Lu's pink organdy heirloom dress.

This is my very favorite dress from Lu's closet.

The pictures just can't do it justice, it's such a beautiful dress and a large part of its charm is the colors and textures that I think are better displayed in person. (I also had pitiful indoor lighting today since it started to rain just as I was preparing to take pictures!)

Can you stand the cuteness that is little Lu & G-man in 2004??


(G helped make his shirt, picking out all the "Mad Scientist" machine embroidery designs from...?? Lordy I'm getting old because I can't remember the name of this embroidery design artist! Threadsketches! SUCH cute designs. Alas, my kiddos have long since outgrown her.)

The bodice of the dress is white Italian organdy, embellished with a machine embroidery design I combined using Embird. I don't remember the card with the floral oval, but the fairy alphabet was a freebie from several years ago. I don't even have it on this computer to look it up. It's saved on a backup disk somewhere...


The bodice has puffing strips and beading lace, and every seam, including sleeves, is joined with pink entredeaux.


The white organdy sleeves have a shaped lace loop, pinstitched in place by machine...


Sleeve beading and lace ruffles:


The rest of the dress is a pale pink over-embroidered organdy. I had little more than one yard of the pink, and I saved it for a few years until I had the skill to design the perfect project. The skirt is almost entirely made of the pink, except for the shaped loops in the center front; each features machine embroidered white organdy center.


I used the same design card for the florals as the bodice, and added two of the fairies from the freebie alphabet. Here is a closeup of one of the side loops. All of the fairy wings and the "wing needle work" below is stitched with silver thread:


Here is the entire skirt front, flat:


The hem has a ruffle edged in lace, joined to the skirt with pink entredeaux.


This little dress is a size 6 and was Lu's Easter dress in 2004. Lu, age 6:


And one of my favorite photos of the 3 of us, all in pink (I must have really planned that year):


I wanted to show this dress because by this point in my sewing experience, I had enough skill to tackle the machine embroidery, the lace shaping, the fancy color entredeaux and expensive organdy fabrics. Sometimes as a beginner, you just KNOW you aren't ready for a project.

I had had the pink fabric from the time Lu was a small toddler, and I kept it stored safely away until I knew I was ready. And this turned out to be the perfect project to showcase it!

I hope you're all having a wonderful weekend! I'm going to try to concentrate my next sewing adventure on fall things for ME. I'm participating in Self-Stitched September and, well, I have nothing to wear! Yikes.

Sew Beautiful Blog Tour - Pt 5: Pintucking

If you've been following along in my sewing adventures for very long, you might remember that Sew Beautiful magazine was pivotal in my early interest in sewing. In fact, it could be said that if it weren't for the Easter issue of Sew Beautiful in 1998, I may never have found this wonderful hobby.

As a longtime subscriber & reader, I was thrilled a few months ago to be asked to participate in a special blog tour as part of Sew Beautiful's September/October issue! (Psst...To go right to the Pintucking video, scroll down this post!)


Sew Beautiful graciously asked me and several other heirloom enthusiast bloggers to join their blog tour, featuring a series of videos that the SB experts have filmed, highlighting just how attainable these beautiful techniques are. Even for beginners!

Along the tour route, you will learn all of the techniques required to complete this gorgeous camisole:


At first glance, such a lovely creation might seem overwhelming to someone unused to heirloom sewing. But the truth is, the basic techniques needed to complete this project are quite simple. You need little more than a straight stitch and zigzag stitch!

Each video "class" shares a basic technique needed to complete this pretty camisole, recreated from a vintage nightgown. SB shares the instructions and templates needed to create this camisole in their September/October issue #132.


You may click the button below to go to the very beginning of the tour, or scroll down this page to view the video for Part 5: Pintucking. And don't forget to enter my blog giveaway! SB has prepared a fabulous package of gifts for you. Detail are at the end of this post.

Click here to start the tour at the beginning!

And now it's on with the show! The video below features Pintucking. It has been divided into 3 parts; click the links below the video to continue on to parts 2 & 3.

Pintucking - Part 2

Pintucking - Part 3

And don't forget to pick up the issue #132 of Sew Beautiful, for the written directions to accompany the tour videos!


And now for the really fun part! Sew Beautiful has prepared an incredibly generous giveaway for readers of my blog. Total prize value is $160! Here's what the winner will receive:
• complete kit needed to make the Vintage Inspiration camisole, from sizes XS (2-4) to 3X (26-28). This kit also includes Maline laces and Swiss beading!
• a copy of the book: Sleepwear Especially for You. This book contains the basic tank top pattern suggested in the instructions.
• a copy of the new issue of Sew Beautiful
• a June Tailor Heirloom Stitcher's Shape 'N Press board

Leave a comment on this post by Friday, August 20 at 11:59 pm to be entered for a chance to win this fabulous prize package! I will use a random number generator to choose a comment, and will announce the winner on Saturday, August 21.

Additionally, Sew Beautiful and the Martha Pullen Co. would like to give ALL of my readers a special treat! They would like to offer a discount code for the Martha Pullen store at http://store.marthapullen.com/. The code is BLOGTOUR and is good for 25% off your order There is no minimum order, one use per customer, and the code expires on Oct 31, 2010.

I hope you'll join me in exploring this heirloom sewing blog tour, and in sewing this beautiful camisole. I personally think we should have a little sewalong!

And a great big thank you to Shannon Miller, Kathy Barnard, and the rest of the staff at Sew Beautiful and the Martha Pullen Co. for asking me to participate in such a wonderful event. I am honored to be included as part of such a talented group of bloggers.

Lu's Shadow Smocked Dress

Well, it's been quite a little weekend at my house! First I had a bit of a stomach virus (yay.) Then I discovered I was the proud owner of the rarest of rare Macbook Pro's....one with a crashing hardrive.

Do you know how long it takes to do a complete erase and install? Forever. Especially when it doesn't work and you have to do it again. And again. And finally give up and have to schedule a phone chat to explain it to the AppleStud (hi Mike!) who in the end says, 'Dang, girl. You already did everything I was going to make you do. Best send it in.'

ANYWAY. No sewing going on here, just dreaming of sewing. And no blog or email reading and I MISS YOU GUYS. I'm on a borrowed laptop now for kicks and giggles. (Addicted? Me?) And since I don't have anything new to show you, I thought I'd share something old!

This beautiful dress was an Easter dress for Lu when she was 3 years old.


The inspiration for the dress was an article in Sew Beautiful's Easter 1998 issue (my favorite issue ever!) I believe it was a Kay Guiles pictorial. I used a basic yoke dress pattern and the instructions in the magazine for the shadow smocking.

The smocked portion of the dress is at the waist, and involves a strip of fabric (in this case, a scalloped strip of blue cotton batiste) basted to the back of the skirt (white cotton batiste). When the skirt panel is pleated and smocked, the blue shadows through the white batiste creating the "shadow smocking".


The embroidery included a double feather stitch in cream with pink silk ribbon rosebuds.

The collars were treated to the same shadowed blue batiste and pink silk ribbon roses, then edged in gathered creamy cotton lace.


I have a real soft spot for this dress because of the laces. All three laces used on the center front bodice were vintage scraps from my grandma's sewing basket. I have a bit left of the narrow version, but I believe the wide center lace was the last of that piece. A little bit of my grandma stitched into Lu's dress. I'm the only grandchild who sews, so it has always been something I like to think I got from her.

There is featherstitching between the laces on the front, and I remember fussing over the silk floss I used (my first go at silk floss. And possibly my last. I've never mastered its slippery feel!)

The puff sleeves were trimmed in cotton laces, one a Swiss insertion and the other a gathered cotton.


The back of the dress buttoned down with creamy buttons. I hemstitched the placket by machine using one of my "fancy" stitches.


I hope you enjoyed this little walk back through early Quality Time sewing! I still have several things from Lu's baby & toddlerhood to share in the future. My utmost favorite dress, my own design, is yet to come. It is (if I do say so myself) DIVINE.

And there's sewing mojo too...I'm seriously into the 1930s right now, but another 1960s frock in white & blue madras plaid is calling my name too. Stay tuned!

Flipped

Easter skirt is finished! Just take a lookie!


I used one of the Durham Quilts rose prints for the skirt, with the coordinating stripe (as shown in my little Easter plan last week.) I don't know if you can tell in the pictures, but the pink Nelona is an exact match for the light peachy-pink roses, and the darker coral pink in the bullions also match the darker pink in the print.

The top is so pretty and rather elaborate, I didn't want an over-the-top skirt. The skirt pattern is the simple flippy skirt from Simplicity 4104. (I used straight ruffles instead of the circular ruffle in the pattern since my fabric was a stripe.) The ruffle is edged in lace rather than hemmed.


Of course the focal point of this really adorable skirt is the flip-flop lace shaped bow on the front! I really love heirloom techniques and I've been wanting to include them on more types of fabrics (not just fancy dresses.)


I removed the fabric from behind the lace bow and replaced it with pintucked fabric. I pintucked 2 squares of fabric using the smallest twin needle I had and a 1.0 stitch length. I just used the edge of my presser foot as my stitching guide (I don't have a pintuck foot for the Bernina!) I also used a wing needle and pinstitched around the entire lace bow. The only time holes in my fabric make me happy!


And here is the completed Easter outfit! (Sorry for the shadows! It's so windy, I had a hard time finding a place to photograph!)

Happy Easter everyone!!

Fairy Stuff

You just have to love Nelona. It's gossamer sheer and has a pretty sheen; reminds me of fairy wings. This little top has turned into one of my favorite projects in a long time. I'm almost glad I got sick & had to change my plan!

Here's the finished top, in all its pink & lacy glory.


I added a French lace fancy band at the hem, made up of 3 different lace insertions and a lace edging. I tried to take it outside for pictures so you could see just how yummy the colors really are, but it was so windy! I love how pretty it looks backlit on my porch though!



A close up of the finished embroidery:


The back closes with mother of pearl buttons, and the straps are buttoned onto the back as well.


Now it's on to the skirt!

Braceface

The G-man & I have been to the orthodontist. He is now outfited with shiny (and I do mean SHINY) new teeth adornments. :D

In actual, honest-to-goodness jemima*bean news...this sweet set is ending Thursday:

Click Here to view the auction!

Toodles!