My daughter loves pretty blankets for her baby boy and this is one of her favorites.   I like to think this angel and others, unseen, watch over my precious grandson.
The shawl is made of 100% wool challis.   It has the drape and softness of rayon challis, with extra lightweight warmth and without synthetic fibers. What a luxurious and cooperative fabric this is!  This shawl has been machine washed and dried a number of times and requires only a light pressing. Continue reading
Valance is made from antique bassinet skirt.
Have you ever bought something just because you had to have it, even though you had no idea what you would ever do with it? I’m pretty sure most of you have.
About 20 years ago, a vendor at a doll show had an elaborate display of antique textiles. Among her wares was a bassinet skirt, cut in half. In her opinion, bassinets were no longer in use so she cut it in half to make the price more reasonable. I thought it was far more likely that one doting grandmother would pay a good price for a breathtaking skirt than it was for two creative sewists to pay a little less for a chopped up bassinet skirt. But maybe she was right—I was one one of those “sewists” (I really don’t like that word, but it beats sewer) and she had already sold the other half to another like minded lady.
valance top
Maybe I was on a rescue mission, but I knew it was mine and it came home with me. And then it rested in a drawer for all those years. Continue reading
Binche elephant lace
I came across this little doll bib today as I was going through some old teaching samples. This will be included with 5 year-old Laurel’s Christmas doll, the  American Girls Molly.
Made on my Elna Diva, circa 1994,  the bib was, to me,  a miracle of machine embroidery. I know I am easily impressed, but the perfect decorative stitch of elephants was strong testimony to the quality of the sewing machine. It still is a fine machine, but its embroidery has long been surpassed by hoop embroidery capability.
little goat girl and grumpy little guy
Visions of  a “goat dress” had been dancing in my head for many years. In 1985, after purchasing Sarah Howard Stone’s first book, French Handsewing, I studied it with a passion. One page, in particular, spoke to me. It showed row after row of antique laces, including what I call goat lace. I had to have some of this.
antique “goat” lace
 At that time, I was in the middle of my Mother Earth phase. Perhaps some readers recall the publication, The Mother Earth News, or Carla Emery’s Old Fashioned Cook Book. These were daily reading for me.
On our 3 acres stood a 50 year old, formerly upscale, two-room chicken house, where our cocky Rhode Island Red rooster and his girls bunked. The adjoining room housed a gaggle of geese and a few white Peking ducks.  Next door to the water fowl was the pony. Her stall looked out over our 60’ x 60’ vegetable garden and adjacent to that was the goat mansion, my favorite place in the world except for my sewing room.
Posted in antique textiles, Binche Lace, girls, heirloom sewing, lace tape, smocking, techniques
Tagged Binch lace, bishop dress, colored entredeux, lace tape, smocking
