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

Wednesday, August 26, 2015

PHDs!

Yes, I am doing summer school for my PHDs: Projects Half Done! I have a bunch of them in progress. I don't have anything finished to show and we were at the beach for a few days, so here we go...
Can you guess what Fall project is planned for this?
 You might remember this smocking...
Strip Twist quilt progress...
 A little wardrobe improvement...
Smocking Along with Adorable Heirlooms on facebook...
Hand-sewn Wee Care gown almost done!!


Sunday, August 16, 2015

Caroline's Pinafore & a SALE

I was delighted to receive a customer appreciation photo on Etsy the other day.
Caroline made this adorable ruffly pinafore for her Granddaughter's first birthday! I love the pink and blue birdies and the gingham ruffles and ties. Don't miss the pretty pink smocking!
It makes me so happy when people say they loved the pattern and how it turned out!

Yesterday was also my oldest son's birthday!! So, I decided to put my patterns on sale!
You can choose "Linny's Pinafore" or the "Timmy & Mary Sunsuit" for just $6! No code needed: click here!


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?
 


Wednesday, August 5, 2015

So Many Projects...



If begun is half done, then I have a lot of things half done! One of my projects is a king size quilt. The pattern is called "Strip Twist"and it uses 2.5" strips. I cut soooo many strips. This roll is what's left over. The picture above is the sample, but mine will be much larger.
 
 I made 100 blocks of 4-strips.
Next I will square them, cut them diagonally and put them back together!
The darks and lights line up to make the illusion of motion.
This is the beginning of a smock-along I am doing with Adorable Heirlooms. The design is a mystery, so I only know that it will be a full-bodice piece for a dress. My fabric is a soft lawn from Fabric Finders.
This is a tiny Wee Care dress that I am making from a vintage 13" doll pattern. It has lovely details, like pleats under each arm for fullness. I am totally hand-sewing this. It will have ecru entredeux and lace. I like to have stitching to work on when I take my little boys here:
We spend at least 3 days a week at a beach at the lake in our town. We see friends and have cook-outs and everyone has fun!
This is another project I pull out at the lake. It is another vintage smocking transfer. This time it's brown on light blue.
Do you have a bunch of projects going at once or are you disciplined to work on one thing at a time?








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