Category Archives: smocking

Everything-Wrong Birthday Suit

Posted on March 9, 2010 | 2 comments
 
Alastair, hanging out with the girls

Alastair, hanging out with the girls

 

Everything Right Birthday Party

Family and friends just celebrated Alastair’s first birthday at a party in his back yard. His parents did a fabulous job of making everyone welcome with good food, good company and thoughtful accommodations for all. From the 86 year old great grandmother to Alastair’s friends and cousins, ages 9 months to 5 years,  there were fun treats and comfortable seating. Yet Alastair’s parents made the event look effortless.

 

Everythingwrongcupcaketreewhole

 

 

The menu consisted of really excellent pizzas, a flat of fresh strawberries, coolers of cold drinks and a cupcake tree laden with darling bug and caterpillar cupcakes made by his mama my Rebecca.

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Posted in boys, infant clothing, smocking

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Daygown Challenge

Posted on January 13, 2010 | 3 comments

Being asked to break out of your comfort zone, in terms of needlework, is usually an unwelcome challenge. But often accepting that  challenge can make your zone a bit larger while stretching your creative ability.

When my first grandchild was on her way, my daughter-in-law respectfully requested that I make  nothing in pink. She preferred browns and greens and the colors of nature, but not necessarily flower colors.

And she wasn’t crazy about lace, either—too scratchy, she thought. When I assured her that the imported laces were cotton and would not irritate the skin of a newborn, she reluctantly acquiesced. But I knew full well that lace would not be her trim of choice.

OUCH! I had a cupboard full of imported laces and drawers of pastel Imperial and Swiss batiste that for years had lain in wait for this grandchild. And now I needed browns and greens for a baby girl.

I managed to make Laurel’s coming home smocked daygown and bonnet from yellow Imperial batiste and trimmed it with tatting (see post Coming Home Daygown and Bonnet in smocking category), but after that I had to find a way to reconcile my creative needs with my daughter-in-law’s personal taste.

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Posted in baby accessories, infant clothing, machine embroidery, smocking

Smocked Frannie Jumper

Posted on January 7, 2010 | Leave a comment

 

Judy Day's FRANNIE jumper

This is another darling creation made by my dear friend Judy Day.  Stitched for her granddaughter,  the Children’s Corner Frannie pattern was used with the addition of the smocking option. Frannie has a ribbon casing under each armhole which draws up a little extra fullness. As the child grows, the ribbon is loosened to allow more room across the chest.

The smocking is a simple tone on tone cable/wave combination with yellow flowerettes adding just touch of color.

The 100% cotton featherwale corduroy has such a nice hand and soft drape. It also pleats beautifully and is great for most smocking patterns. Continue reading →

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Posted in clothing, girls, smocking

Smocked Bishop Nightie~White Wednesday

Posted on January 6, 2010 | 7 comments

Perfect love sometimes does not come until the first grandchild. ~Welsh Proverb                                                                

 And this one is mine–the little bundle of joy who ignited the perfect love I could not have imagined until she was born.

When her brother Robert came along, I felt the same way. Wow!  This is amazing! Then her cousin Alastair was born and  I was carried away with that same overpowering love.  That’s when I realized that the well of love in a grandparent’s heart will never run dry.

I’m sorry to be so gooey and sentimental, but my emotions are pretty intense right now.  I will hold Alastair tomorrow night, I will see Robert Charles tomorrow afternoon and Laurel, who has been here since 9 a.m. for homeschooling and is spending the night, has charmed me since her arrival. The emotions of grandparenthood are deep and yet always close to the surface. Bob and I just shake our heads in amazement at the wonder of grandchildren. Continue reading →

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Posted in clothing, girls, heirloom sewing, ready-to-smock finished projects, smocking, White Wednesday

At Last! Christmas ’09

Posted on December 27, 2009 | 1 comment

 

At last, it finally happened. I had all three of my grandchildren in the same place at the same time wearing their matching outfits. Getting a group shot that includes a 9 month-old baby is dicey at best, but the two older children were very cooperative and patient. Maybe that whole Elf Watch threat still hangs over their heads.

Alastair in Glenn suit with his paternal grandmother, Oma, after church

The details of each outfit are in previous posts, but in summary the plaid is Viyella, the button-on bibs are a linen blend, the pattern for the boys’ suit is Glenn by Children’s Corner and Laurel’s dress is an extended yoke pattern. The embroidery designs are all from Bernina’s Current Critters Continued collection. Continue reading →

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Posted in boys, clothing, girls, infant clothing, machine embroidery, smocking

Smocked Coat and Muff

Posted on December 18, 2009 | 6 comments
Nobody can do for little children what grandparents do.
Grandparents sort of sprinkle stardust (and smocked clothing) over the lives of little children. ~Alex Haley 
 
C and K xx
 
Making a coat is not for the faint of heart, nor for those less than accomplished in the needlearts. Years ago, Judy Day made gorgeous smocked coats for her two daughters and now has made these beauties for her two granddaughters, using the same pattern.   Self piping, covered buttons and monograms are special details that make the coats fit for a princess or two.

Though they live hundreds of miles apart, the adorable, girly 5 year old cousins see one another often enough to be close friends and enjoy wearing the matching clothes that Judy makes for them. In the pictures, you can see their matching blue smocked bishop dresses peeking out at the top of their coats. Continue reading →

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Posted in girls, machine embroidery, smocking

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Lemon Drop Doll Dress

Posted on November 16, 2009 | 6 comments

zlemondropdollbishopBrite

 

Doll clothes are always fun to make. This smocked, lemon yellow bishop dress will be part of the petite wardrobe I am making for my granddaughter’s Christmas doll Molly, one of Pleasant Company’s American Girls.

Made of Swiss batiste, with French lace on the sleeves and in the fancyband, the color reminds me of lemon drops. The tiny yellow rosebuds in Bear Threads  Swiss embroidered insertion,  reinforces the lemon drop image it generates for me.

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Posted in doll clothing and accessories, heirloom sewing, smocking

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Gender Neutral Daygown

Posted on October 27, 2009 | 3 comments
little lambs daygown

little lambs daygown

The day after we were told that our first grandchild was on its way, I began sewing. Of course, it takes some time for the amazing prenatal ultrasound images to identify the baby’s gender and I had no time to wait on the pink or blue designation.

Of course, I had a sizable grandmother’s hope chest ready to go.  But there were very few things for a baby boy and I didn’t want to come up short if we had a grandson.  So I was in a rush. Continue reading →

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Posted in heirloom sewing, infant clothing, smocking

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Liberty Goat Dress

Posted on October 13, 2009 | 2 comments

 

R and L goat dress

little goat girl and grumpy little guy

Visions of  a “goat dress” had been dancing in my head for many years. In 1985, after purchasing Sarah Howard Stone’s first book, French Handsewing, I studied it with a passion. One page, in particular, spoke to me. It showed row after row of antique laces, including what I call goat lace. I had to have some of this.

goat lace

antique “goat” lace

 At that time, I was in the middle of my Mother Earth phase. Perhaps some readers  recall  the  publication, The Mother Earth News, or Carla Emery’s Old Fashioned Cook Book. These were daily reading for me.

On our 3 acres stood a 50 year old, formerly upscale, two-room chicken house, where our cocky Rhode Island Red rooster and his girls bunked. The  adjoining room  housed a  gaggle of geese and a few white Peking ducks.   Next door to the water fowl was the pony.  Her stall looked out over our 60’ x 60’ vegetable garden and adjacent to that was the goat mansion, my favorite place in the world except for my sewing room.

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Posted in antique textiles, Binche Lace, girls, heirloom sewing, lace tape, smocking, techniques

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Machine Smocked Sewing Caddy

Posted on October 6, 2009 | 5 comments

sewingcaddy11

 

This little sewing caddy is very useful for keeping your sewing or smocking essentials handy and organized while traveling, waiting in the doctor’s office or wherever.

It is made of butter yellow linen, lined with a Rose and Hubble floral lawn and smocked on my Brother ULT embroidery machine. Without very close scrutiny, I suspect it could pass for traditional English smocking, done with needle in hand.

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Posted in machine embroidery, smocking

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