Category Archives: infant clothing

Baby Blue

Like so many heirloom sewing enthusiasts, I absolutely love imported lace, Swiss batiste, handlooms, Swiss embroideries and every goody on the heirloom menu. And yet, there is something so appealing about this sweet and simple vintage daygown.

The blue batiste is not Swiss, but it is very good quality. Considering that and the fact that less than a yard of baby French lace is used, the charm is not the result of expensive goods. Perhaps it is the simplicity itself that draws the eye.

Jeannie Baumeister’s very popular Old Fashioned Baby patterns seem to reflect the same sweetness this gown exudes. She relies on simple lines, classic details, minimal lace and a splash of hand embroidery.

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Babylock Christening Gown

gown all

This christening gown was the main project for the Babylock school I taught at Martha Pullen’s school in Huntsville, AL, a few years ago.

The ecru and white combination has always seemed the height of elegance to me. Also, since photos had to be posted on the school web site, the ecru embroidery showed up much better than if the embroidery had been white on white.

 

bodice center

 

It seems to me that anytime Swiss batiste, imported trims and heirloom sewing techniques are combined, the result is likely to be something beautiful. In this case, the classic christening gown is a melange of Swiss batiste, French lace and entredeux.

 

full bodice

Elaborately embellished, it includes classic details such as point de Paris, Madeira appliqué, shaped French Val lace, feather stitching, pin tucks, twin needle shadow work, and delicate embroidery. Also incorporated into the gown’s design is Lace Tape, a recently rediscovered heirloom trim, applied as a shadow appliqué on the wrong side of the batiste.

 

back

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Antique Pink Bullion Baby Dress

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It seems that everyone who sews finds special joy in creating dainty baby things. I’ve made my fair share and yet I look forward to making more as I hope for yet another grandchild. Given my enthusiasm for sewing what my friend Janice Kay calls “bitty baby things,” I still cannot resist buying antique dresses when I come across a sweet one.

 

Antiquebaby1bodiceBrite

 

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Joyous Easter 2010

Alastair does not want to sit!

UPDATE:  Alastair just looks so serious and even unhappy in the photos from this wonderful day.  So I have decided to include this picture.  I managed to capture one of his happiest moments in this blurry photo.  While we were getting dinner on the table, he discovered that the easily opened old oak wash stand in the kitchen housed a box of garbage bags with unlimited fun potential.

Alastair, anticipating a LOT of garbage after Easter dinner.

He was allowed to enjoy himself but was never left unsupervised with the potentially dangerous bags. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Alastair has places to go and eggs to hunt.

What a lovely, joyous celebration we had today!  We are so grateful that both of our children and their families live near enough that we can be together for holidays and often just to be together.

When Ryan’s family arrived, Robert was perfectly happy to swap out his huge shirt for this one, version 2, which is more fitted than version 1 but still too large.    Continue reading

Easter Bubble Done, almost

A bubble

 

Alastair’s Easter outfit is almost done. As soon as I get his thigh measurement, I can put the elastic in the legs and it will be ready to wear.

 

flowering plum

wild flowering plum tree

 

It was a gorgeous spring day in central Florida and I so enjoyed being outside to take these photos.  My wild flowering plum tree is in full bloom and was full of busily buzzing bees.  The azaleas are all showing off in orchid and pink, the dogwood tree is ready to burst open its buds and the orange blossoms will scent the air in a few days.  Spring in Florida is a glorious time.

Aside from taking these few pictures,  planting some impatiens and cooking dinner, I have done nothing but sew. After dinner, I stitched the buttonholes, sewed on the buttons and gathered up my materials for Laurel’s dress.   It has been a sewing extravaganza for me.  And, as always, I learned a few things. Continue reading

Everything-Wrong Birthday Suit

 
Alastair, hanging out with the girls

Alastair, hanging out with the girls

 

Everything Right Birthday Party

Family and friends just celebrated Alastair’s first birthday at a party in his back yard. His parents did a fabulous job of making everyone welcome with good food, good company and thoughtful accommodations for all. From the 86 year old great grandmother to Alastair’s friends and cousins, ages 9 months to 5 years,  there were fun treats and comfortable seating. Yet Alastair’s parents made the event look effortless.

 

Everythingwrongcupcaketreewhole

 

 

The menu consisted of really excellent pizzas, a flat of fresh strawberries, coolers of cold drinks and a cupcake tree laden with darling bug and caterpillar cupcakes made by his mama my Rebecca.

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Lace Tape Christening Gown

The Goal

LTgownbanister

When I began this project I had a 3-fold goal.  It was to make a gender neutral christening gown

  • using less than 200 yds. of lace
  • costing less than major household appliance and
  • looking more like an heirloom than a Halloween costume.

The purist in me demanded that all materials be heirloom quality and that the design be suitable for the solemn and yet joyful occasion for which it was intended. Upon completion, I felt that my goals had been met.

zLTChristeninggownyoke

The Materials

The materials were simple and few: ultra sheer Swiss batiste, also known as finella or Swiss muslin, 5 yds. lace tape, 1 ¼ yds. entredeux, 2 1/4 yds. 1/2″ tatting, 1 yd. baby tatting. With a 100 wing needle, 1.8/70 twin needle, 80 wt. cotton heirloom thread and 50 wt. silk thread, all supplies were assembled and ready to go. Continue reading

Bee Happy

 

I saw a bee today. After what must be one of central Florida’s coldest winters ever, it’s finally warming up. I doubt this is the end of the nasty low temps, but at least now that I’ve seen a bee, I can believe that spring WILL come. I’m buzzily planning Easter outfits for my grandchildren and wish I could buzz as fast as the bees.

A moment of contemplation…..

Today’s honeymaker sighting reminded me of this little Bee Happy outfit I made for my granddaughter, Laurel. The bright colors, breezy style, bee theme and sun hat reminded me of fun, easy summer sewing and I am surely looking forward to some of that.

A moment later….

The sunsuit is made of cool, cotton pique’, trimmed with black baby rick rack. The yellow gingham used for the Madeira applique’  hemline (not in the pattern) was repeated in the hat and bubble pants.

The pattern is Ducky Daisy Sunsuit from Wendy Schoen’s book, Creating Heirlooms for Baby. The pattern centerfold includes the sunsuit top, bubble pants and sun hat. It’s one of those fabulous basic patterns that can be embellished countless ways. Can you tell that I love it?

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Friendship Offerings

“All who would win joy, must share it; happiness was born a twin.”  Lord Byron

This quotes really speaks to  the history of my 20 year friendship with Suzanne. She has always shared her joys and mine with equal enthusiasm .  Of  course, there were the occasional shared sorrows, but our charmed lives have seen precious little of that.  So when her son’s first child was on his way, we shared her joy.

For someone who sews, happiness is often expressed in a needlework project. With a daughter-in-law who loves all things heirloom, Suzanne knew this baby’s mother would appreciate a monogrammed smocked outfit. I got started right away.

Again, I used one of the ready-to-smock bubbles and smocked it with Ellen McCarn’s monogram leaflet. One of the best features of this design is that the height of the letters can be adjusted to almost any size. The 3-month bubbles have only 6 pleating threads, so that requires a short design. Continue reading

“Sewing Nana” Challenges

In the eyes of the world, and especially those of your children, if you can sew, you can sew ANYTHING! So asking for a set of baby earmuffs to muffle the sound in a small airplane is pretty much the same as asking for an embroidered tee shirt. I guess that’s how my darling son thought of it.

He and his wife were flying to their North Carolina log cabin in his Piper Comanche twin engine plane. Headsets are worn by the pilot and the passengers to drown out the very loud engine sounds as well as to allow conversation between passengers and pilot. Laurel was just 3 months old so the adult headsets would fit her about as well as Abraham Lincoln’s stovepipe hat. And yet, it seemed  she should have something to muffle the noise.

No problem! Her Nana can sew! Knowing that I would want to protect Laurel’s hearing and keep her as comfortable as possible, my son asked me to whip up some soundproofing earmuffs for her. Continue reading