Quickie Bishop for Beatrice

Posted on October 31, 2021 by | 2 comments

Beatrice wearing her aqua broadcloth ready-to-smock bishop.  The smocking design is Allison Leigh by Ellen McCarn.

This is my precious church granddaughter, Beatrice, wearing a bishop dress I completed for her in a relatively short time.  FYI, she is truly a granddaughter in my heart, but when I don’t identify her as my “church granddaughter,” I have to field questions as to which of my  almost middle-age children have had another child.

Ready-to-smock garments are readily available from a number of sources.  Most of my purchases have been from a few members of the Smocking Destash facebook group.  They do a fabulous job of pleating and constructing the garments using quality fabrics.  This garment was complete, from neck binding, to buttons and buttonholes to the hem.  Others are often in various stages of completion.

White lace trimmed the sleeves but I had something else in mind so the lace was removed and replaced with this.  Unusual lace and trims have always caught my eye, and this one certainly did.

This lace is one of the most useful, versatile pieces I have. Just 1/4″ wide, the edges are straight enough to be used as an insertion or edging. Floss woven through the entredeux-like holes makes it a tiny beading.

The sleeve was pleated with only 3 rows. So using a Swiss trim with entredeux seemed too wide, overpowering the narrow smocking.  This 1/4″ trim still allowed for the addition of color to match  the smocking.  Additionally, I had it on hand.

I was pleased to get this dress ready for Beatrice pretty quickly. Several other ready-to-smock garments lie in wait in my drawer of upcoming projects.  Now I just need a drawer full of time for all the projects I want to do!

 

 

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Posted in girls, ready-to-smock finished projects, smocking

Free Brother MCS Design & Pink Baby Blanket

Posted on September 29, 2021 by | 92 comments
Swiss flannel daygown, bonnet and blanket for baby's homecoming

Swiss flannel daygown, bonnet and blanket for baby’s homecoming

NOTE:  The free design can only be used on Brother machines with the My Custom Stitch feature.  You must download the design and then import it to your machine via memory stick or floppy drive.  It cannot be opened on a computer or accessed any way other than through a Brother model which offers this feature.

It has been busy, busy, busy around here.  I’ve embroidered and framed more scripture verses for church, sewn a denim gored skirt for 9 yo Laurel from a fabulous pattern,  embroidered my son’s hiking back pack, altered his “thunderware” (YIKES!) and done a variety of other “utility” sewing projects.

This photo has been edited/darkened to better show detail.

This photo has been edited/darkened to better show detail.

While  trying to get some blogging done, I came across the forgotten post below in my draft folder.  Since two of my earlier posts on Brother’s  My Custom Stitch  feature,  Heart Swag Baby Shawl  and  T-Bonnet ,  there have been several inquiries asking about the zig zag feather stitch I created.  So once again, I am offering it to readers.  It can be saved to a memory stick or floppy disk or whatever device you use to transfer information to your sewing machine.  It is not a .pes hooped embroidery design.  This is done on the sewing side of the machine.

Swiss flannel bonnet, blanket and daygown for baby's homecoming

close up of zig zag feather stitch, worked with 30 wt. cotton thread

This  soft pink set was made for granddaughter Vivian Rose’s homecoming in January.  But she was a smaller newborn than our other three grandchildren so the size I chose was too big for her.  Now, 8 months later, the gown has been worn and outgrown.

This shows the feather stitch with greater contrast to better show detail.

This shows the feather stitch with greater contrast to better show detail.

Read on about this useful stitch and post your request for it in a comment.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Continue reading →

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Posted in baby accessories, free patterns and designs, heirloom sewing, machine embroidery

3rd Birthday Dress for Beatrice

Posted on July 23, 2021 by | 10 comments

This beloved, long-awaited baby girl will be 3 years old in a few days!  In celebration of the occasion I have made her a birthday confection of batiste, lace, embroidery, feather stitches, ribbon and entredeux. As her official church Nana, I embraced this privilege.

This child is pure joy for her family and our entire church congregation.  We prayed so fervently for her safe delivery into the loving arms of her adoptive parents.  With her sparkling brown eyes and bouncing curls, she is all girl while at the same  rough and tumble.

Beatrice romps with her big dog and both of mine (weighing 100+ lbs).  She is friendly with the three family goats

and fearless with huge horses when she visits the stables. shhh..but just between you and me, she is a little frightened by teeny tree frogs! Continue reading →

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Posted in antique textiles, girls, heirloom sewing, machine embroidery

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Bambi Play Set

Posted on July 7, 2021 by | 4 comments

This little pique’ playset features a sweet Bambi embroidery design built into Brother’s Dream 1 and Dream 2 machines, located in the Disney Tinkerbell menu.

 

I’ve always loved this design and thought Bonnie Blue’s Riley pattern was the perfect place for it to wear for spring and summer.

The ruffled back is especially charming.

The Riley capris were wider than I preferred so used Children’s Corner Parker’s Pants.  A ruffle was added to match the Riley top and the Bambi design was manipulated (with a LOT of effort) to place the floral design near the ruffle. Lime green piping was a nice accent between the ruffle and the body of the top and the capris.

This was such a pleasure to make, especially since it was for my almost 3 yo granddaughter. Doesn’t she look adorable wearing it?

More information and details about construction of this garment are posted here at Brother’s Stitching Sewcial blog.

Required disclaimer: I am a paid Brother Brand Ambassador.  Not required: I LOVE my Brother sewing/embroidery machines!

 

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Posted in Disney, girls, machine embroidery

DIY Get Well Card

Posted on April 30, 2021 by | 2 comments

Design from Embroidery Library but appears to be no longer available. Text added on PE-Design. This was stitched on my Brother Dream 2 machine.

Sending a get well card to an ailing friend is always a thoughtful and meaningful gesture. Making a personalized card card is even more meaningful.

This was made for a dear friend who recently had shoulder replacement surgery.  The card opens to a personalized message on printer paper, cut out and attached to the card stock with double sided tape.

At a time when we are encouraged to stay home, making a get well, birthday, anniversary or thinking of you card is a wise alternative to making a trip to the store to purchase a ready made card.

There are so many ways to embroider cards–directly on card stock, on fabric which is stitched onto card stock or as shown above, onto felt which is stitched onto card stock.

They truly are fun and almost addictive to make. I’ve stitched Christmas cards,

Valentines

and other get well cards, all which have been very well received.

All you need to get started is some card stock, rotary cutter, cutaway stabilizer and double sided tape. Instructions are detailed in an earlier blog post here.

Required disclaimer: I am a paid Brother Ambassador sewing specialist. Not required: I LOVE my Brother sewing machines.

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Posted in greeting cards, machine embroidery

Christmas 2020

Posted on January 6, 2021 by | 2 comments

Not exactly a Griswold house, but it was enough to please us. And there is more in the back around the pool. Bob really wanted to please the children with all the lights. Lighted reindeer are perched on the garage roof, 4 snowflakes hang in front of the breakfast porch, candles are in the windows and my sewing room on the right is lighted up like an airport runway. Should have turned that off before Bob snapped this shot.

This is our 46th Christmas in this house and it seems each one gets better as all of our dreams have come true.

Well, the Most Wonderful Time of the Year has come and gone and it was a glorious time. For at least a few days of the week both of our children and  their families were with us and the house was filled with laughter, music, good food, dogs, and chaos.

Since our son was about 10, the Noel proclamation has been mysteriously rearranged on the mantel with our boy neither pleading nor looking guilty, offering only an innocent smile.  Now his son Robert has taken up the gauntlet and another Noel has fallen victim to the prank.

We never know what the mantel or the mirror will proclaim.  Some days it’s NOLE or OLEO, though LEON seems to be favored–you just never know.  Some speculate that it’s  the work of the Elf on the Shelf.

Meanwhile, the piano seems to be playing non-stop, whether it be Ryan, Laurel or Robert at the keyboard, with only cookie breaks in the music.  When Ryan was a child, his job was to play after dinner as Rebecca and I cleaned the kitchen.  It made her want piano lessons.

My boy loves music as do his children.

Sweet, sweet memories.

It was to be a great puzzle. 11 yo Alastair grins at his success, while mama Rebecca holds well-behaved Mendel and Robert FINALLY gave in to have his picture taken.

We worked on a Christmas puzzle on the back porch in 80 degree weather. Then in one brief, unsupervised moment, Sebastian, our 1 year old Pyrenees pup, nicknamed The White Devil,  pulled the unfinished puzzle off the table and chewed up several pieces.  Oh well.

Gingerbread houses were built and decorated, basketball was played in the driveway, football games were watched,  driving lessons were given to 15 yo Robert,  eggnog was chugged, stories were told, cats and dogs were played with and loved on, church was zoomed and life was merry at the Ferguson home.

Our dinner table was festive, set with the traditional Christmas menu.  Along with pumpkin pie, Laurel made a divine cranberry cake, with cream cheese frosting sprinkled with chopped walnuts, decorated with candied cranberries.

As expected, Vivian’s white lace Christmas dress was too big, so she wore cousin Laurel’s 10 yo black velveteen Sugar Plum Fairy Christmas dress which had been hanging in  the nursery closet waiting for her to grow into it. Finally she did. Brother Alastair was dashing, as usual, in his  holiday finery.

I wish I had taken more pictures, but I got so wrapped up in the wonder of it all.  My wish is that you all had a joyous Christmas and celebrated the reason of the season.

From our house to yours, I wish you a happy and healthy 2021.

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Posted in boys, girls, uncategorized

2021 Christmas Dress..Oh Well

Posted on December 19, 2020 by | 8 comments

Are you all set for Christmas?  Cards sent, house decorated, gifts wrapped and sent, sewing finished?  Congratulations if you’ve answered yes to more than one of these questions.

My cards are sent and some house decorating is done, but my greatest accomplishment is finishing my granddaughter’s Christmas dress.

The white lace dress pattern included in the latest Classic Sewing magazine was  made for almost 8 yo granddaughter Vivian Rose.  It is lovely but was just waaaaay too big for her.  She is tiny, though her mother declared she wears a size 8 and I went with it. Big mistake. Even with the accurate and current measurements I had for her, the lace has some stretch.  I should have taken that into account. The silver lining for this disappointment is that now her Christmas dress for 2021 is already finished! I’ve never been ahead of the game like this!

Here she is with the shoulder seams falling off her shoulders, with her handsome 11 yo brother.  He’s had such a growth spurt that his mother just discovered that the only dark shoes that fit his newly enormous feet are his soccer cleats.  So that’s what he wore for this picture. Fortunately, the shoe laces match his vest.  With any luck, Amazon will deliver his new black dress shoes this week.

My two younger grandchildren in their Christmas clothes. It’s likely they will only be worn for at home Christmas dinner with grandparents in their bubble. But they will look spectacular, especially if Vivian has a monumental growth spurt or wears her soon-to-arrive Sugar Plum Fairy dress (see below).

 

Farmhouse Fabrics, as always, came through with the white lace fabric. I ordered a few hours after their on-line Gab and Gush featured this lace and at that time  there were only 6 yards left!  The ever-helpful staff matched up ribbon for the sash with the satiny rose slip fabric I chose.  The hairbow, also ordered on line,  was a perfect match.  Of course, I ordered 3 bows hoping one would match and it did!

Vivian Rose with her beloved rescue dog, Mendel.

This dress was relatively quick and easy to make, with 4-thread serged seams and a Swiss batiste bound neckline.  There was no hemming at the sleeves or on the skirt. In the Farmhouse Live video Sally suggested a crocheted thread loop at the shoulders, attached with a snap to secure the slip shoulders. That was a great tip, especially when the dress turned out to be too big.  That slip would have fallen off the child’s shoulders and annoyed her all day. Another set of crocheted loops was added to the waistline for the optional ribbon sash. Continue reading →

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

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Masked Santa Towel

Posted on December 10, 2020 by | 2 comments

 

The season of Christmas 2020 has been like no other.  With all our social limitations, the celebration of the reason for the season remains unchanged.  But that doesn’t mean we can’t acknowledge the uniqueness of this year’s holiday.

Dishtowels have long been a favorite small gift of mine.  It fits everyone, needs no interior decoration coordination, and implies no obligatory reciprocation.  It just conveys the message of caring at this season of love.

After an extensive search, I found just the design I was looking for here at Rivermill Embroidery. It comes in 4 sizes and a variety of formats. With the addition of the text, the applique’d masked Santa on a black bordered towel perfectly reflected my sentiments of the season. I’ve long been a fan and happy customer of AllAboutBlanks.com where I found  these towels.

The addition of the text to the 4×4 applique’ required my 8×8″ Brother Quattro frame.  Another font or text could easily be arranged in a 5 x 7 frame.  Whatever.  I think it’s a perfect design and a lasting remembrance for this season.

If you would like the text “an unforgettable Christmas” sent in .pes format, just leave your request as a comment at the end of this post.

Wishing you all the real joy of this Christmas season.

Required disclaimer: I am a paid Brother Brand Ambassador.  Not required:  I LOVE my Brother machines.

 

 

 

 

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Posted in embroidery blanks, free patterns and designs, Holiday Projects, kitchen, linen blanks, machine embroidery

Embroidered Christmas Cards

Posted on December 4, 2020 by | Leave a comment

It’s been forever since a new post has been put up here at Janice Ferguson Sews and I can’t say just why. Everyone thinks we should have so much time being pretty much shut down with the pandemic but I seem to be busier than ever! I did get a new hip and the therapy seemed to eat up all my energy and a huge amount of time. And it did help.

But back to blogging…….these embroidered holiday cards are my latest tutorial for Brother’s blog Stitching Sewcial and I LOVED making them. Were it not for the drudgery of laundry, cooking, cleaning, and the weeds that NEVER stop growing in Florida, etc. I’d make a hundred! They are so much fun! Check out the how-to tutorial here.

The tri-fold cards I ordered ordered are just wonderful They came with a variety of colors with optional oval or rectangular shapes. I highly recommend this vendor, though I have no connection other than that of a satisfied customer.

You might notice that there are two drawings on fabric by children (my grands) which were then placed over a thin layer of batting, free-motion outlined then stippled before inserted into tri-fold cards. Details are in the Brother blog tutorial.

Alastair drew his dog and cat lover Vivian, of course, drew a cat. It took a little creative text to pull it all together. Some grandparents, I’m sure, will be delighted.

Trifold cards are not necessary. Several cards were made with plain cardstock while others were made from larger, fancy cardstock from craft stores like Michaels. Some were made with simple text on cardstock.

With the addition of felt, buttons, ribbon and whatever, you can just go crazy.

One of my favorite cards was made with this design from Embroidery Online’s I Believe in Santa Collection. This is a gorgeous set, marked down to $25, but each design is available individually for just $1. Other designs include I Believe in Hope, In Harmony, In Giving, In Family and so much more. Just a beautiful collection.

So these homemade cards are my recommendation for some lockdown holiday fun.  The recipients will love them and you will have a big time making them.

Merry Christmas to all!

P.S. I’m looking forward to showing you granddaughter Vivian Rose in her Christmas dress, the white lace dress from Sew Classic. Lovely as it is on a child, at least in the magazine, it hangs a little limp on a hangar so I am waiting for her to model it. When it arrived her mother said Vivi’s mouth was purple (she didn’t know why) and and the little urchin was dirty, dirty, dirty.  So trying it on her would have to wait.  I’m waiting.

What have you sewn for the holidays?

Required disclaimer: I am a paid Brother Ambassador. Not required: I LOVE my Brother machines.

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Posted in greeting cards, machine embroidery

Fast and Fun Halloween Projects

Posted on October 5, 2020 by | 4 comments

With so many schools relegated to virtual on-line computer classes and Halloween activities being cancelled, it seems more important than ever for our children to have some fall festival fun. These projects are fun to make and fun to share.

These darling pencil toppers were just sent to my younger grands to share with their classmates, by mailing them to their friends. Did you know that Halloween is the most popular secular holiday in the USA? Just ask my grandchildren. They are crazy for this time of year. Last month, 6 yo Vivian Rose told me she was counting the days until Oct. 1 so she could start wearing her Halloween clothes.

This is a bit of a joke, as she is required to wear a uniform to school–when she went off to school. But still she dresses for “class” at her computer desk at home. So hairbows, headbands and pencil toppers are her extra Halloween expressions for the school day.

These pencil toppers from GG Designs are just a joy to stitch out. They come as a single design or “sorted” with four pumpkins or ghosts or bats in a single 4×4 hoop. I combined 2 sorted sets of pumpkins into a larger hoop, did another color sort and stitched 8 pencil toppers in just a few minutes. This was repeated with the ghosts and then with the bats. It takes longer to cut out the felt designs than it did the stitch them. Now the set is on sale for only $4.13.

What a sweet little gift this would be to a favorite elementary teacher to share with her in-house students. There are so many who would be happy to receive these slightly spooky pencil toppers.

GG Designs Embroidery was the inspiration for another Halloween favorite which was sent to my grandchildren last Halloween. This was digitized and also stitched for the children at church, making me one of the more popular church Nanas!

As a paid Brother Ambassador (required disclosure), the project was posted at Brother’s blog, Stitching Sewcial and includes a step-by-step photo tutorial, as well as a FREE download of the file for the pumpkin.

There is still plenty of time to whip up these cuties. For your children, grands, neighbors, church children or for nursing home patients, these pumpkin treat bags are sure to bring a smile.

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Posted in accessories, machine embroidery, school accessories