Feather Stitched Bows

t bonnet

There are so many projects and ideas I want to share with you, but time is just too short right now. Vivian Rose is the proud owner of a sweet little smocked popover that I will share with you later and another major project is underway. For now, this re-run~fro, 2010 will have to do.

This T-bonnet is a great little project with some interesting techniques, especially for those who do not use an embroidery machine. I hope new readers will find something of value and those of you who have already seen this post will not mind it the second time around.

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Enchanting as I find this T-bonnet to be, the techniques used in its creation hold even greater interest. At an Elna Convention outside Minneapolis, Melissa Stone, daughter of renown Sarah Howard Stone, taught this project to an eager group of students, including me.

Mind you, this was before the advent of the home embroidery machines. So for anyone who does not have an embroidery machine, this technique is gold. For those who do, the technique has applications beyond this project.

The T-bonnet is de rigueur, standard heirloom sewing. For directions and measurements for a basic t-bonnet, refer to my earlier post, unimaginatively entitled “T-Bonnet.”

bonnet side

In the class with Melissa Stone, we used the pattern measurements from her mother’s book, French Hand Sewing. But Melissa’s innovative idea for embroidering the bow, without the use of a water-soluble marking pen, was very creative. Continue reading

Another Contemporary Heirloom?

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Four-month old Vivian Rose is growing like the national debt, so I am busy, busy, busy sewing for her.   The pink Imperial broadcloth “apron” is paired with bloomers of black floral lawn, which was a stretch for traditional me.  Black for a baby???  I keep reminding myself  that this blog’s subtitle is “modern projects for old fashioned Nanas.”  But can an Old Fashioned Baby pattern be  a modern project?

 

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Coming soon–black buttons and buttonholes.

 

The pattern is Baby’s Summer Clothes by Old Fashioned Baby, the largest size of which is 6-12 months.  The sleeveless apron with the scalloped hemline is the version I chose. Surely, I thought, it would fit a 4 month old baby for a few months.  But not this queen-sized baby girl. Continue reading

Smocked Nighties for 2 American Girls

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For Laurel’s 9th birthday I finally finished smocking this nightie.   The matching gown for her American Girl Molly had long since been done.   But when little Vivian Rose was born I was wrapped up making baby girl things, so this project was pushed to the back burner.  I was so glad to have both pink things out of my sewing room.

 

L close smocking

 

Like the Molly’s nightgown, Laurel’s has a machine embroidered heart in the unsmocked area at center front.  The designs are from Martha Pullen’s Little Pleasures collection which includes two nearly identical hearts in two sizes.  A little editing made them match almost perfectly.  Laurel notices and appreciates details like that.

 

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Continue reading

Cherry Bubble

"Isabella" for granddaughter Vivian Rose

“Isabella” for granddaughter Vivian Rose

 

 

Isabella is a sweet, simple little bubble pattern from My Childhood  Treasures.  When Judy Day saw this pattern on-line, she immediately e-mailed me with the link.  She knew I would love it for our granddaughter Vivian Rose.  It is a for sale downloadable PDF pattern so I had it in my hands moments after buying it.  Don’t you love these downloadable patterns?

 

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My daughter Rebecca loved it exactly as shown on the pattern cover and wanted Vivian’s to look just like that.

 

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But you know how that goes…..even though in my fabric stash I had apples, watermelon, strawberries, blueberries and most fruits grown in the continental US, there were no cherries. Continue reading

Alysha’s Birthday Dress

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Happy Mother’s Day to each and every one of you who has mothered a child of your own or a child of another. (Frankly, I cannot imaging anyone who sews or reads this blog who has not reached out to children and grandchildren of their own and/or others.) The love and attention showered on our precious children is the best use of our precious time.

I’m at that happy time of life when I can enjoy my beloved adult children as well as the beloved grandchildren they have given us. My daughter Rebecca and daughter-in-law Shelly are both incredible, wonderful mothers whom I admire and love dearly. I wish each of you a happy day filled with appreciation from and for your loved ones.

Around here it has been busy, busy, BUSY!!!! We’ve been blessed with almost back to back and overlapping visits from our four grandchildren and even more happy chaos.  In a future post I’ll tell you all about Laurel’s luau 9th birthday party, new fleece blankets for each grandchild and the progress of our newly tamed feral cats and the kittens.

So once again, I am rerunning an old post, though I do have a few new thoughts and plans.  I hope  to make a very similar dress for new granddaughter Vivian Rose before her first birthday.  FYI, Alysha is almost 5, adorable and the apple of her grandparents’ eyes.

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Continue reading

Train up a child….

“Train up a child in the way he should go:  even when he is old, he will not depart from it.” Proverbs 22:6

 

Karoline sewing on her grandmother's Featherweight

Karoline sewing on her grandmother’s Featherweight

 

This Scripture applies to more than spiritual guidance.  Now a successful nurse practitioner, Karoline began sewing here at our home when she was 7 and has never stopped.  She was one of my daughter’s dearest friends from toddler days.  Karoline went to church with us and joined us for family vacations.  She was like one of the family.

After she graduated from high school, I didn’t see Karoline for many years. Recently, she moved back to the area with Benji, her Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, and Mr. Whiskers, an orange marmalade cat.   Yesterday, we had a joyous reunion and a fabulous day sewing on a special project for Benji.

 

K holding Bcr

 

Now can’t help strolling down memory lane, recalling Karoline’s enthusiasm and projects she had through the years.  And  the fun.  She was a really fun child to be around. Continue reading

Easter Outfits by Judy Day~~Going with the Flow

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Many of you have been there—that place in time where your idea of what your child or grandchild should wear differs from that child’s opinion.  Selecting fabric, pattern, smocking design, etc. is so easy when  they are little, but as they develop their own personal taste you have to go with the flow.

 

Kennedy

 

Judy Day has done just that with fabulous results for her 9 year old granddaughters. Judy has always made holiday outfits in groups of 4, one for each girl and one for  each girl’s doll.   But this year, she recognized and acknowledged her girls’ growing sense of individual style.  Well, at least their different color choices.

Here is Judy’s story about the Easter outfits.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Continue reading

Sew Lucky, Sew Beautiful and Sew Much More

Vivian Rose, 3 months in her Farmhouse Fabrics bubble.

Vivian Rose, 3 months in her Farmhouse Fabrics bubble.

Farmhouse Fabrics Bubble Sample

This adorable bubble was a sample at Farmhouse Fabrics.  Did you know they are made available for sale periodically, for very reasonable prices?  As luck would have it, this little beauty was a 9 month size, nearly a perfect fit for”chubbalicious” 16 pound Vivian Rose.  She is one well-nourished nursing baby!  I was lucky to snatch up this bubble shortly after it was posted for sale.

The body fabric of the bubble is cotton sateen trimmed with what feels like pima cotton.  It is very well-made and nicely understated.  Vivian Rose’s mother thinks  this will be Baby’s 4th of July outfit, along with a big red headband.  She might even have a little more hair by then!

Sew Beautiful

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The current issue of Sew Beautiful includes a blurb about  this blog, Janice Ferguson Sews.

My Sew Beautiful magazine has not yet arrived, but others who have theirs in hand have let me know that  Janice Ferguson Sews  has been included in a blog list!  The picture, however, is of a dress I have never seen.  Oh well, it’s a pretty dress.  I welcome all you new readers visiting my blog and hope you will stop by often. Continue reading

Baptism

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What a joyful day this was!  Our two older grandchildren, seven year old Robert and eight year old Laurel, were baptized.

 

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Cousin Alastair, 4, loves a photo opportunity so he stepped up to be included.

 

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Continue reading

Ruffled Smockable Bubble

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The six month size fits her perfectly with a crotch extension.

This past week with our grandchildren has been delightful—and exhausting!  Laurel wants to teach two of her friends to sew, so she did a practice lesson.   Robert spent an entire afternoon with his grandfather assembling a free standing basketball hoop.  Alastair spent time with his cousins handling and socializing the feral kittens we have housed in the old chicken house.

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Alastair with one of his favorite kittens and one of his favorite bandaids.

Each day, I thought surely tomorrow this bubble would be completed!  Finally it is, after this special time with Robert, Laurel, Alastair and baby Vivian Rose. Continue reading