I hope to inspire and entertain you with a lot of sewing and a little of everything else!

Monday, August 10, 2015

Working on Wee Care

My Smocking Guild is going to do a Wee Care workshop this fall. We decided to teach a flat front raglan sleeve gown with shadow work. Today I drafted a pattern and made a sample.


This is supposed to fit about a 3lb baby. It is 12" long and the neck is 7".

The fabric is the finest (thinnest) Swiss batiste I've ever seen. I don't know the brand because it was part of a lot of Swiss batiste scraps I got on ebay. There was just enough white to make this tiny gown.

The lace is vintage ecru I had on hand. I don't remember where it came from.











I took 2 pictures of the embroidery because it is very hard to see. It is a long shadow work bow with flowers from Applique for Kids. 
Their shadow work designs are amazing!!

I used ecru DMC 80wt cotton with Madeira 80 cotona in the bobbin. I like to do this because it is more in keeping with the heirloom look and is very soft, front and back. The white shadow is the wash away stabilizer I haven't washed out yet.


 The back opens all the way down. It will have tiny buttons or snaps. 
I feel like the front needs something - any suggestions?
 


9 comments:

Auntie Pam said...

What size hoop for the gorgeous emb bow?
That is exactly what I have been looking for! I am heading over to that site to buy it!

How about some buillion roses or small spider silk ribbon roses!

I am starting to make these in Feb 2016 after I finish my Martha Pullen Serger One Online class!

Auntie Pam

Elisabeth Rose said...

Hi Pam- more details: I used the large shadowwork bow design at Hang to Dry. It is for the 6x10 hoop. It comes with multiple colors, which looks amazing, but this time I altered it to be all one color, because we wanted something white. You have to use 2 layers of fabric, so if it wasn't this tissue paper thin batiste, you would use something very fine for the underlayment stitches and your top fabric would be fine enough to show the shadow. THey give great directions and it's way easier than I thought it would be. I recommend using the fine cotton threads. It looks really nice. I use washaway stabilizer: 2 layers so nothing is left behind. If you need more info, please post back! Good luck!!

Elisabeth Rose said...

My apologies to Joy Welsh of Applique for Kids. I don't know why I posted the wrong info. Hang to Dry also has lovely embroideries, but Applique for Kids is the place for Awesome Shadow Work!!!

Lisa

Unknown said...

Will you share your pattern for the dress?
Thank you.

Elisabeth Rose said...

I don't know if I will at a future time. Right now it is just drawn on paper. There would be a lot more work to digitize it and write directions.

amalowany said...

I would add a tiny bow just below the neck band in off white to match the shadow work.... or you may try to feather stitch on the neck band to give the gown some weight at the top. Our smocking Guild actually smocks wee care gowns all year long after we do a workshop to construct about 100 gowns on a Saturday in the spring.

Good luck and the work is exquisite.

Heidi

Donna said...

Lisa, it's beautiful! Would it work to take out some of the buds or little sprays from the design and add them somewhere near where the neck and sleeve join? Whatever you do will be lovely!

Elisabeth Rose said...

Heidi- that's just what I was thinking! I have to find some nice quality ecru ribbon. Donna- don't think I could get it back in the hoop to embroider more. Heidi- you must have a really big guild. The closest one to me is about 1hr 20 mins away and we only have 12 ladies usually. They require each of us to donate 2 gowns per year but some people don't. I like to do it early so it's not stressful.

Kathy d said...

It's beautiful!!! I need to try some of those shadow work designs. I have some, just haven't tried any of them. LOL!

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