Kylie's Blessing Gown, Slip and Bonnet are Finished!

I embroidered Kylie's initials onto the back hem of her dress.

 I used a shadow embroidery technique.  
You embroider in such a way that there are "x's" on the back.
From the front, a shadow is cast through the letter as if you colored it in.  Then I embellished each letter with a vine, leaves and bouillon flowers.
Kylie's initial for her last name is in the middle, and Kylie Violet are her given names.  The idea is that when Kylie passes the gown on to her daughter, that Kylie will embroider her daughter's initials next to her own, and so on.  An heirloom is created :)

The initials are embroidered right above the pin tucks.

I posted photos of the slip on Monday, you can see it here.

This is the smocked bonnet.  I used the same pattern on the dress, and sewed some little seed pearls onto the bonnet.

I embroidered a bullion rose with lazy daisy petals to the silk satin ribbon.

I used a Milliners needle to stitch the roses.

The finished gown and bonnet, the slip is under the dress.

I will show you photos of Kylie on her big day which is April 14 :)

Kylie's Blessing Gown, the slip!

What is a gorgeous gown without a slip?

Here is a closeup of the yoke.

I used insertion lace and added three pin tucks on each side.

I sewed lace edging around the neckline, armholes and hem.

The slip has two button closures in the back.

I am so excited to show you the gown, slip and bonnet together!

Thanks for following along :)

Kylie's Blessing gown, getting close!

I sewed the hem on Kylie's blessing gown, all 90" of it.

I sewed little seed pearls onto the smocked yoke.

Voila, the finished gown!

Notice the pin tucks above the hem.

I designed this dress just for Kylie, I thought of her the whole time I sewed it.

I sewed three little pearl buttons on the back.

Each button has a little flower design.

I just need to finish the slip and the smocked bonnet, and wait for the silk satin ribbon for the bonnet to arrive in the mail!

I received a special treat today, a video of Kylie laughing for the first time :)  I'll share it with you.  Be prepared to smile!!!

I Left My Heart.....

.....in San Francisco ♥

My mother is visiting from Montreal, Canada.

We went to San Francisco for two days, a city she has always wanted to visit.

We took an incredible 3 l/2 hour bus tour around the city, and saw all sorts of fantastic and maybe some not so fantastic sights!

The city's Chinatown is the largest outside of Asia.

I thought it was interesting that in the middle of the city, people hang their laundry out of their windows to dry!

We drove through Haight Asbury and saw these fantastic legs hanging out of the window.  Look at the beautiful ornamentation on the eaves :)

We saw the famous "painted ladies".  The yellow house is shown in the TV show "Full House".

I have been to the city many times but have never driven across the Golden Gate bridge before :)

The view of San Francisco was beautiful from the other side of the bridge.  It was really cold and very windy.

On our way to another spectacular view, we drove past Twin Peaks.  I wonder if that is where the TV show got its name?

Spectacular!

After the bus tour, we went to Fisherman's Wharf and saw the sea lions bathing in the sun.  Luckily, it was too windy to smell them because they stink!

On our way to dinner, my mom and I stopped at a store to look around.

Wild prawns and scallops, yum!

Hope you enjoyed my photos of San Francisco! 

My mom arrived two weeks ago and we have been sightseeing and shopping ever since :)

I try to sew on Kylie's blessing dress whenever I can!  Stay tuned...

Kylie's Blessing Gown, the sleeve and the yoke

I finished the sleeves, and am really pleased with them.

This is the first time I haven't used beading for the band.

  I thread silk satin ribbon through the beading, tie a bow on the outside and have tails of ribbon cascading down.

The only problem is that since the ribbon is silky, the bow always comes untied.  I think the lace band matches the smocked yoke.

This is a closeup of the smocked yoke.

I plan to sew some little seed pearls on top of the smocking.

I sewed the entredeux (lace with holes) onto the smocked neck, and then attached the lace to the entredeux.

Here is the dress, but it still isn't complete.

I have always sewn lace to the bottom of the blessing gowns.

This time I won't since I don't want to take away from the smocking.  I will sew some pin tucks towards the bottom of the hem to match the pin tucks on the sleeve.

Stay tuned for more :)

Kylie's Blessing Gown, the sleeves

This is the sleeve with lace insertions and pin tucks.

I added entredeux (French for between two) to both sides of the lace insertion.  To do this, I set my sewing machine to the zig zag stitch.  The needle goes in the hole of the entredeux, takes a little bite out of the lace, and then into the next hole of the entredeux.  I have to be so careful when I do this, making sure not to take too big a bite of the lace and going into every hole.  I almost feel like I am going cross eyed!

Next, I gather the bottom of the sleeve and sew the lace insertion to the gathered fabric.  The zig zag stitch encases a beautiful little seam that won't fray.

Here is another view.

I hoped to have completed the sleeve today, but a few unexpected things came up :)

I only have to add the lace ruffle, then I will be ready to sew the sleeve to the dress.  

I always imagine my sweet little Kylie while I sew her dress!

One day when she is a grown woman (hard to imagine right now), she will remember her grandmother who lovingly sewed an heirloom blessing gown for her. Kylie can dress her little girls in the blessing gown that she wore as a baby :)

Kylie's Blessing Gown is under Construction

I finished smocking the blessing gown yoke.

The dress is smocked from the shoulder, to the empire waist.

Little diamonds, smocked with pearle cotton.
I outlined the cutting line of the bodice with a washable marker.
Then I stitched along that line, and stitched a 1/4" inside the first stitching line.  The smocking should be stabilized enough for me to cut the boice and join it to the back of the dress.

.

I smocked 22 rows of half space diamonds!

45 minutes per row equals 990 minutes, that is 16.5 hours.....

I sewed some flat lace in the middle of the sleeve.  

I cut the sleeve in half vertically, and sewed the lace to each piece using an heirloom technique. 

 Then I added 5 pin tucks on each side of the lace.

I still have to create the band and ruffle for the sleeve.

All for this sweet little angel in the hopes that she will pass this gown down to one of her daughters :)

I love being a grandmother ♥