Category Archives: heirloom sewing

Faux Heirloom Sundress

Posted on January 12, 2011 | 7 comments

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This is the quintessential modern project for old fashioned Nanas.  I love this easy care/faux heirloom dress.

It may seem early to be thinking about sundresses, but the commercial  pattern companies have already put out their spring and summer pattern books. I’ve had to think about it because Faux Heirloom Sundress is another class I will be teaching in Myrtle Beach at the end of the month.

The beauty of this summer frock is its easy care properties.  It’s no surprise to heirloom loving grandmothers everywhere that ironing organdy and Swiss batiste beauties is a real problem for busy young mothers.  This wash and wear, easy care, easy sew pop-over meets many of the requirements for an heirloom garment.  And still, it comes out of the dryer ready to wear and is as sturdy as Old Navy.

 

 

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The fancyband on the skirt and front yoke are applied, rather than inserted.  Nothing is cut away behind thee bands.  The base fabric is intact under these embellishments, maintaining the structural integrity of the solid fabric. Continue reading →

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Posted in clothing, girls, heirloom sewing, techniques

Christmas 2010

Posted on December 26, 2010 | 6 comments

Our Nutcracker Sweets. Robert’s black pants got left behind at home when they packed to come to our house. He doesn’t match, but he still looks handsome.

What a fabulous Christmas celebration we had!  Both of our children and their families were here Christmas Eve day, as well as another special young family who joined us with their 3-month old baby and 3 year old. With 8 adults and 5 children, it was glorious mayhem.

I bought this leather strap of 4 antique sleigh bells (2 hang on the back of the wreath) at our church bazaar in 1972, when Bob and I were newly weds. They had been donated by a family who removed them from the old family barn before they moved to Glenwood 25 years before that. At the time, I never dreamed that hanging them on our front door every Christmas would be a family tradition. Nor could I have known that they would become a family treasure.

Our son-in-law, Super Chef Harvey, brought two enormous to-die-for lasagnas for dinner.  Even Robert, the pickiest eater in the world, ate two servings.  With hot-from-the-oven gingerbread and whipped cream for dessert, everyone dined in holiday style.

After the children were “nestled, all snug in their beds,”  we plucked the antique sleigh bells from the greens at the front door and rang them loud and long, passing  below all the children’s windows.  Laurel rushed down the stairs declaring that she had HEARD them!!!!!  Santa was coming!  It was just magical.

The greenery, however, looked a little bedraggled after the bells were put back in place so hurriedly.

At 6:45 Christmas morning, Alastair wailed “Hi!”   “Mama!” again and again until everyone was awake.  This was an early reveille for the adults who had been up until 1 a.m. stuffing 5 stockings all “hung by the chimney with care” and assembling Robert’s pyramid and Egyptian army soldiers.  Continue reading →

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Posted in boys, brother-sister, clothing, embroidery blanks, girls, heirloom sewing, machine embroidery

Molly’s Christmas Dress

Posted on December 20, 2010 | Leave a comment

December 25th,  Laurel will find her new American Girls Molly doll under the tree, wearing a dress nearly identical to Laurel’s Christmas dress.  As I sewed, I kept imagining the delight in my granddaughter’s big, hazel, doe eyes.

Much as I hoped to  embroider the bib with miniature Sugar Plum Fairy, just like Laurel’s, it was apparent that it was too risky to reduce the design to doll size.  So I hunted and hunted through my designs, searching for a fairy in a scene that could be extracted.

Finally, I came upon Martha Pullen’s Mother and Child Embroideryscapes from Amazing Designs.  This fairy isn’t exactly like the graceful ballerina on the child’s bib, but she is tiny and fit nicely. With BuzzToolsV2 I added little ballet slippers, but the design is so small that it was wasted effort.

Tiny as the design was, I did reduce it by 10%.  In order to compensate for reduction, I used 50, 60 and 80 wt. threads. Continue reading →

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Posted in doll clothing and accessories, heirloom sewing, Holiday Projects, machine embroidery

Alastair, the Mouse King

Posted on December 17, 2010 | 2 comments

AltheMouseKing

 

Alastair’s Christmas suit is finished and ready to wear.  The pants pattern is from the book Sewing for Jack and Jill, by Martha Pullen.  It begins with the basic button-on pants pattern and simply adds a template for the V front.  It would be easy enough to draft if the book were not available.

This pattern has become a favorite of mine.  The V-front pants seem more elegant and suitable for special occasions.  The V also creates an ideal frame for embroidery on the shirt.

 

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MP pants

 

The black velveteen pants are lined with black Imperial broadcloth.  The abalone buttons were found at Farmhouse Fabrics and they are just lovely.   I wanted to use the same buttons on the shirt and pants, but black would not show up on the pants and white or ivory would not show up on the back of the shirt.  The pearly grey abalone buttons offer contrast to both fabrics and shimmer in the light. They are perfect. Continue reading →

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Posted in boys, clothing, heirloom sewing, machine embroidery

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Mouse King Shirt

Posted on December 9, 2010 | 1 comment

Alastair’s Christmas outfit is almost finished.  The pattern is Ginger Snaps Hudson’s Sundy Suit,  with side vents. Few little guys can keep their shirts tucked in so this pattern offers a nice solution to that problem.

Paired with the shirt are black velveteen short pants with straps that should hold the ruthless Mouse King securely in place. But if the shirt still fits Alastair next year, it’s nice to give him the option of wearing it without tucking.  

Like Cousin Robert’s shirt  the fabric is Martha’s Favorite Linen.  This is not my favorite linen, but it is just right for the boys’ shirts.  Continue reading →

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Posted in boys, heirloom sewing, Holiday Projects, machine embroidery, serger

Heirloom Ornament

Posted on December 7, 2010 | Leave a comment

I would love to have a  tree loaded with heirloom Christmas balls.  But it is already loaded with ornaments made by my children and grandchildren and other special keepsake decorations.  Still, I enjoyed making this one by hand while  taking a break from holiday machine sewing.

The styrofoam ball was simply divided into four parts, then three quarters were filled with puffing.  The fourth features a shadow embroidery design done by hand.  Continue reading →

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Posted in hand embroidery, heirloom sewing, Holiday Projects, home dec

Robert’s Christmas Shirt

Posted on December 1, 2010 | 2 comments

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Finally, 5 year-old Robert’s Christmas shirt is done.  His long black pants are pressed and ready to wear as soon as I buy a belt to keep them up.  Then he will be ready for The Nutcracker.

After all the interruptions and delays, I am glad to have this project finished.  The fabric is Martha’s Favorite Linen from Martha Pullen and  shirt pattern Hudson’s Sunday Suit  is from Ginger Snaps.  Like all Nancy Coburn’s Ginger Snaps patterns, the directions are very clear with great photo illustrations and many design options.

 

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That crooked embroidery design drove me crazy. But it was too late to redo it.

 

The nutcracker design from A Bit of Stitch  is surrounded by a candy cane frame from Adorable Ideas, narrowed in my heavily used BuzzEdit2 program.

Black lace tape, run vertically on either side of the embroidery, is embellished with a decorative stitch from my Brother Duetta 6500D.  The same stitch is worked on the back , around the collar and on the mock sleeve cuffs. Continue reading →

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Posted in boys, brother-sister, clothing, heirloom sewing, Holiday Projects, lace tape, machine embroidery

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Christmas Dress ’10

Posted on November 15, 2010 | 14 comments

black velveteen

Laurel’s black velveteen dress and pinafore bib are finished, complete except for the hem. It was such a pleasure to plan and stitch this holiday outfit for her. Handling and stitching the goods for heirloom sewing just makes me say ahhhhhh.

Christmas outfits for Laurel and her brother need to be finished in time for family Christmas card photos. Then, they will be worn to The Nutcracker performance in early December. So the rush is on to complete Robert’s clothing. His shirt will be embroidered with a nutcracker.

pinafore bib

The champagne Swiss batiste pinafore bib features the Sugar Plum Fairy design from A Bit of Stitch’s Mini Nutcracker Motifs collection. This is a really lovely design, very delicate. The motif below the dancer is stitched with 80 wt. Madeira Cotona, which makes the design very light.

I was almost finished with the bib when I noticed that the ballerina was not centered. How did that happen? I measured ever so carefully, I thought. But I’ll have to live with it now.

Ecru beading threaded with pink satin ribbon runs on either side of a delicate antique lace insertion. Wide pink satin ribbon ties the bib front and back at the side. Continue reading →

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Posted in brother-sister, clothing, girls, heirloom sewing, Holiday Projects, machine embroidery, serger

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Back to the Drawing Board~Christmas Dress ’10

Posted on October 31, 2010 | Leave a comment

 

It’s back to the drawing board for Laurel’s Christmas dress.  The day after it was ordered, the luscious black velveteen arrived from The Sewing Studio.  I was already working, full steam ahead, on the ivory Swiss batiste pinafore bib to slip over the black dress (see previous post), when it arrived.  Then disaster struck.

But let me back up a minute.  I like to stitch the shoulder seams before inserting laces, so  the lace is a continuous piece, from bottom of the front yoke to the bottom of the back yoke.  By doing so, there is no break in the lace pattern and no fudging to get the laces to match up absolutely perfectly at the shoulder.

So after inserting one row of  Swiss beading from front to back, nearly 20″, I discovered it was defective.

www.oh no.com

 

There was a gap between the fabric and one of the eyelets for the ribbon.  It had never occurred to me to check for flaws.  Imported trims are expensive and thus, perfect, I foolishly thought. WRONG!   I stand corrected. Okay, so nothing is perfect, right?  Well, except for my grandchildren, of course.

Enlarge to see the defects/gaps beside ribbon carrier eyelets.

Ever so carefully, I removed the tiny zig zag stitches, removed the beading and pulled out another length of this lovely stuff.  Half way through that application, I was heartsick to see not just one but several such defects.  I unrolled the entire 10 yard bold and saw defects no less frequently than every 10″.  I cannot even remember where, several years ago,  I purchased this and the matching insertion.   So I’ve put it away and will have to use it in short lengths.  The partially finished pinafore bib goes in the scrap bag.  Maybe I will make a doll dress to match. But for now,  I was back to square one for Laurel’s pinafore bib. Continue reading →

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Posted in clothing, girls, heirloom sewing, Holiday Projects, machine embroidery

Ingredients~Christmas Dress ’10

Posted on October 29, 2010 | 2 comments

For almost three weeks now I have wrestled with designs and plans for Christmas outfits for all three grandchildren.  I desperately wanted them coordinated, as it seems that my opportunities for brother-sister-cousin holiday clothes are diminishing.  Sweet and cooperative as 5 1/2 year old Robert is, I think the era of easy compliance with “sweet” clothes  is drawing near an end.

But time flies and the outfits need to be finished for Christmas pictures as well as for The Nutcracker Ballet, which Robert and Laurel will be attending mid-December.  So I have finally settled on basic  black velveteen as the unifying factor.

While awaiting the arrival of my mail order shipment of velveteen from The Sewing Studio in Maitland (Florida), I have started a pinafore bib for Laurel.  This will be worn over her black yoke dress. Continue reading →

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Posted in clothing, girls, heirloom sewing, Holiday Projects, machine embroidery