Heirloom sewing

 

I'm doing some secret sewing.  I'm making some English smocked dresses for some of my grand daughters. It's very slow going though, so I'm not sure if I'll have them done in time for Christmas 😬 I'm going to do the best that I can! 

Setting the pleater up was a big deal, because I haven't done it in 8 or more years! I put my quilting thread in this container from Target that I use for storage. I threaded each thread through a hole and then threaded the pleater. The needles in the pleater have a bend in them so that they will go around the rod.

It took me so long to thread all 16 needles.  Then I realized that I only needed 15, so I just didn't thread the last one.  During the pleating, one of my needles broke.  I had to unscrew the rod, take out all the needles and start over again. The second time worked, thank goodness! It took me a whole afternoon though. I have my pleater propped on the chevron tin so the needles don't fall out as I'm threading them.

Success! I did a wheat stitch at the top, and had a really pretty peach thread for the second row.  I had to unstitch it because it didn't show up at all.  Now I'm using yellow which is my grand daughter's favorite color anyway :)

Here are the pleating threads, I tie them together taught against the fabric, two at a time. Then I take them all and tie them together loosely.  If I need to untie them, it's not too difficult as the quilting thread is a little stiff and waxy.

I'm using this pattern, but will have two extra rows because I'm making a size 10 and it requires 13 smocked rows.

In the empty space in the middle, I will have all these embroidered bullion roses. 

I haven't made a dress for my grand daughter Isabel yet, she's 8 years old.  She was telling her mother that she really wants me to make her a dress because she only has her blessing dress that I made for her, and she really wants to have another dress for her own daughter in years to come.  Isn't that adorable?  Yes Isabel, I'll make you a thousand dresses!!! 😂

I love it when they appreciate what I make for them 💗 It fills my journey with joy.

See you next week!

Jacob's blessing outfit

Jacob turned one on April 8, and his family had a birthday party/blessing celebration for him.

As I have done for all the rest of my grandchildren, I made Jacob a blessing outfit.

I placed an order with Chadwick Heirlooms for some blue Imperial broadcloth, some silk satin ribbon, mother of pearl ribbon, and crocheted lace.

 The pattern is Simplicity 6221.

All sizes were included, but they were labeled newborn, small, medium and large.

There weren't any measurements included, just weight and height.

I asked my daughter to take measurements, and I decided to make the Large size.

I included a cute little label :)

I love the collar, and the pin tucks with ribbons and lace on the bodice.

I only use mother of pearl buttons on my heirloom clothing creations.

I really like the pleat detail at the waist, it's in the front also.

 The pin tuck cuff look was so easy to make!

I began hand sewing the little crochet lace along the cuff, but I ended up taking it out.

Here's little Jacob on his special day.

The outfit fit him perfectly!

I also chose Imperial broadcloth instead of Swiss Cotton because it's not sheer.

Sheer is fine for a baby, but I thought a toddler would look better in an opaque fabric.

Jacob sure is a cute little guy, and he let me pose him as much as I wanted :) 

Taylor's Blessing Day

Introducing Taylor Evans, she's 3 months old and it's her special day!

She's such a happy baby :)

I finished Taylor's bonnet on the drive to Utah, and forgot to get a detailed photograph of it.

It sure makes her look like an old fashioned baby.

The bonnet is smocked, and I attached silk satin ribbon and embroidered a buillon rose on each side where the ribbon attaches to the bonnet.

We went to our son's home early so we could dress Taylor and take lots of photos :)

Taylor is our twelfth grandchild :)

My husband and I with Taylor's two older sisters.

Reagan is 5 l/2 and Paisley just turned 2.

Our son Jordan and our daughter in law Kimalee and their three beautiful daughters.

My husband Ricky and I, and our 13 grandchildren!

Our daughter Rebecca is in the photo, holding Jacob, our newest grandson.

He was born 8 weeks early, and was in the hospital for 5 weeks.

He just came home and is swaddled in the purple wrap.

This is our whole family, minus our daughter and her husband who live in Tampa.

Pictured are 5 of our children and their spouses.  

Our youngest son Sean (middle row on the right) isn't married yet, but he's engaged to Kari, a beautiful young lady from Costa Rica.

These 4 little girls were all born within a 7 month period.

That was so much fun!!!

On the left is Reagan, she will be 6 in November.

Next, is Charlotte, she just turned 6 in April.

Neo is in the lavender top, she will be 6 in October.

On the right is Maisie, she will be 6 in July.

You can see all of their blessing gowns and photos of babies in my previous post :)

We had a wonderful time with our family, we were able to spend some time with all of them (except Vanessa in Tampa), there's nothing I enjoy more!!!

I'll have some sewing to show you next week :)

Isabel's Blessing Gown

I sewed the sleeves onto the gown, using entredeux.

 I sewed a French seam to enclose one sleeve and side seam, leaving the other side open. 

I sewed the fancy band together, using three rows of lace insertion and two rows of entredeux.

 To accomplish this, I sewed 10 lengths of stitches, 90" long! 

A lot of sewing!!!

I sewed a ruffle to the bottom of the skirt, one and a half times the length of the bottom of the dress.

I attached a beautiful pice of 2" wide French lace edging to the bottom of the ruffle and then sewed the other side seam with a French seam. 

Here's a closeup of the sleeve and the embroidered cotton Swiss band.

Here's a close up of the yoke, each little piece of lace and entredeux was seen in separately.

I have these fabulous book that I always refer to when I'm sewing heirloom children's clothing.

I traced Isabel's initials, with the first letter of her family name in the middle. I used white for the letters and ecru for the vines.  The idea is that when Isabel has a daughter, her initials will be embroidered next to her mothers before she is blessed in the gown. The dress has the potential to have initials all around the hem!

This is the yoke on the slip, I embroidered is and used Swiss cotton lace around the neck and armholes.

I sewed a narrow piece of French lace edging to the hem.

Here's the full view of the slip.

I smocked the bonnet with silk ribbon, it had a nice sheen to it :)

The ribbon is silk satin, it's so soft!

This is Isabel Louise, in her blessing gown, isn't she beautiful? I'll show you some close ups :)

This is Isabel's family, the sun is in their eyes, lol!

This is our family who were able to attend the blessing, minus my husband who was packing and my son in law who took the photo. We have one daughter wasn't here because she lives in Florida. 

Thanks for being interested in the evolution of the gown :)

Paisley's Blessing Gown

A tradition I have, is making an heirloom blessing gown for each of my grandchildren.
I made this gown for Paisley, she is my 10th grandchild :)

This gown is made of cotton organdy.

It is very sheer and crisp.

I hand embroidered some flowers on the yoke.

The French cotton lace is attached at the neckline, with entredeux.

I embroidered some flowers and ribbon on each sleeve.

I love the Swiss cotton lace and entredeux on the cuff, with gathered French lace.

The focal point of this gown, is the fancy band along the hemline.

Each row of lace is attached seperately, and sometimes it takes 3 rows of sewing to attach it.

Here's a closer view of the laces.

I love this cotton organdy, it doesn't fray or wrinkle as much as Swiss batiste.

I always add pearl buttons to the back, I especially like these little flower ones.

Each of the blessing gowns I make, always has a slip to match.

The gown fabric is sheer and the slip gives it more of a "princess"look.

On the back of the dress in the center by the hem, I always embroider the baby's initials.

Paisley Louise Horst
Louise is my middle name :) I feel pretty honored!

The idea is that Paisley will pass this heirloom gown on to her daughter when she is blessed, and embroider her initials next to her own.

Paisley's daughter will do the same and so on....

Eventually, there will be a row or more of initials :)

The organdy fabric doesn't lend itself to embroidery as well as swiss batiste.

I also make a smocked bonnet with double faced silk satin ribbon.

I was searching for a spot to take the photo, and decided to take it next to my first grandaughter Kennedy, who was wearing her heirloom blessing gown and bonnet.

Here's a closeup of the bonnet.

Sometimes I add seed pearls, but I think this fabric needs to stand out on its own :)

Here's a full length photo of the gown.

Now it's ready to be delivered.

I'll show you photos of the blessing on Wednesday :)