Tag Archives: dress

Catching Up

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Haven’t posted in quite a while.  Been busy as usual.  See above for just a few of the things I have been up to.

I’ve Been Published, Well, sort of…

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Remember the Christmas dresses that I made for my repeat customer Martha?  Martha’s family was featured in an online magazine and they even made the cover.  The shots they used for the story and the cover were of the family dressed in their finest.  Ya, that is right, the Christmas dresses I made.  Whoot!  The article photos look so great.  They were taken by my nephew.  He is quite the budding photographer.  Have a look.

The Hands

Dress Completion

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In the last post, I completed the skirt portion of the dress.  In this one we look at the bodice, bonnet and shoes.  Details make all the difference in sewing children’s clothing, especially little dresses and heirloom clothing.  I prefer to make my own bias binding and piping for my dresses, so, as you can see around the neckline, I used the skirt fabric to create piping edge.

To create the piping, cut 1″ fabric strips on a 45 degree bias.  Using a thick cotton crochet thread, fold the fabric strip lengthwise over the thread and sew a 3/8″ seam down the length of the strip, encasing the thread.  Perhaps I should do a tutorial on this next time…

Custom piping on collar

Following the directions, I attached the skirt to the bodice and then made the button holes.

How to open a button hole (my way)

I just happened to have two flower buttons in my stash that worked perfectly for this dress.

Dress Back (complete)

See, aren’t they pretty?

Back button detail

The bonnet directions state that you should leave an opening at the back edge and, after turning right side out, you should slip stitch the opening closed.  This seemed counter-intuitive to me, since there was a scalloped lace edging that could easily be slip-stitched shut after turning the bonnet right side out.  The way the pattern shows the finished bonnet, there are raw edges exposed where the scalloped edges are, inside the bonnet.  It seems to me that this would not only be unsightly, but would not feel very good to the baby either.  See the photos below to see the directions and to see how I did it instead.

Bonnet Pattern 1

My method: I basted the edge of the lining along the scallop, clipped and pressed the edges.  Then I removed the basting and turned the bonnet right side out.  After that it was easy to line up the pressed edge with the scalloped edge and slip-stitch it shut again.

Bonnet (my method)

Right side out, lining side:

Bonnet (closure)

Outside of bonnet:

Completed Bonnet Lace and Brim

Completed outfit:

Dress Ensemble

The shoes I will cover in a post sometime down the road.  This dress ensemble will be going on the Etsy shop as a custom order, so if you know anyone who would like this outfit for their child or as a gift, please send them my way :-)

Dress Ensemble Side View

I hope you have enjoyed seeing the progress through the assembly of this outfit.  Let me know what you would like to see next.  I would love to use this blog as a way to demonstrate techniques, if I know them.  Just give me a shout.

Finally, here is a quilt that I have pulled out of the past projects pile.  It is going together quite nicely.  I can’t wait to have this one under my belt and on to the recipient.

Gift?

Baby Dress Embroidery

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Last post I determined the pattern and fabric that I would be using for the baby dress I am making as a gift for a friend.  In this post, we look at the embroidery.  The pattern called for Lazy Daisies, but I opted for bullion daisies instead.  Really, any flower could be used here, but I just like making bullion knots, so this was my personal preference.  If you have never done this type of knot, here is a tutorial from one of my favorite needlepoint and embroidery sites.

Embroidery in progress

As you can see, I have not cut the piece out, but rather drawn the outline of the pattern piece on the fabric.  The reason for this will be clear in the next post.

Embroidery Close-up

Close up of the embroidery unit.  After completing the embroidery, I read and re-read the  pattern for assembly.  I could still be wrong, but at this point, I have decided that this pattern (Simplicity #2392) has an error in it.  The pattern tells you to cut 2 of the hem band.  This is what I did.  One piece for the facing and one piece for the actual band that I then embroidered.  From what I can tell, the pattern actually needs two bands and two facings in order to accommodate the entire hem.  So, I cut another band and embroidered it as well.  If, somehow, I don’t need it later on, I will just use it for another dress, or something.

Smocking on Sleeve (from the movie Impromptu)

Finally, here is a quirky thing that I do while watching period dramas (my favorite type of movie, tv, etc.).  When I see a costume or a part of a costume that I like, or would like to recreate, I pause the film and take a photo with my phone of the screen.  This dress (above) is from the movie Impromptu and I really love the smocking detail on the sleeves.  Cool, huh?  Am I the only one who does this?

The Green Dresses, Blue Dress, and Other Assorted Projects

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Every time I think about sitting down and telling you all about my latest projects, I get distracted by another project.  This year has started off as busy as ever with year end reports for work and tutor evaluations, etc.  In the little spare time I have had I have been completing orders and planning new projects.  The first order completed this year was a set of green (flower girl) dresses for an Etsy customer.

Green Dresses

Green Dresses Close-up

Immediately after completing that order, I had to quickly turn aound another blue heirloom dress for another order.  The start of this order was delayed a bit by the flu bug I caught in December.  Having made the dress 4 times before, it was not too difficult to quickly complete another one.

Blue Easter Dress

My Etsy listing for preemie gowns has been getting a lot of traffic this month, as well.  I have completed and shipped three so far for 2013.

Preemie Gown

We received a surprise belated present from my aunt in Texas.  It seems that my maternal grandmother (the one who I owe all my fiber art talent to) crocheted this piece for us several years ago.  She was apparently waiting to give it to us until she had it properly framed.  My aunt was able to persuade her to part with it and go ahead and send it as it was.  I purchased a frame and solid, uncut mat and framed it myself.  We love it!  I am so grateful that we are able to have it hanging in our home where it belongs.

Crocheted Fillmer Nameplate

Finally, I used my Amazon gift card from my boss to purchase this little gadget of joy.  It is a foot massager and it works great!!

Foot Massager

I have several projects in the works now that I will post about soon and I was thinking about posting about my next dress project in a step by step fashion.  A follow along project, if you will…we will see.

Holiday Dresses for 2012

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Hello there, remember me?  Poor neglected blog…  I have been super busy with a Holiday dress order from the same customer that I made the Easter dresses for earlier this year.  She ordered 4 dresses for the Thanksgiving/Christmas holidays for the same 4 daughters.  You will recognize the photo set up for the dresses, but the dresses themselves are quite different.  This order was for smocked and embroidered dresses in a deep wine color, where the Easter order was for heirloom embroidered dresses with large collars and lace.  I loved doing this order because this customer lets me know what she has in mind and then she leaves it to me to come up with something special.  Here is what I came up with.

The bishop dress was based on the Cherié pattern from AS&E issue #44 and the size 14 dress was based on the Angel pattern from AS&E issue #88.  The two middle dresses were basic full smocked yokes with embroidery.  All 4 dresses were smocked or embroidered with pinks and gold filament, usually twisted together.  The size 4 and 14 dresses are beaded within the smocking design as well.

What do you think?

University of North Carolina at Wilmington – Custom Smocked Dress

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A few weeks ago a customer contacted me and asked if I could make my Annika dress in the University of North Carolina at Wilmington colors.  I said certainly and started looking for the exact colors of the school.  This was a little harder than expected and so the customer graciously sent me a t-shirt with the logo and colors on it for comparison purposes.  This dress is the result and I believe the colors are as close to exact as one can get.  What a fun project this was.

Preemie Gowns

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Took a break today from the Easter dresses to complete another preemie gown.  I am sending these gowns to a hospital in South Miami who will use them as keepsakes and burial gowns for the infants that are lost each year.  The hospital averages 5-15 per month.  I can’t make that many, but I can do whatever I can to make the parent’s loss more bearable.  The pattern for this dress came from Threads of Love.

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