Beach Portrait Dress and Vintage Skirt

Posted on July 27, 2011 | 5 comments
BeachDressC.png

Children’s Corner Louise, modified

 

Judy Day attended Lezette Thomason’s Children’s Corner Sewing School in June and had a fabulous time.  She just finished this classic white beach portrait dress which was one of the projects.   Any beach would be enhanced with Judy’s pretty seven-year old  granddaughter, Courtney, wearing this dress.

Children’s Corner pattern Louise was redrafted for this garment.  Judy reported that it is embellished with 12 tucks on the front, 18 on the back,  three gathered tiers with tucks, separated by lace. She thoroughly enjoyed stitching this project.

BeachDressvintall

I fell in love with the dress and the idea of a beach portrait for my own seven year-old granddaughter, Laurel.  Instantly, I remembered this exquisite white skirt, purchased at our church bazaar several years ago for no good reason other than its loveliness and potential.  Of course, I wonder on what occasions the  original owner with her 22″ waist wore this elaborate skirt.  Vintage textiles always pique my curiosity.

Continue reading →

5 Comments

Posted in antique textiles, girls, heirloom sewing, Judy Day's creations

Tagged , , , ,

Florence Roberson and King Tut

Posted on July 24, 2011 | 14 comments

our Golden boi LeRoi, 14, with my granddaughter, Laurel, 3, wearing a Little Sunday Dresses pinafore

Remember the smocked pocket pattern featured in a previous post?  Credit was given to Florence  Roberson, designer and owner of the patten company Little Sunday Dresses.

1984~~my gap-toothed Rebecca, 6, wearing LSD pinafore ~see post Little Fawn Pinafore http://www.janicefergusonsews.com/blog/2009/09/06/little-fawn-pinafore/

I had copied it from an old SAGA Newsletter but didn’t know the issue or date.  A smocking friend from long ago, Lorraine Whyte, posted a comment that the pattern was published in the Fall, 1983 issue.  She also informed me that it was included in Little Sunday Dresses Sundress and Panties pattern.  She had used  that pattern to make a Valentine’s dress for her daughter, Monica, who appeared on the cover of Mildred Turner’s 2nd book on heirloom sewing.  Thanks, Lorraine!

Shortly after  that, this comment was posted by Mrs. Roberson’s granddaughter:

Dear All,
I was doing some research on the web and stumbled across this blog and questions about my grandmother, Florence Roberson. She passed away almost 10 years ago at almost 90 years old! In my opinion, she was one classy lady and I adored her. It is really neat to read what others write about her and to know her legacy lives on through smocking. I live in Fayetteville, Arkansas and still meet smockers who use her patterns and say she is a legend. I talk to my own daughter about her all the time. Thanks for continuing with the lost art… it is beautiful………Ann Catherine Continue reading →

14 Comments

Posted in girls, smocking, uncategorized

Sewing with Boys

Posted on July 23, 2011 | 4 comments

My dear husband took this picture. He thinks only the subject matters, not the background or a wadded up, dirty shirt.

Recently, when grandchildren Robert and Laurel spent the night, each wanted a sewing project. Laurel, 7, made a sleeping bag for her American Girls doll Kit and Robert, 5, embroidered this apron.

Again and again I am so thankful that I have some blanks on hand for these spontaneous bursts of sewing enthusiasm. For some time now, this denim apron had been lying in wait for its big chance to make a little boy happy.  And it did. Continue reading →

4 Comments

Posted in Kids Sew, machine embroidery, Nana fun

New Mother Gift

Posted on July 20, 2011 | 7 comments

 

 

This sweet new mother gift set was photographed and sent to me by one of my friends in Puerto Rico, Haydee.  Several previous posts on this blog have shown her work or ideas.   As I have explained before, the language barrier prevents me from scoping out the details of these projects. Continue reading →

7 Comments

Posted in baby accessories, bags, button machine, machine embroidery

Doll Sleeping Bag–Kid Sew

Posted on July 18, 2011 | 6 comments

AG-sleeping-bagwKit

Grandchildren Robert, 5, and Laurel, 7, spent Friday night and all day Saturday with us. As usual, it was a busy time with both children requesting a sewing project with me and shop time with their grandfather.

Bob finished a shop project with Robert, but Laurel is training for a children’s triathalon and asked him to “train” with her. In Florida’s scorching July heat, they jogged and biked and twice went swimming with Robert. Bob is a real trooper, but time (and energy) ran out before he and Laurel made it into the shop.

I managed to do some machine embroidery with the little guy which I will post later. The major sewing project was Laurel’s, this doll sleeping bag.

Once again, at our house, Laurel’s American Girls doll Kit was forced to spend the night in the nursery crib because the little doll cradle at the foot of Laurel’s bed is too short for the 18″ dolls.  Laurel lamented the doll bedding shortage everywhere. At her home, she has the sweet AG doll bed decked out with bedding I made for her first doll, Molly . But now that Kit has joined the family, “She has to sleep on the floor, Nana!” Outrageous!

Last month, at our cabin, Kit again had to sleep on the floor, just as she had at a recent sleepover. So Laurel thought this would be a very useful accessory for her new doll.

AG-sleeping-bag-LKit2

Continue reading →

6 Comments

Posted in doll clothing and accessories, Kids Sew, machine embroidery, serger, Tutorials

Tagged , , ,

Smocked Pocket Pattern

Posted on July 14, 2011 | 23 comments

smocked-pocket-finished

Life certainly has gotten in the way of the Liberty sundress I am making for Laurel. (UPDATE: But it is finally finished! Click here.) Fortunately, with all of our Florida sunshine, the dress is likely to be worn 9 months of the year. But my 89 year-old aunt seems to be failing at an alarming rate and has needed more attention than usual. Then I discovered that all but two of my SAGA magazines are missing, either lost in the hurricanes or lost in the garage. Fortunately, I remembered that I had copied the pattern and was able to retrieve it. So finally, progress is being made.

The smocked pockets were just the touch this little dress needed. The Florence Roberson pattern, published in The Smocking Arts, date unknown, is unlike anything else I’ve seen and makes up so sweetly. Though the no-show attachment to the dress is a little tedious, the puffy pocket is worth the effort.

The pattern is included below.

SmockedPocketpatt

Because of the filet crochet yoke I am using, I decided to crochet a little edge on the top of the pockets. But I have no proficiency at this needleart, so it took me a while and the results are hardly worthy to be included on a garment with the beautiful yoke. Still, as Martha Pullen once said, “If something is worth doing, it’s worth doing poorly until you get good at it.” I like that—and hope to be good at it some day. Continue reading →

23 Comments

Posted in smocking, Tutorials

Tagged , , ,

Creative Needle Magazines

Posted on July 13, 2011 | 61 comments

 

 

61 Comments

Posted in uncategorized

Loralie Doll Pin Pendant

Posted on July 11, 2011 | 4 comments

How cute is this?  A precious student in Puerto Rico made this  pendant pin cushion after a long day of sewing and presented it to me on the last day of class. What a thoughtful, personal gift.  I love it.

The Loralie doll pin cushion includes many of my personal features.   It reminds me of the American Girls “Me” doll, created with specially selected features to mimic those of a specific child.

When I sew and when I teach, I always have my half-eye glasses and embroidery scissors hanging around my neck.  The doll’s brown eyes, just like mine, peer over similar glasses above the scissors hanging around the neck.  Of course, full of pins, it looks like a voodoo doll, but I ignore the suggestion. Continue reading →

4 Comments

Posted in machine embroidery, uncategorized

Antique Crazy Patch Quilt

Posted on July 11, 2011 | 1 comment

In the crazy quilt of life, I’m glad you’re in my block of friends. Author Unknown

old quilt

We don’t come to our cabin in North Carolina as frequently as we did before the grandchildren were born.  After a lengthy absence from my favorite getaway, seeing the old treasures I placed  there is a little like seeing old friends. This quilt is an old favorite that brings back fond memories of estate sale-ing with my friend Suzanne.  One of those sales is where I found this oldie.

I love antique textiles–good, bad and mediocre.  In the eyes of an expert  appraiser, this old crazy patch quilt is charming at best and crude at worst.  But I love it for its character, idiosyncrasies and history, about which I can only speculate.

This beauty is more representative of the classic crazy patch style.  It is obvious Quilt1that the cabin quilt is extremely primitive in comparison.

Crazy patch quilting, you might know, became the needlework rage in America between 1870 and 1880, though historically its origins go back as far as 1160.  A brief overview of its history and progress as a legitimate form of needlework can be read here.   http://www.quiltropolis.net/articles/crazy-quilts.aspair.

Continue reading →

1 Comment

Posted in antique textiles, quilts

Tagged ,

Count Your Age…

Posted on July 6, 2011 | 2 comments

This hand embroidered advice was stitched on linen in 1976 by a dear lady in our church.  More than 10 years ago, she donated it to the holiday bazaar and I purchased it.  Now it hangs in our cabin in the mountains.

It is always one of the first things I notice.  As I unpack, I invariably recall memories of tiny Marian, a sweet, busy, quiet, strong pillar of the church.

She was a very accomplished needleworker, causing me to seek out her bazaar contributions. Now, while she is in heaven, probably stitching exquisite garments for the angels, this embroidery is left as a part of her legacy- wise counsel and beauty, already framed.

"Count your age.." hanging on the wall.

Most of us, I suspect, harbor quiet hope that some of our needlework will outlast us, to be enjoyed and appreciated after we are gone. Continue reading →

2 Comments

Posted in hand embroidery