{"id":14578,"date":"2011-05-28T21:51:41","date_gmt":"2011-05-29T01:51:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.janicefergusonsews.com\/blog\/?p=14578"},"modified":"2015-01-08T23:39:50","modified_gmt":"2015-01-09T04:39:50","slug":"1st-communion-accessories","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.janicefergusonsews.com\/blog\/2011\/05\/28\/1st-communion-accessories\/","title":{"rendered":"1st Communion Accessories"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"CourtneyreadeyBible\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

This is a continuation of the previous post about the exquisite\u00c2\u00a0First Communion dress Judy Day made for her granddaughter Courtney.\u00c2\u00a0Details of the dress, slip and veil were included\u00c2\u00a0 there while this post focuses on the extensive\u00c2\u00a0accessories–Bible cover, garment bag, hanger and purse–that make the ensemble\u00c2\u00a0 all the more special.\u00c2\u00a0 In Judy’s\u00c2\u00a0 words:<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"bible\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

My parents, Courtney’s paternal \u00c2\u00a0great grandparents, gave her the First Communion Bible.\u00c2\u00a0It was smocked and beaded by\u00c2\u00a0my mother, Wanda Stewart,\u00c2\u00a0 in\u00c2\u00a0 the same diamond pattern as the dress.\u00c2\u00a0 The beaded cross on the Bible was formed by sewing the pearl glass beads\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0in place \u00c2\u00a0after the smocking was completed.\u00c2\u00a0 The\u00c2\u00a0instructions for the Bible cover can be found in the April, 2007 issue of Creative Needle <\/em>\u00c2\u00a0magazine.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n

My mother smocked my dresses when I was a child and continued to do so for my two daughters.\u00c2\u00a0 Now, she\u00c2\u00a0applies her years of needlework experience to\u00c2\u00a0garments and other items for\u00c2\u00a0her great-grandchildren, this Bible cover being\u00c2\u00a0the most recent.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0That makes\u00c2\u00a0three generations\u00c2\u00a0my mother has lovingly\u00c2\u00a0sewn and smocked for.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 We have a wonderful time planning and sewing together.<\/p>\n

Some projects just seem to grow as you sew and this communion ensemble grew like Topsy!\u00c2\u00a0 At some point, Courtney decided that she needed a purse.\u00c2\u00a0 So after a frantic call to Janice, we decided on a hanky purse<\/a>.<\/p>\n

I did not have a hanky the correct size, so I cut a 16″ square of Swiss batiste.\u00c2\u00a0 Matching English lace was softly gathered and \u00c2\u00a0stitched to the edges. On one corner, her monogram and the date was embroidered while on the opposite corner was a small version of the Trinity Crosses.<\/p>\n

To finish the purse, I laid the embroidered, lace edged square flat on the table with the embroidery facing down.\u00c2\u00a0 Then four corners were folded and pressed \u00c2\u00a0toward the center, exposing the right side of the embroidery.\u00c2\u00a0I straight stitched 1\/2″\u00c2\u00a0 from the fold, creating a\u00c2\u00a0casing.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Two silk ribbons, one from each side, were threaded through the casing.\u00c2\u00a0 When both ribbons were pulled at the same time, the purse closes.\u00c2\u00a0 Courtney loved it!<\/p>\n

Next, I decided that a cotton garment bag would be needed to store the dress after the big day.\u00c2\u00a0 It was made long enough to also hold her Christening gown from 7 years ago.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0I cut a\u00c2\u00a0rectangle the width of the fabric by the desired length, folded in half and then stitched the side seam.\u00c2\u00a0 At the top, 1 1\/2″ was turned down and pressed to form a heading.\u00c2\u00a0 The heading was then opened back up and stitched with 2 buttonholes at the center front for the ribbons to enter and exit.<\/p>\n

The heading was folded back down, stitched along the top edge and the lower edge, forming the casing.\u00c2\u00a0 I created a pocked for the front of the bag to hold small keepsake pieces.\u00c2\u00a0 The pocket is divided so that the left side will hold keepsakes from her Christening and the right side will hold items from her\u00c2\u00a0 1st Communion.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"garment_bag\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The flap on the pocket has the Trinity Crosses as well as her name and the dates of each event.\u00c2\u00a0 I used grosgrain ribbon in the heading, pulling it tight and tying a bow.\u00c2\u00a0 The bottom of the bag has a zipper, allowing it to be easily slipped on and off.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"hanger\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

And that led to the hanger for the dress and slip.\u00c2\u00a0I used a\u00c2\u00a0 plastic child’s hanger, wrapped the hanger body with polyester quilt batting then traced a pattern of the hanger shape.\u00c2\u00a0 After cutting the batiste, I embroidered her monogram and date on one side and a small version of the Trinity Crosses on the other.\u00c2\u00a0 Tiny piping is stitched into the sream of the hanger cover..\u00c2\u00a0 After stitcing the side seams, (leaving the bottom open) and inserting the hnger, I hand stitched it closed aqlong the bottom.<\/p>\n

This project gave me a lot of pleasure, not only\u00c2\u00a0from designing and sewing, but from seeing Courtney wear the dress.\u00c2\u00a0 It was priceless to witness the tearful delight on the faces of both my DIL and her mother when they saw\u00c2\u00a0 “Nanny’s” antique beading on the dress.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Four generations are bound together by love and a beautiful piece of beading.\u00c2\u00a0 How\u00c2\u00a0could it get any better!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  This is a continuation of the previous post about the exquisite\u00c2\u00a0First Communion dress Judy Day made for her granddaughter Courtney.\u00c2\u00a0Details of the dress, slip and veil were included\u00c2\u00a0 there while this post focuses on the extensive\u00c2\u00a0accessories–Bible cover, garment bag, … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":14584,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[9,28,62,18,24,38],"tags":[610,613,612,611],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.janicefergusonsews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14578"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.janicefergusonsews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.janicefergusonsews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.janicefergusonsews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.janicefergusonsews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14578"}],"version-history":[{"count":21,"href":"http:\/\/www.janicefergusonsews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14578\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32978,"href":"http:\/\/www.janicefergusonsews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14578\/revisions\/32978"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.janicefergusonsews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14584"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.janicefergusonsews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14578"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.janicefergusonsews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14578"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.janicefergusonsews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14578"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}