Easter ’11 progress…slow

 

The antique Tausendchon rose climber was grown from a cutting I rooted four years ago.

This has been a spectacular Florida spring.  The weather has been perfect for gardening and I can hardly keep myself inside.  All 50  rose bushes are in full bloom and I feel compelled to deadhead spent blossoms, snip here and  there and cut bouquets for in the house.  I really enjoy tending my roses.

After a little gardening, I spent the better part of the day doing Aunt Aileen’s laundry and ironing, visiting her and taking care of some administrative matters with the nursing home.  The previous two fun filled, but exhausting, days with Alastair left me chomping at the bit to get back to Laurel’s Easter dress.  But that had to wait until after dinner and progress is slow.

The sleeves are inserted with entredeux, a detail I have always liked to include on heirloom garments.  And the buttonholes are stitched, separated with tiny floral sprigs of embroidery.   They were done in the hoop on my Brother Innovis 4500D.  Embroidery machines make buttonholes so quick and easy. 

The puffing band needs one more pass of scotch tape stitch on the right side--my to-do for tomorrow.

The puffing strips were cut and joined two days ago, but the actual puffing is taking forever. It’s been some time since I’ve made puffing.  I love the look but always forget just how long it takes.  It  takes ten passes!!!   

That’s four  rows of  gathering stitches along the 140″ flat strip, two 72″ rows of stitching in the entredeux ditch, two 72″ rows of roll and whip over the raw edges and two 72″ rows of scotch tape stitching to keep the entredeux holes open and away from the rolled and whipped seam.  And the stitching is the fastest task.

It took what seemed like an eternity to distribute the gathers before attaching the entredeux.  As you can see from this scan, I didn’t spend nearly enough time getting the gathers even, but time marches on. 

The last pass, the scotch tape stitch on the right side, is not yet finished but I am calling it a day.   And still there are two pairs of shorts, two shirts (for Robert and Alastair) and Laurel’s slip to make in the next 15 days.   It looks like  the seedlings that have sprouted up under my huge oakleaf hydrangea will have to wait to be transplanted until after Easter.

I hope you all are making good progress with your Easter projects.  If you are short of time, I suggest you skip puffing.