A Princess Dress

This is Neo and Charlotte, two of my grand daughters.

They both like to dress as princesses :)

Charlotte has a lot of princess dresses, but Neo doesn't have any.

This is Neo in the dress I made for Charlotte. 

Neo's favorite princess is Belle from Beauty and the Beast.

I was very fortunate and found some super sparkly fabric to make a princess dress for Neo for her 3rd birthday.

My motto is the more sparkly, the better.

I spent days making this dress, there are 6 layers in the skirt!

I love the shirred overlay, it's made out of glittery tulle.

Do you think it looks like Belle's dress?

The bodice is lined with satin, but I didn't line the sleeves.

The hem is scalloped, I didn't have to do anything to it.

Do you notice the illusion of pink under the skirt?

I sewed three layers of pink tulle under the yellow lace skirt.

My cousin calls it crinoline, which brings back lots of girly memories from my childhood :)

I'm excited to see Neo's reaction when she opens her princess dress.

I think she will be in "princess heaven"!!!

Lucy's Smocked Bonnet

I've been working non stop on Lucy's bonnet.

I watched a lot of TV this weekend, so I smocked while I watched.

I smocked diamonds with little flowerettes in the middle.

Isn't the lace beautiful?  

It's 100 % cotton French lace, very delicate

The bonnet will look so much cuter on Lucy head.

The back gathers up, and some of her hair will peek through :)

I used a silky ribbon for all the smocking stitches.

It adds texture and a soft sheen.

I used ecru silk satin ribbon.

I bought this ribbon once at an heirloom supply shop when I lived in the South.

I have no idea what brand it is, and don't know if I'll ever find any more.

The online shops that sell heirloom shops don't have the best selection.

This is the 7th bonnet I've made in 6 years :)

I have 7 grand daughters, and have made one for each of them.

I made heirloom blessing outfits for my two grandsons as well, but I didn't make them bonnets!

My daughter Lindsay texted this photo of Lucy to me.

She and her husband were on a date.

I just know that Lucy is dreaming about how angelic she'll look in her blessing gown and bonnet :)

More photos to come!

Pleating and Smocking

I have a lot of projects going on right now, but one of the most important is a blessing gown, slip and bonnet for Miss Lucy Jane.
This is the bonnet with the pleating threads.
I'm sewing the ecru lace onto the white cotton organdy.

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I love how delicate and old fashioned looking the lace and bonnet fabric are.

I pleated the bishop neckline of the gown with a swiss lace overlay.
I'm going to smock it with white ribbon.

These are the laces that I'm going to use...
The swiss lace 2nd from the left goes on the edge of the sleeve, with the lace to it's right, gathered and sewn to the bottom.
I have silk satin ribbon that will run through the eyelet holes.
The entredeux on the left goes on the bottom of the dress.  
The scalloped lace will be gathered and sewn on the hem.
The white lace on the right will be sewn to the hem of the slip.

Won't little Lucy Jane look sweet on her blessing day?
More photos to come....

Hexies

I started making these l" hexagons years ago when I saw the tutorial on "Bee in my Bonnet's blog here. 

They are fun, fast and fabulous!

I made a whole basket full but have never done anything with them, they have just been sitting in the basket.

I always like to take some handwork with me on a trip.

I got out my little hexies and arranged them in ziplock bags.

On my trip to Montreal, I had a few occasions to take out my hexies and handsew them together.

What pretty little flowers!

I'm not sure what I'll do with them, I would like to make a mini quilt, a pillow and maybe even a larger quilt.

I'd even like to make some with each hexie a different print.

Montreal's Architecture and Statues

I'm home from Montreal now, and ready to get back to work sewing and blogging.

I walked a lot with my brother Paul, and did a lot of walking on my own while my mother was at her painting class.

Here is some of the beautiful architecture and statues I saw in the city.

This is the Westmount City Hall, taken from the inside of the car when it was raining.  It looks like a castle!

A beautiful church in Old Montreal.

This is also Old Montreal, the road is made of cobble stones.

Can you imagine someone being serenaded from this balcony?

Lots of copper on this edifice!

Even though Montreal is a large city, there are still lots of green parks.

We had our backs to the St. Lawrence river when I took this photo.

This is St. Jacques Square, the heart of Old Montreal.

 The weather was beautiful :)

That's my brother Paul from the back, he knows the history of all the buildings and statues in Montreal.

Corinthian columns and lots of detail.

Paul said that the gold building with the clock tower is his favorite.

In the distance, do you see the spires of the Cathedral Notre Dame?

Paris, France, gave part of their Metro gates to the city of Montreal as a gift.

We're out of Old Montreal and into the heart of the city.  

The building to the extreme right is called Place Ville Marie.

There is an underground network of shopping malls and restaurants under these buildings that goes on for blocks.

It's great in the winter when it's really cold and you don't want to go outside.

Take the underground metro and shop and live underground :)

Another church with many saints on the roof.

This is me and my tour guide and baby brother, Paul.

I love this photo of my mom, I took it on the sly!

This is where my mother lives, a beautiful, historic building in Westmount.

 Every year, their flowers are a different color :)

My mother's apartment is pretty spacious and has lots of character.

I hope you enjoyed my little mini tour  of my favorite city :)