Tag Archives: christmas dress

Christmas Fawn Daydress

Christmas is just around the calendar corner and it’s rush, rush, rush for me and many of you. I’ve just finished this Swiss batiste dress for Baby Beatrice.

I’ve written in earlier posts about Baby Bea, our new granddaughter via our church. Neither of her parents’ mothers is living, so months before she was born they asked me to serve as her official Nana. That was a happy day! And, of course, she is a doll, just now 4 months old, which for me has been at least 120 more happy days.

Her daddy is an avid hunter, especially for deer. Bea’s little daydress is a reminder NOT to shoot Bambi or his antlered father.

But back to the dress……the pattern is Old Fashioned Baby‘s Baby Daydress.

Like all of Jeannie B’s patterns, this one is a delight to sew and offers several design options. I love the Scriptures and embroidery designs she places in the blank space around the pattern pieces.

The shadow work fawn is from Joy Welsh’s Applique for Kids. It stitches just beautifully with her instructions. The greenery beneath the fawn was extracted from another design which I cannot recall right now.

The holly at the neckline is another design whose origin I cannot recall. I need to keep better records of what I embroider.

Continue reading

Christmas Outfits Past Part 2

I hope you have all finished your Christmas sewing.  I’ve moved on to baking and gift wrapping and hope to finish up in time for our big family celebrations.

Here are a few more Christmas outfits from the past.  These gingerbread outfits for my  two older grandchildren were favorites of mine.   A few years later, new grandson Alastair wore Robert’s suit.

 

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Ready-to-smock gingerbread outfits were paired up with a Creative Needle smocking plate.

 

One year I planned to make matching Thanksgiving outfits for the children.  The Viyella brown plaid garments were made but before I began the bibs, plans changed and the older two would not be with us that day. So I decided to use the garments for Christmas.  But that was a stretch—brown plaid for Christmas.  I made it work.

 

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Alastair’s Christmas outfit, Children’s Corner Glenn with linen bib embroidery from OESD’s Current Critters Continued.

 

Laurel’s basic yoke dress was trimmed with tatting, as was her linen bib.

 

 

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Laurel also had a tie-on bib with a Current Critters Continued design.

 

These Current Critters embroidery designs are so charming. Continue reading

Christmas Outfits from the Past

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Hand embroidered Sarah Howard Stone collar and velveteen dress for my daughter, 1983. It was worn a few years ago by my older granddaughter, Laurel.

 

They say time flies when you are having fun and, let me tell you, I have had a good bit of fun making holiday outfits for my children and grandchildren.  Like many of you, Christmas and Easter clothes are my favorite and most memorable projects.

 

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This collar reminds me just how hard I  tried to get the stitches just right as we drove to my brother’s house for Thanksgiving.   It was a two hour drive along bumpy back roads and I poked my fingers more than once.  But I couldn’t waste the time. As the family sat and visited after the pumpkin pie, I continued to embroider.

Who knew that 15 years later it could be done on an embroidery machine?  Who knew there would be home embroidery machines? Certainly not me.

 

R L Stetson puffing

Robert and Laurel all ready for the Stetson Christmas concert. She is wearing recycled heirloom from her Aunt Rebecca’s closet.

 

A few years after the shadow work collar was made, my daughter wore a burgundy velveteen dress (just like this one) with this very puffing collar.  Then Laurel wore the collar on a new burgundy velveteen dress. Continue reading

Christmas Finery for Sister and Brother

2 outfits

Hurrah!  Christmas clothes for our two younger grandchildren were finished, shipped and received late last week.  Toddler Vivian Rose’s white Swiss flannel bishop has the neck and sleeve bound with in red gingham pima cotton.  Heirloom lace is hand whipped to the bias binding.

 

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The smocking design is just a simple diamond pattern that I made up as I stitched. Continue reading

Cousin Christmas Tree Dresses

 Happy Thanksgiving!

Judy Day's two granddaughters and two granddolls

Judy Day’s two granddaughters and two granddolls

While most of us are likely busy stitching Christmas outfits or gifts, I thought you would enjoy seeing one of Judy Day’s outfits from a Christmas past.

My dear friend Judy Day made these for her two granddaughters a few years ago, along with matching dresses for their American Girls dolls.  And of course, Judy ALWAYS makes hair bows for girls and dolls. How cute are  these little Christmas darlings?

 

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A few years ago, Judy attended the Martha Pullen’s school when I was teaching.  We  both spotted a dress like these made by master teacher Lezette Thomason.  Judy proclaimed right then and there that she would be making similar dresses for Courtney and Kennedy that next Christmas.  And she did.

Judy started with the jumper pattern in Martha’s Favorite Applique’s by Martha Pullen.  She lengthened it, because the girls’ mothers like the longer, mid-calf length.  Then she drafted a simple Christmas tree for the applique’.

The jumpers and trees are both featherwale corderoy.  The trees are decorated with buttons.   And the girls themselves are cute as a button.

Thanks, Judy!

Christmas Dress ’10

black velveteen

Laurel’s black velveteen dress and pinafore bib are finished, complete except for the hem. It was such a pleasure to plan and stitch this holiday outfit for her. Handling and stitching the goods for heirloom sewing just makes me say ahhhhhh.

Christmas outfits for Laurel and her brother need to be finished in time for family Christmas card photos. Then, they will be worn to The Nutcracker performance in early December. So the rush is on to complete Robert’s clothing. His shirt will be embroidered with a nutcracker.

pinafore bib

The champagne Swiss batiste pinafore bib features the Sugar Plum Fairy design from A Bit of Stitch’s Mini Nutcracker Motifs collection. This is a really lovely design, very delicate. The motif below the dancer is stitched with 80 wt. Madeira Cotona, which makes the design very light.

I was almost finished with the bib when I noticed that the ballerina was not centered. How did that happen? I measured ever so carefully, I thought. But I’ll have to live with it now.

Ecru beading threaded with pink satin ribbon runs on either side of a delicate antique lace insertion. Wide pink satin ribbon ties the bib front and back at the side. Continue reading

Christmas Critters III

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Laurel’s Christmas dress was finished just in time for her brother Robert’s preschool Christmas program. In fact, her father had taken her for an afternoon outing and managed to get her to the program wearing jeans and a tee shirt only a few minutes ahead of me carrying her holiday clothes.

She was absolutely taken with the dress, mostly because of the fullness of the 90″ skirt.   This motivated her to twirl, perform some of her ballet moves and smile at everyone, entertaining the waiting parents, grandparents and friends. Laurel loves an audience, even if, technically, it’s her brother’s audience.

 

 

critter bib

 

The bib, collar and sleeves are all trimmed with ecru tatted edging. The design on the embroidered button on bib is yet another from Bernina’s Current Critters Continued. Laurel’s mother has decided that the “critter” nestled in the big bow is a baby squirrel and she should know. As a licensed wildlife rehabilitator, she has hand fed hundreds of them. I always thought it was a mouse, but I defer to her expertise. Continue reading