UPDATE: Picture of Alastair in his Halloween bat shirt added.
There are so many darling Halloween designs for machine embroidery that I had a hard time picking out just a few for my grandchildren. Since these shirts can be worn for such a short time, I didn’t put a lot of work into them. But the embroidery is so well designed that are plenty cute for this short season of tackiness. Continue reading
Posted in boys, embroidery blanks, girls, Holiday Projects, machine embroidery
Making holiday outfits for the grandchildren is always fun. They look forward to having special clothes and I look forward to seeing them wearing the things I have made. Some holidays, such as Christmas and Easter,  require an investment of far more time and materials than this summer celebration of independence and Americana. Right now, quick and easy is what I like.
Robert and Laurel are all set for this year’s festivities in their matching shirts. Alastair’s shirt has the same design.  If all three are  together for the Fourth, they will enjoy being part of a set.
Posted in boys, brother-sister, girls, hairbows, Holiday Projects, machine embroidery
What a tender pose!
A few weeks ago as I worked feverishly on Laurel’s Tea Dress, I asked readers to share pictures of their Easter creations. Jenny Jo, who lives on the prairies of Nebraska, graciously shared these photos.  I was enchanted.Â
Her daughters look like Celtic lasses just returned from strolling in the highland heather and the dresses perpetuate the image. As a matter of fact, I think I heard bagpipe music as I viewed the photos!
I’ve been reading a lot of Scottish historical novels and these little darlings, with their porcelain skin and tumbling auburn curls, look just like the well loved “bairns” (babies or children) described in these books. Continue reading
Posted in girls, hairbows, Holiday Projects, smocking
Tagged headband flower, sister matching dresses, smocked dresses, smocking
As usual, Judy Day has made extra special Easter outfits for her two 7 year-old granddaughters.  The radiant blue dresses seem to illuminate the sparkle in their sweet, innocent faces. And as usual, Judy has made hairbows for the girls and matching dresses for their American Girls dolls. This year, she even included a free standing lace Easter bonnet for the dolls!  I so admire her dedication to her grandchildren which extends far beyond their wardrobes. She is truly a grandmother extraordinaire.
I’ll let Judy tell you all about it:
“These Easter dresses are dedicated to the memory of my grandmother. Â While I hand stitched the tatting on to the dresses, I Â reflected on sitting and watching her tat in the afternoon when I was the age my granddaughters are now; but only if it was cool or in later years when the air conditioner was on. Â She would not take a chance on her hands getting moist and ruining the tatting.
I am sure she would be very pleased to know that her 2 beautiful great-great-granddaughters are wearing the tatting she made so many years ago as did her granddaughter (me), 2 great-granddaughters (my daughters) and her great-grandson (my son), even if he doesn’t want to admit it!
Yes, she tried to teach me to tat. Â At the time, it was just too slow for me. Â Maybe one day I will try again. Â I have all her shuttles and I do know the basics.
So how long is this going to take?
After several days of non-stop hustle and bustle, I am enjoying the quiet that follows a huge celebration like Easter. The children and grandchildren have all returned to their homes and everyone here at my home is asleep.
All the good china and silver is put back in place, the table linens are in the washer, and except for scattered Easter grass on the floors, a dirty child’s sock on the hall table and a pink Peep bunny perched on the sugar bowl, things are back to normal.
But what a beautiful day it was!  Norman Rockwell himself could not have painted a more traditional scene, with beautiful children, Florida sunshine and sticky chocolate bunnies.  The dining room was seated with all ages, from toddler to super-senior. This joyful celebration was down home, home grown and home sewn.
Is there anything cuter than a gap-toothed 6 year-old?
Before the Easter egg hunt, we tried to get pictures. What a production that was!
Three relatively cooperative, squirming, anxious children were surrounded by 6 relatively cooperative, squirming anxious parental paparazzi. The cameras were snapping like finger cymbals.
Hundreds of photos were taken, though the children would probably estimate that there were thousands.
Aren’t you done taking pictures?
There must be 20 shots of the children on the stairs. It was like trying to line up 3 cats!  We never did get a picture of all three smiling. Robert fidgeted and Alastair was focused on his right foot. Laurel, bless her sweet cooperative little heart, sat primly for every photo but the last, when she lost her resolve and was caught picking her nose. That unladylike pose has been deleted from my camera.
Thank goodness for this slip. It was designed for modesty and decency, which is what these undergarments are supposed to provide. But it has been pressed into service as the remedy for Laurel’s too short Easter dress.
When sewing for a child, accurate and up-to-date measurements are as important as your sewing machine.  I know that.  Then how does it happen that I see this child, on the average, twice a week and never manage to find a few moments to measure her?
How does it happen that once again I put this task on her mother, who doesn’t sew and uses a yard stick for such important calculations as center back length?
Easter ’10. Note slip ruffle extending below the dress skirt. Saved by the slip version #1.
When my patient and cooperative daughter-in-law answered the call to determine the finished dress length, I was doubtful of the measurement. So I added another 1 1/2″ to the length. But still, the dress is too short. Continue reading
Posted in girls, heirloom sewing, Holiday Projects, machine embroidery, techniques
Tagged heirloom slip, heirloom technique
“St. Patrick’s Day is an enchanted time-a day to begin transforming winter’s dreams into summer’s magic.” Adrienne Cook
Though March 21st is the official first day of spring, March 17th is truly the harbinger of sunny days to come.
St. Patrick’s Day is just plain fun. Snakes are said to have been driven away by this popular saint and yet parades “snake” through town in celebration of all that is Irish.
The holiday implies no responsibility for candy or roses or gifts or greeting cards.  A celebrant’s only duty is to wear green, The Great Equalizer that enables people of all nationalities to share a single ancestry for a day. Of course, there are always those who take advantage of a situation and sport shirts or hats demanding “Kiss me. I’m Irish!”
On this day, everyone of good humor is Irish.   Though the smallest dab of green on one’s clothing implies participation in the day’s festivities, it is more fun for children to dress for the occasion. Continue reading
Names are funny. From generation to generation, they wax and wane in popularity. When we named our son Ryan, I knew of only one other child by that name;  my sorority sister’s son was 6 years old on the other side of the country. Now, “Ryan”  is as common as John used to be. Alastair, however, seems never to have achieved a high ranking in the past 100 years.
Which is why my daughter and her husband, Harvey, chose it. Every name that they considered was first checked against a list of the 100 most popular names in the past 100 years. “Alastair” was clearly absent from each. So that’s the name they chose.
Shortly after my grandson’s birth, a friend of Harvey’s commented, “With a name like Alastair, it’s knighthood or failure.” Thus, the choice of this embroidery design for his Valentine’s Day shirt.
After choosing the knight from Planet Applique www.planetapplique.com , I decided on the text, “Soon I’ll be your knight in shining armor.” But a senior moment denied me access to the proper spelling and I typed in “amor.” Continue reading
Posted in boys, clothing, Holiday Projects, machine embroidery
These buttons are just sooooo sooooo neat!  When my friend Betty Ludwig (see her Shopping Girls jacket a few posts ago) told me about the button machines from Hope Yoder and how much she loved hers, I was intrigued. Basically, these buttons covered with machine embroidery.
So why do you need a machine? People have been covering buttons for a very long time, with nothing more than a package from the fabric department. You don’t need a machine, if you are simply covering a button with fabric.
But if you want to feature a motif in the fabric, or more currently, a machine embroidered design, then you’ve got a whole different set of challenges.
The difficulty is centering.  And it is easy peasy with Hope’s machine and her miniature embroideries designed specifically for buttons.
But what do you do with these embroidered buttons, I asked Betty. “EVERYTHING!!!!” was her answer.  At Betty’s insistence, I watched the video on Hope’s web site and my excitement built. These buttons can be used on anything for anybody!   From key chain fobs to book marks to….well, just scroll through these photos. Continue reading
2 3/4" doll in sewing box
This is one of the sweetest Christmas gifts I have ever received. The 2 3/4″  porcelain doll is nestled into a comparably tiny sewing box generously stocked with minuscule materials. Rolls of silk fabric, 1/8-1/4″ spools of thread, snippets of antique lace, silk ribbon and more set a needleworker to dreaming about dainty delights. Continue reading
