Judy Day continues to dazzle all who see her flawless, elegant sewing projects. Recently, she made a wedding veil for a bride for whom Judy’s granddaughter was the flower girl. Her creative approach to design and problem solving are inspiring.
In Judy’s words: Continue reading
Posted in girls, Judy Day's creations, wedding
I did not make this dress but I did upgrade it. I think of it as Strasburg Children ver.1.1. , Laurel’s flower girl dress.
Though there are for sale many really lovely ready-to-wear smocked and heirloom garments, for both children and adults, invariably, everything in my price range falls short of my standard of excellence.
Laurel took two steps and then stood like a deer in the headlights. This is the only photo that shows forward progress.
Laurel was to be the flower girl at our daughter’s wedding, which took place at our home in 2006. I would love to have made Laurel’s dress, but I was nearly overwhelmed by the task of getting the house ready. Having sustained major damage from two hurricanes in 2004, the repairs were finished just 2 months prior to the big event. Continue reading
Posted in clothing, girls, hand embroidery, heirloom sewing, uncategorized, wedding
Rebecca’s garden wedding for 130 guests at our home was a hands-on affair, put on by family and friends. Only the photographer, ceremony string quartet, reception Cajun band and wait staff were hired.
As soon as Rebecca and Harvey’s engagement was announced, my dear friend Susanna presented me with her tote bag, embellished with the text MOTB–Mother Of The Bride. She had used this bag extensively while planning her own daughter’s fairy tale wedding.
Susanna graciously offered to serve as wedding coordinator and was promptly engaged in that volunteer capacity. From that time on, in our conversations and planning sessions, familial relationships were designated by letters–MOTG (mother of the groom), AOTB (aunt of the bride), Grandmother of the Groom (GMOTB) etc. It was fun.
Posted in home dec, ladies, machine embroidery, wedding
Making special occasion tablecloths is one of the easiest, most satisfying and cost effective projects you can undertake. For weddings, birthdays or showers, you can make tablecloths for a very reasonable price and in less time than it would take to locate just what you want, if ever you could. The splash of color and coordination with the decorations or color theme makes the affair seem a bit nicer.
The use of a serger certainly streamlines the process, but with a sewing machine and a little more time, you can still achieve the same satisfactory, economical results. Continue reading
For the 50+ out of town guests for our daughter’s wedding, we planned a Saturday afternoon cruise down the St.Johns River.
In our area, the wedding pre-ceremony activity is most often a guest golf tournament, usually for the men, with balls or some other minor golf equipment for favors.
Our out-of-town guests ranged from the groom’s 85 year old grandmother to young mothers with 6 month old babies. We wanted something they all could enjoy before the 6 p.m. wedding ceremony.
In this electronic age of e-mail, beepers and cell phones, very few hand-addressed envelopes make their way to the red-flagged mailbox at the end of the driveway. An electronic message simply cannot generate the warm feelings awarded by an old fashioned handwritten letter.
Posted in machine embroidery, techniques, uncategorized, wedding
kiddie wedding fun
For our daughter’s 2006 wedding at our home, the guest list went round the full “circle of life,” from infants to the elderly.
All were welcome, but, especially for the smallest guests, accommodations had to be made. In order for little ones and their parents to enjoy themselves, extra planning was required. It took some effort, but in the big picture, it was not a major expenditure of time or money.
Our first consideration was seating for our 8 youngest guests, ages 0-4 years. Reaching out to local friends, we borrowed enough high chairs for the babies and booster seats for the toddlers. The high chairs were wrapped with gold organza bows, just like the adult chairs. The booster seats were strapped securely onto the regular adult seats.
minister's baby
Gators 13-LSU 3
Following a college football team offers so many opportunities for wholesome family fun. Some of our happiest family memories are set on Norman Field, in Gainesville, tailgating before a Florida Gator football game. For away games, we all crowd together in our living room, cheering, moaning, eating and chasing the babies away from in front of the TV. As was often said in our small town local newspaper coverage of each neighborhood, “A good time was had by all.”
There are also creative opportunities to pursue in the sewing room. The pictured embroidered terry cloth is actually a Martha Stewart dish cloth, repurposed as a tailgating napkin. When I see items in our team colors, I usually buy up everything on the shelf. So our tailgating box has a huge stack of these napkins, embroidered with a free “hungry gator” design offered many, many years ago, and text that names all SEC opponents and various other teams against whom our team has played. The opponent’s name on the napkin instigates a lot of “Remember LSU 2008? 51-21 Gators! Wasn’t that a great game?”
note wash station on left, at tree
When we have messy food, such as barbecued ribs, a paper napkin just won’t do the job. Wet, these napkins, are much more effective against sticky foods. There is some distance to the bathrooms and running water, so we always take several jugs of water, some with liquid detergent added. I wrap a piece of elastic around a tree, tuck in several Gator hand towels and hang a bar of soap from a ribbon. This gives everyone, most importantly the cooks, easy opportunity to wash hands before preparing food.
Posted in machine embroidery, party accessories, sporting gear, wedding
For our daughter Rebecca’s wedding to Harvey’s here at our home in 2006, I gave a lot of thought to just how to number the tables. I decided to embroider in the wedding colors and frame them. They are large enough to be read easily and yet took up very little table space.
First, I went to an outlet store and purchased the gold frames. I was unable to find 15 exactly the same, so I just selected frames with a similar look. When looking for their table, no guests notices or cares that the frames are not all identical.
second frame style
Next it was important to make certain that the number design would fit into the frame. Double digit numbers were a challenge and even in a reduced size, really hugged the edge of the frame. They also required a smaller floral design.
The floral designs are from Sue Box. Absolutely everything she digitizes is spectacular. From her fabulous Golden Classics collection, one or another of the Briar Rose subcategory of designs was embroidered on every table number. The ribbon outline was stitched in gold metallic to accent the gold in the color scheme.
Posted in machine embroidery, party accessories, wedding
Sewing for a wedding is just about as much fun as sewing for babies. It’s like the prelude to grandchildren.
When our daughter was married at our home three years ago, the sewing/embroidery machine ran almost non-stop for the 10 months we had to get ready.
Arrangements had already been made for the standard white chair covers with gold organza bows. But I wanted something special for the bride and groom.
Posted in Binche Lace, home dec, machine embroidery, party accessories, serger, wedding
