Leftovers make Heirlooms

This is another re-run from the earlier days of this blog.  Right now,  time is very short.  Yet again, my sweet elderly Aunt Aileen has fallen on the very hip that was replaced in emergency surgery exactly 7 days ago.   This her 4th fall  in the 3 days since she was discharged.  She has been to the ER twice in the past 36 hours and was just  released an hour ago.  The poor dear forgets that she cannot get up without assistance and falls, again and again……..It’s so sad.

But sewing is happy so I am focusing on that before the nursing home calls again with more bad news.******

Shortly after my daughter and her husband found out they had a little one on the way, I began sending a package every Monday, with Nana-sewn goodies.  Sometimes the contents were complete sets with a daygown or bubble, bonnet, booties and bibs and other times it was just a package of Harry Potter themed burp cloths.   But the arrival of those packages marked off the weeks very happily.

This bubble was delivered to Rebecca during her 33rd week.  Bubbles look so neat and tidy on babies.  There is nothing to come untucked or to scrunch up so Baby always looks well put together.  I especially like baby bubbles with no collars, as these seem always to flip up on little ones who rarely have a  discernible neck.  So this Michie’ Bubble/Dress #104 Yoke Overlay www.creationsbymichie.com  pattern appealed to me immediately.

Rebecca had specifically requested something in green so green easy care Imperial batiste is what she got.  The Swiss embroidered yoke overlay has little white ducks swimming in pale blue water but they are hard to see.

The duck Swiss embroidery is a scrap leftover from a smocked collar  which  I made for Rebecca when she was 4.  Actually, the mint green batiste might have been left over from the yoke dress that hosted the smocked collar.  I save everything, which is why my sewing room is so jam packed.  Both the duck Swiss trim and the tiny scallop Swiss edge on the sleeves are from Capitol Imports, though I purchased them so long ago that I have no idea if they are still available.

As I mentioned in a previous post, whenever possible I follow the recommendation of dear Elizabeth Travis Johnson to put something pretty or at least interesting on the back of a garment.  Especially for a babe in arms, the back is seen by more people than the front.  So I spent a lot of time going through my embroidery collections to find a similar duck, small enough that I could extract and fit between the buttonholes.

If I can find a picture of Alastair wearing this, I will post it later.  Organizing all the grandchildren photos is on my to do list, along with organizing grocery coupons and losing weight.  So don’t expect the picture any time soon.

9/03/09    Hurrah!  I found it!  Posted at the top!

There are so many sweet bubble patterns available now.  So little fabric and trim is required that one can often be made from scraps, as this one was.  Sweet satisfaction comes from making an heirloom for free!

Have you made anything special from leftovers?

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