Antique Textiles~Estate Sale

Posted on March 26, 2012 by Janice| 5 Comments

guest or tea towel with fil tire', surface embroidery, applique' and scalloped cutwork edge.

There are so many lovely and interesting textiles from the previous  Once-in-a-Lifetime Estate Sale  that they deserve another post.  This is part two.

But before you look further, I want to apologize for the boring layout of these beauties.  I’m struggling with Laurel’s Easter dress and don’t have much time.  So they are simply laid out, plain and simple.

The first is this towel, which was probably for the use of guests.I love all the details and embellishments.

Of the same style and quality is a yellow version.

The linen is so fine that the patio table top shows through both layers of the folded towel.

Notice the kitten Binche lace and the tiny pinstitch holes.

The peach linen towel above was probably in a children’s bathroom.  The kitten Binche “picture” lace is very childlike.

I have a lot of antique Binche lace that I will soon put up for sale.  The patterns are not all juvenile, but include elephants, fisher boys, deer, tennis players and even King Tut.  A few are shown below.

Binche lace~~1. Billy Goats Gruff, 2. tennis players, 3. deer, 4. baby chicks, 5. fisher boys, 6. roosters, 7. King Tut, 8. St. George's dragon

Next is a pretty 16″ centerpiece.

coronation cord centerpiece

Coronation cord has fascinated me since I first saw it.  It came in several sizes and many colors.  It is simply couched in place, but renders the look of padded satin or bullion stitches. Continue reading →

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Posted in antique textiles, antique/vintage textiles, White Wednesday

Once-in-a-lifetime Estate Sale Shopping Spree

Posted on March 23, 2012 by Janice| 6 Comments

“Almost 20 years ago, they  (the lace portraits shown below) were purchased at an estate sale,  where they were pinned to a sheet of cardboard.  If any interest is expressed, I’ll write a post about that once-in-a-lifetime textile shopping spree.  Occasionally, I still dream about it!” 

This quote is from an earlier post about these antique lace portraits. Readers did ask for the story.  So let me tell you………

This was the most amazing estate sale I had ever seen, or ever will again.  It was truly a once-in-a-lifetime shopping opportunity to acquire beautiful things.

First, a few details about one of my finds at that sale, a set of 6 placemats and napkins with a matching table runner.

Shadow embroidered placemat with surface embroidery and hemstitching.

The shadow embroidery on this luncheon set is absolutely flawless.  Worked in two shades of blue, the stitches are so tiny and so regularly spaced that it’s hard to believe this is handwork.

The surface embroidery is equally remarkable.

The set of six placemats and napkins includes a table runner.  With my Blue Willow china,  it makes a pretty setting for lunch.  For tea, flow blue cups are elegant.  My 7 yo granddaughter Laurel and I enjoy having tea on the breakfast porch with these cups.  Robert, 6, sometimes joins us but prefers a no nonsense Gator mug.

A pair of these cups was purchased at the same time.

So here is the story about how this all came about.  My mother’s friend, Marybelle, had a daughter who did estate sales and auctions in New England.  She didn’t liquidate little Ma & Pa farms or cottages but rather huge estates with names like Rockefeller or DuPont.  Mind you, I don’t know the surnames, but the implication was that they were of this status, rich and/or famous.

Suzanne bought these, then duplicated the technique. It is featured in a Creative Needle article.

The story goes that the 4 or 5 adult children had already stripped the house of  everything that interested them, which apparently was the bulk of the mansion’s  contents.   Then, at the auction, more than $5 million worth of items were sold.  The leftovers were sent to Marybelle, a well-connected Southern lady, who was to offer them to her friends.  Fortunately for me, my mother was one of her friends. Continue reading →

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Posted in antique textiles, antique/vintage textiles, hand embroidery, Madeira applique, shadow work, uncategorized, White Wednesday

Remember that tiny baby girl?

Posted on March 21, 2012 by Janice| 1 Comment

She is thriving and growing!  This beautiful cherub and her equally beautiful mama are snug at home with baby’s undoubtedly proud and doting daddy.  They are all easing their way into a new family routine.

Look at those sweet pink toes.

The daygown,  made from Lezette Thomason’s Angel Gown pattern (all proceeds go to charity) for tiny, tiny babies, was shown and detailed in a previous post.

So many of you prayed for the life and health of this baby and her mother, who sent these pictures.  Along with them, she sent a touching note asking me to thank all the readers who lifted up this family.

She shared details of her baby’s progress …. “I took the picture when she was on her changing pad. If I had taken it while she was in her crib she would have screamed bloody murder-she hates being put down.

I’m holding her constantly which I know is indulgent but she’s just so small and I’ve read preemies tend to need that more. Plus she’s just so adorable and I can’t help myself……

She is getting stronger. She’s almost 6 lbs. now. I’m breast and bottle feeding her so she eats all the time! Also, she’s still on an apnea monitor, but it has turned out to be a comforting thing because I know if she stops breathing we will be alerted and the thing’s so darn loud it wakes her up too and reminds her to breathe! Hasn’t happened recently so she is probably growing out of that problem which they told me she would. Thank you for all your prayers and please let your readers know I cherish their prayers. Much love….”

I hope seeing this radiant, healthy baby will give encouragement and hope to others who welcome a preemie in the family.

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Posted in heirloom sewing, infant clothing, machine embroidery, uncategorized

Invasion of the Grandchildren!

Posted on March 17, 2012 by Janice| 4 Comments

We’re loving it.  For the past 4 days we have had various combinations of grandchildren 24/7 and it has been so much fun.  But with homeschool, 6 year-old Robert, 7 year-old Laurel and now 3 year-old Alastair getting all my attention,  there has been no time for blog posting.

Please don’t give up on Janice Ferguson Sews.  I have some posts ready in my head—

  • 1.  the story of the incredible, once-in-a-lifetime estate sale where I scored big time, with photos of some of my incredible textile purchases,
  • 2. an instructive (to some) post on pinstitch, entredeux stitch, their uses, differences and techniques,
  • 3. report on progress, observations, and tips about shadow smocking on Laurel’s Easter dress,
  • 4.  destashing goods for sale, with lots of tatting and lace (including Binche/picture lace), Liberty and some neat commercial collars,
  • 5. Rebecca’s Bow Dress, two versions and details about  an heirloom dress and pattern by me,  published by Martha Pullen lonnnnnnnnnng, long ago,
  • 6.  updates on my fabulous Quattro and what it does for me
  • and more………….

I will be back, because I really enjoy writing this blog and hearing from you.  But right now, while I have the opportunity, I’d rather read books in the tree house with Alastair, start a new quilt with Laurel and hunt the newly hatched  grasshopper pests infesting our yard with Robert. Continue reading →

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Posted in Nana fun, uncategorized

Bargain Baby Dress

Posted on March 14, 2012 by Janice| 4 Comments

This is another of the antique daygowns that hang on a twig swag in my bluebird nursery ( Nana’s Nursery). Like the others, this yellow beauty has a wealth of sweet details and a variety of well-executed techniques.

Teeny, tiny tucks, hand embroidery, fagoting, pin stitch, lace insertion and edge, French seams…all done by hand. I’ve done some handwork, but I wouldn’t begin to know how to go about making twenty four 1/16″  tucks finish out at 1 1/2″ wide. With a 9-groove pin tuck foot and a 1.6/60 twin needle, great results can be had. But I am quite certain that no one could get 24 tucks to measure out at 1 1/2″ by machine. If you disagree, take that as a challenge.

The feature that initially attracted me to this dress was the fagoted lace collar. Beginning with a 3/8″ wide two-layer collar, two rows of lace were fagoted together and joined to the batiste collar. The stitches are tiny and perfect. Continue reading →

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Posted in antique textiles, clothing, hand embroidery, heirloom sewing, infant clothing

Odyssey Competition

Posted on March 12, 2012 by Janice| 4 Comments

Odyssey of the Mind Team SLC, wearing embroidered shirts

Grandchildren Robert, 6, and Laurel, 7, have learned so much and had such fun as members of their Odyssey of the Mind team.  Coached by their mother and the two other team moms, the homeschooled children recently were entered in the regional competition.  Their category was Weird Science.

Left to right, 5 year-old alien scientist "Boss" in her chemical stained lab coat, three other alien scientists, and a 5 year-old Arctic raccoon. Laurel, the alien rock star, was not in this scene. Doesn't this sound like a made-for-Broadway story line?

There are two parts of the competition, one of which is an 8 minute skit which reflects their “solution” to a fictional problem.  This problem is selected from one of 5 categories, including their choice Weird Science.  The children must come up with the concept, write the script, build the sets, create the costumes and generally do it all, with parental supervision, of course.

Laurel knitted a square that represented a hunk of Arctic racoon fur.  The judges were impressed with that, as well as all the things the children had made.  Their creativity really shined. Continue reading →

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Posted in uncategorized

Eat Your Eyes Out

Posted on March 10, 2012 by Janice| 6 Comments

In 6 year-old Robert’s world, what happened to his beloved teddy bear was  catastrophic.  His nearly constant companion and sleepmate had been blinded by the family’s 90 lb. German shepherd puppy. Apollo had abducted Teddy and eaten his eyes out.

Apollo’s attack on Teddy was not malicious.  To him, it was just another thing to chew. But to my grandson, this was very upsetting.

Academically, Robert seems older than 6.  He reads at 4th grade level, knows the multiplication tables, studies Latin and can do short division in his head.  But emotionally he is just a thumb sucking 6 year-old who loves his scruffy bear.

Robert and Laurel, bedded down in our cabin loft with their bed partners.

Continue reading →

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Posted in uncategorized

Antique Lace Portraits

Posted on March 6, 2012 by Janice| 13 Comments

Of all my textile treasures, these lace portraits are among my very favorites.  I’ll be perfectly honest with you and state that I know absolutely nothing about how they were created. Do you know?  I would really appreciate any information you could share.

The background/field surrounding the busts appears to be a sort of tatting or crochet.   The fill pattern in parts of  each figure remind me of Battenburg techniques.  But for all I know, there may be an obscure, obsolete needleart for creating such stitched images.  I can say with certainty that they were made by hand.

The placement of the intricate stitch patterns create a portrait so clear that you might recognize this regal personage or his ancestors if you had bumped into them at the latest royal wedding. Continue reading →

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Posted in antique/vintage textiles, uncategorized, White Wednesday

New Brother Quattro! New SmockingTechnique!

Posted on March 3, 2012 by Janice| 6 Comments

NEW MACHINE!!!  If you have heard happy shouts and contented purrs coming from central Florida, it’s just me.  I am beside myself with delight over my new Brother Quattro!  After my disappointment over the misplaced design on a collar for my granddaughter, I knew that wouldn’t have happened if I had been sewing on the Brother Quattro.  So now, this big Brother lives in my sewing room!  Hurrah!

When I stitched that design on my Brother Duetta, I had hooped heavy water soluble stabilizer, applied spray adhesive and placed the “V” shaped collar in place.  In fact, I had centered the design properly, with the needle penetrating the absolute center of the design.  But the linen collar was not absolutely straight,  north and south, east and west.  This caused the “V” design to lean to the east.

See how misaligned this is?

The Brother Duetta stitched it perfectly, but my operator error caused the misplacement.

This slight misalignment would not have been so noticeable had the collar been round or square or if it had been stitched on a yoke.  But with the echoed “V” so near, it was very obvious.

The Quattro has a built in camera.  With this incredible feature, the  camera locates the cross hairs of the “snowman” sticker that is placed at the very center of my design area.  The camera perceives even slight placement inaccuracies and makes the correction by rotating the design however many degrees are necessary.  Is that not wonderful and amazing?

We are in the “getting to know you” mode right now and the more I read, the more awestruck I am.  Edge sewing, print and stitch, huge embroideries…… The list goes on and on.  I can’t wait for Quattro and me to become BFF’s!

NEW TECHNIQUE!!! My granddaughter’s Easter dress seemed to be an appropriate first project to help us get acquainted.  Pictures of “shadow smocking,”  posted on Pinterest caught my eye.  Note: If you don’t know about Pinterest, check it out here. Continue reading →

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Posted in heirloom sewing, smocking, techniques, uncategorized

Spring and Black Velvet

Posted on February 29, 2012 by Janice| 2 Comments

It may seem that Laurel’s  black velveteen dress is out of season.  But the weather this time of year in central Florida can be freezing or almost hot.   Today, it is 80 degrees (I’m not complaining!) but a week ago it was freezing.  So her church clothes wardrobe requires seasonal variety.

The black velveteen basic yoke ’10 Christmas dress still fits, though the hem had to be dropped.  Hurrah for 6″ hems!  With a few 6mm twin needle tucks and a border of serpentine stitching the crease was invisible and the skirt was long enough.

Sugarplum Fairy embroidery on pinafore bib

As I began planning a collar to go over this dress, I recalled a box of ready-made collars that was packed away. Continue reading →

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Posted in girls, shadow work