{"id":8783,"date":"2010-09-02T23:34:07","date_gmt":"2010-09-03T03:34:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.janicefergusonsews.com\/blog\/?p=8783"},"modified":"2019-07-26T03:31:52","modified_gmt":"2019-07-26T07:31:52","slug":"diy-ready-to-smock-bishop-nightie","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.janicefergusonsews.com\/blog\/2010\/09\/02\/diy-ready-to-smock-bishop-nightie\/","title":{"rendered":"DIY Ready to Smock Bishop Nightie"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

 <\/p>\n

Fewthings are sweeter than a little girl in a smocked nightgown.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 This ruffle sleeved classic\u00c2\u00a0bishop in blue batiste\u00c2\u00a0is smocked in white with pink bullion roses, edged with French lace.\u00c2\u00a0 Six year old Laurel loves it.<\/p>\n

The nightie was completely constructed before it was smocked.\u00c2\u00a0 Again and again, I have heard friends talk of their stacks of unfinished projects.\u00c2\u00a0 Many, if not most, are smocked garments awaiting construction.\u00c2\u00a0 Smocking is a joy.\u00c2\u00a0 Construction is less so.\u00c2\u00a0 Some of these projects\u00c2\u00a0will never\u00c2\u00a0 be finished.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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

 <\/p>\n

Some time ago, I began making my own ready-to-smock bishops.\u00c2\u00a0 To me,\u00c2\u00a0doing the construction first\u00c2\u00a0makes as much sense as eating your vegetables before dessert. The initial surge of enthusiasm for a project can get me through the\u00c2\u00a0sometimes tedious construction phase and before the project is yesterday’s news,\u00c2\u00a0it is ready to smock.\u00c2\u00a0 Yippee!!!<\/p>\n

Another advantage to constructing a bishop before smocking is that you can get that first cable row snugged up\u00c2\u00a0 to the binding perfectly.<\/p>\n

Seeing Laurel in this gown brought back some sweet memories of my Rebecca\u00c2\u00a0wearing\u00c2\u00a0an almost identical\u00c2\u00a0 nightgown when she was 3 or 4.\u00c2\u00a0 Until she was about 10 years old, she had her grandmother, her aunt and her mother smocking and sewing for her almost full time.\u00c2\u00a0 She could have drowned in her smocked and heirloom clothes.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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

 <\/p>\n

One day, she and her\u00c2\u00a0 friend Karoline spent the day playing at our house.\u00c2\u00a0 An impromptu sleepover was arranged and the little girls were readied for bed.\u00c2\u00a0But let me paint the picture for you before I recall this memory.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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

 <\/p>\n

Her friend Karoline, just as\u00c2\u00a0lovely and sweet as her hostess, was also\u00c2\u00a0a\u00c2\u00a0 darling, with blond ringlets and blue eyes.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0She\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0had two older brothers who were, in their babysitter’s words, “the devil’s own children.”\u00c2\u00a0 The boys\u00c2\u00a0 had an extensive vocabulary of rude words, often\u00c2\u00a0used in Karoline’s presence.<\/p>\n

On this particular day, Karoline, of course, had no\u00c2\u00a0sleepware with her.\u00c2\u00a0 So one of Rebecca’s many smocked nighties\u00c2\u00a0was pulled from the drawer for Karoline and the girls were each\u00c2\u00a0clad in batiste and lace\u00c2\u00a0for\u00c2\u00a0 the night. Their ringlets were tightened by their bath and they looked just like little angels.<\/p>\n

After stories and prayers, they were tucked in bed in the upstairs nursery with Karoline\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0in the trundle.\u00c2\u00a0 I stood outside the door, listening to their little-girl chatter and reveling in the joy of the scene–two precious, beautiful, innocent children all sweet smelling and sanitary and wearing smocked nighties.\u00c2\u00a0 Ahhhhhhh……they were the picture of purity.<\/p>\n

I heard a little toot.\u00c2\u00a0 \u00c2\u00a0After a brief silence, Karoline remarked, “Somebody farted.”<\/p>\n

It took Rebecca a few minutes to process this unfamiliar word and understand Karoline’s meaning.\u00c2\u00a0 Finally she said, “It wasn’t me.”<\/p>\n

After a few seconds, Karoline replied calmly, “I know.”<\/p>\n

There was no more chatter and the little darlings fell asleep,\u00c2\u00a0two precious bundles of\u00c2\u00a0 ringlets and batiste and lace and smocking.\u00c2\u00a0 I was reminded again of why so much\u00c2\u00a0 time is spent lovingly making children’s clothes.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  Fewthings are sweeter than a little girl in a smocked nightgown.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 This ruffle sleeved classic\u00c2\u00a0bishop in blue batiste\u00c2\u00a0is smocked in white with pink bullion roses, edged with French lace.\u00c2\u00a0 Six year old Laurel loves it. The nightie was completely … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4,8,28,32,27,24],"tags":[372,1062,371],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.janicefergusonsews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8783"}],"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=8783"}],"version-history":[{"count":34,"href":"http:\/\/www.janicefergusonsews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8783\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":38580,"href":"http:\/\/www.janicefergusonsews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8783\/revisions\/38580"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.janicefergusonsews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8783"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.janicefergusonsews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8783"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.janicefergusonsews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8783"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}