Category Archives: techniques

Cabin Visit and Friendship Quilt

Posted on December 3, 2011 by Janice| 2 Comments

We’re still in North Carolina enjoying some R&R.  When we arrived the weather was miserable, cold and snowy.  What a difference a day makes! We didn’t see much snow but we did see four deer traipsing across the mountain behind the cabin. Can you see the one who posed for the camera?

Look closely at the center of the picture. There were four deer behind the cabin, but this is the only one who lingered long enough for this photo.

Even though we came to relax, there are always chores to be done.  Bob cleaned out the gutters and climbed the extension ladder to take down some quilts that needed de-dusting and then fixed the damper.  I spent time putting up  Christmas decorations, brushed the wall quilts, and scrubbed the stone face of the fireplace which had some soot accumulation.  I’d like to know made this mess by forgetting to open the damper!

The  souvenir quilt hangs above the hot tub in the cabin. The country colors and down home style fit perfectly in there. Continue reading →

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Posted in quilts, techniques

Shadow Work Christmas Collar

Posted on November 28, 2011 by Janice| 13 Comments

Good grief!!!!  Less than a month until Christmas and I am just now getting the grandchildren’s holiday outfits together!  I’m sewing in the fast lane now.

The collar for 7-year old Laurel’s burgundy velveteen dress is finished.  Swiss cotton organdy has been tinted with coffee.  The collar pattern is from Sarah Howard Stone’s Basic Yoke Dress.

The collar is lined so that the embroidery stitches will not show and also so that  the effect of the strong burgundy color shadowing through the ivory organdy is diminished.  The lining covers only the spokes, not the insertion.  The contrast of the lace spokes against the dark velveteen is very pleasing.

The machine embroidered shadow work designs are from Suzanne Hinshaw’s Charming Embellishments collection.  Though the set was marketed for placemats and linens,  the designs are appropriate for many other purposes.

I really choked using metallic thread to outline the holly leaves.  But I thought Laurel would love it and I’m trying to mix a little contemporary in with my old fashioned Nana style.

Continue reading →

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Posted in girls, heirloom sewing, Holiday Projects, machine embroidery, techniques

Machine Shadow Embroidery-Design and Tutorial Sources

Posted on November 19, 2011 by Janice| 4 Comments

Work in progress...machine shadow embroidered spoke collar, definitely not-yet-ready-for-prime-time. The fabric is coffee dyed Swiss organdy. The dress will be made of burgundy velveteen.

I’m busily working on Christmas outfits for my grandchildren and have started with a shadow work collar for Laurel.  Pictured above, it is fresh out of the embroidery hoop, in need of a good soak to get rid of the blue Dixon lines and the UltraSolvy water soluble stabilizer.  But you get the idea.

collar with hand stitched shadow work

Shadow embroidery is one of my favorite needlework techniques.  Several earlier posts feature this technique both by hand and by hooped machine embroidery. Continue reading →

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Posted in machine embroidery, techniques

Rick Rack Smocking at the Beach

Posted on August 26, 2011 by Janice| 2 Comments

three cousins at the beach

Once again I share with you an upclose and personal view of Judy Day’s delightful creations  for her granddaughters. She never makes “a dress.” It’s always a complete ensemble for each of the two girls and their dolls, usually including matching hairbows for all and often coordinating flip flops.

Though the idea for rickrack smocking is not Judy’s original idea, her execution is always original and fabulous.  Enjoy Judy’s chronicle of the dresses.~~~~

Continue reading →

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

MCS Featherstitch for You & T-Bonnet

Posted on July 29, 2011 by Janice| 11 Comments

UPDATE: Barbara Skimin’s My Custom Stitch book is available at  Allbrands. 

This bonnet was featured in an earlier post, but since I’ve become a teeny bit more blog savvy, I decided to post it again for Faded Charm Cottage’s White Wednesday.

Why? Well, I wanted to create a tutorial page and thought I would make the zig zagged feather stitch available for download there.   It was created in Brother’s My Custom Stitch and will only work on machines with that feature.

Oh, I had big plans indeed.  I would include that stitch in my new Tutorials page, shown under the Janice Ferguson Sews title at the top of each post.  I managed to create the page and–I thought!!!–included a .pdf file for Florence Roberson’s smocked pocket pattern  shown in an earlier post. I was on a blogger roll and feeling rather pleased.

As I tried to add the zig zagged feather stitch file, a message popped up that this file type was “unrecognized” and could not be downloaded…  groan…..Okay.  I will e-mail the file to readers who request it.

Then I discovered that the .pdf smocked pocket pattern file does not show up on the  newly created tutorial page at all!#$%!!!   But I am determined to figure this out sooner or later—but probably later.

Back to the T-bonnet and the zig zagged featherstitch….   If any of you  would like this file, just post a request in the comment section and I will e-mail it to you. Continue reading →

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Posted in baby accessories, heirloom sewing, techniques, White Wednesday

Brother Bishop & ME Design

Posted on June 26, 2011 by Janice| 48 Comments

Do you have a favorite project with which you are completely satisfied?  This  size 3 bishop dress is one of only a  few that fall in that category for me.    It was a pleasure to make and if I were to do it again, I wouldn’t change a thing.

Made of cotton batiste, the dress and shoulder ruffle are blue while the neck binding, sleeves and Madeira applique’ hem are champagne colored. The smocked sleeves and shoulder ruffle are trimmed with champagne French  lace.

Pin stitch, feather stitch, and machine embroidered flowerettes further embellish the sleeves, shoulder ruffle and hem. Continue reading →

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Posted in girls, heirloom sewing, machine embroidery, Madeira applique, smocking, techniques

1st Communion Accessories

Posted on May 28, 2011 by Janice| 4 Comments

This is a continuation of the previous post about the exquisite First Communion dress Judy Day made for her granddaughter Courtney. Details of the dress, slip and veil were included  there while this post focuses on the extensive accessories–Bible cover, garment bag, hanger and purse–that make the ensemble  all the more special.  In Judy’s  words:

My parents, Courtney’s paternal  great grandparents, gave her the First Communion Bible. It was smocked and beaded by my mother, Wanda Stewart,  in  the same diamond pattern as the dress.  The beaded cross on the Bible was formed by sewing the pearl glass beads  in place  after the smocking was completed.  The instructions for the Bible cover can be found in the April, 2007 issue of Creative Needle  magazine.  Continue reading →

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Posted in bags, heirloom sewing, Judy Day's creations, machine embroidery, techniques, uncategorized

Hooping Tip

Posted on May 23, 2011 by Janice| Leave a comment

I’d like to share with you one of the most helpful machine embroidery tips I have ever come across.  Somewhere it was posted on a sewing list, several years ago, though I can’t recall where. It is best demonstrated in person, but I hope you can figure it out from the pictures shown below.

Many find hooping to be very frustrating because it requires that four pieces to be centered and positioned exactly.   There are four pieces to stack: 

  • 1. outer hoop
  • 2.  stabilizer
  • 3.  fabric
  • 4. inner hoop

For successful embroidery, all four pieces be in perfect alignment.  Here is an easy way to accomplish this.

stabilizer, dishtowel, inner frame, outer frame, double sided tape

Continue reading →

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Posted in machine embroidery, techniques

Saved by the slip!

Posted on April 17, 2011 by Janice| 3 Comments

Thank goodness for this slip.  It was designed for modesty and decency, which is what these undergarments are supposed to provide.  But it has been pressed into service as the remedy for Laurel’s  too short Easter dress.

When sewing for a child, accurate and up-to-date measurements are as important as your sewing machine.  I know that.  Then how does it happen that I see this child, on the average, twice a week and never manage to find a few moments to measure her?

How does it happen that once again I put this task on her mother, who doesn’t sew and uses a yard stick for such important calculations as center back length?

Easter '10. Note slip ruffle extending below the dress skirt. Saved by the slip version #1.

When my patient and cooperative daughter-in-law answered the call to determine the finished dress length, I was doubtful of  the measurement.  So I added another 1 1/2″ to the length.  But still, the dress is too short. Continue reading →

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Posted in girls, heirloom sewing, Holiday Projects, machine embroidery, techniques

Lace too wide?

Posted on April 15, 2011 by Janice| 4 Comments

 

The slip refused to lie flat and still on the scanner bed.

For  Laurel’s Easter dress three matching heirloom laces were pulled from my stash, two edgings  and an insertion.  The narrow piece, used at the neckline,  is 7/8″ wide,  broader than I prefer but acceptable. 

That width on the slip neckline and armscyes seemed excessive because it would be flattened under the dress and might even peek out at the neck.  Rather than choose another lace pattern, I decided to reduce the size of the matching piece. 

Now, if it had not been 2 a.m., I would have called Mildred Turner for advice.  It’s likely she can and has narrowed miles of edging by  twitching her nose, balancing the bolt on the machine head and waving a needle trolley in the air.  Remember,  her third book is titled Mimi’s Machine Magic. 

Though it’s true that Mildred stays up late (and rises early!  Good grief!), I knew she was out of town visiting her youngest son, Matthew, and his family.   So I didn’t call.  I just had to figure something out on my own. Continue reading →

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Posted in heirloom sewing, machine embroidery, techniques