.  I wanted to go a little further and concentrate on the drakes.  So I pulled out some old smocking plates and designs and plan to combine them for something a little less repetitive than either scene.  The yellow graphs were someone’s good idea for miniature smocking but they never caught on.  Still, I bought one of each and have used them periodically for tiny designs.

I especially like the cattails in Jerry Stock’s plate and the drakes in the leaflet, though I see now that the ones I like are obscured by the graph design.  The scan on the right shows how dramatic they are. They should show up nicely on the white Jon-Jon insert.  Continue reading →

2 Comments

Posted in boys, clothing, ready-to-smock finished projects, smocking, techniques

DIY Ready to Smock Bishop Nightie

Posted on September 2, 2010 | 3 comments

DIYreadyLfront

 

Fewthings are sweeter than a little girl in a smocked nightgown.   This ruffle sleeved classic bishop in blue batiste is smocked in white with pink bullion roses, edged with French lace.  Six year old Laurel loves it.

The nightie was completely constructed before it was smocked.  Again and again, I have heard friends talk of their stacks of unfinished projects.  Many, if not most, are smocked garments awaiting construction.  Smocking is a joy.  Construction is less so.  Some of these projects will never  be finished.

 

DIYreadyLside

 

Some time ago, I began making my own ready-to-smock bishops.  To me, doing the construction first makes as much sense as eating your vegetables before dessert. The initial surge of enthusiasm for a project can get me through the sometimes tedious construction phase and before the project is yesterday’s news, it is ready to smock.  Yippee!!! Continue reading →

3 Comments

Posted in clothing, girls, heirloom sewing, Nana fun, ready-to-smock finished projects, smocking

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Finishing Touches-Alastair’s Farm Suit

Posted on August 31, 2010 | 8 comments

 

Alastair's Farm Suit, v.2

Alastair’s smocked farm suit is finally finished.  I had completed the smocking when we were in the mountains a few weeks ago, but needed to upgrade it a little.

This was a ready-to-smock outfit and I have relied heavily on them this past year.  The quality is very good, but there are improvements that can be made.

original collar and button

The shirt was a plain, serviceable and nice white broadcloth.  In order to make it more a part of a two-piece outfit, I added a whip stitch to the collar and cuffs.

upgrade: embellished collar, pearl buttons, red thread button sewing

At the collar, a 3.5 straight stitch was worked in white thread.

The edge of my presser foot was guided along the piping, making the stitching line perfectly parallel to the piping.

On the sleeve, there was ready made stitching below the piping.  On both the sleeves and collars, red 12 wt. thread was simply whipped over and under the stitching line.   Continue reading →

8 Comments

Posted in boys, clothing, ready-to-smock finished projects, smocking, techniques