Red Dragon Smocked Dress

One of my favorite little girls requested

a red dress with a dragon smocked onto it.

I searched and searched and had no success finding

a smock plate with a dragon,

nor one with Chinese lanterns.

She is the same age as my Ahnalin and both girls

love the strong girl warrior of Chinese legend

depicted in the Disney movie "Mulan".

We decided to let the movie influence my smocking.

As there is no pattern for this character,

I just started smocking free hand,

 to see how the little dragon

would arrive on the fabric. 

And he arrived full of personality!

 

 The Chinese lanterns were actually

a machine embroidery file that I purchased.

I had not machine embroidered on pleated fabric

before, but I think it worked well.

She requested her name to be embroidered on the skirt

in gold thread and Chinese style writing.

I hemmed the dress with my favorite growth tuck

hem treatment.

 

As she has a December birthday, she prefers

her dresses to have long sleeves and 

twirly skirts have been her preference as well.

 

Long sleeve cuffs with star button and 

candy cane corded piping. 

The angle of the picture is weird

and the piping is folding all wonky because 

I was holding with one hand and taking

the picture with my phone. 

I think I should have asked someone to 

take the photo for me!

This is the back of the dress.

I am now remembering why I never posted these

photos last year. 

I was thrilled with how the dress turned out,

be the photos were so awful.  

I think I need some photography help!

 

I have several other creations from the 

last year that I never shared.

I need to get busy and post them!

For today, I am making a blue raw silk

dress for India to wear to a gala this weekend.

I PROMISE I will post photos when I finish the dress.

Happy Sewing. 

 

Sewing For A Royal Baby

It came!!

I am so honored and excited to share with you

that I was a contributor to this beautiful book.

This book was the "baby" of 

the amazingly gifted

 Kathy Barnard and Amelia Johanson.

The lovely dress on the cover

was created by my friend Janet Gilbert

who just launched her own smocking website!

 Janet-Gilbert.com

I get chills seeing my name printed there.

I really do not feel I belong in this group of designers.

The contributors to this book are the most 

gifted in the field of heirloom sewing!

Do you see whose names are also there????

This book is filled with gorgeous designs,

complete with patterns on a CD-ROM in the back.

My tiny contribution was drafting a pattern

and writing instructions

for a pair of antique lace booties from

this photo.

These were my samples.

I made them from lace and cotton batiste.

But the original antique lace boots in the book

photo were made from a lovely silk.

The pattern for these little booties is included

in the CD-ROM in the back of the book,

and includes 3 sizes.

I am just so very thrilled to have been 

a part of this book. 

You can purchase it 

at the 

Martha Pullen Company 

and

Amazon.com

There are patterns for several dresses,

little boy suits,

bubbles,

booties,

bibs,

bonnets,

coverlets and other accessories,

and even 2 christening gowns!!

 

The patterns ,

 embroidery designs,

and heirloom construction techniques

alone are worth much, much more than the cost of this book. 

But the photography and inspiration are priceless!

I have only taken photos of the pages,

so the actual book pages are not blurry like

my photos. 

All the photos on the pages here, 

except for my two bootie samples,

 are from the book,

and are the property of Sew Beautiful and F&W Media, Inc. 

I hope you purchase this gorgeous book

for yourself and enjoy every lovely detail.

Happy Sewing!

Sivje

Ahnalin as Jane Austen

We love Jane Austen.

When Ahnalin had to choose a 

"Famous dead person" 

for her 3rd grade "Live Wax Museum" history project,

she chose to do her report on our beloved novelist.

Well, I must be honest here......

I LOVE JANE AUSTEN!

Ahnalin loves beautiful dresses and 

playing dress-up with her dolls.

She told me that she was considering

doing her report on Walt Disney or Lucille Ball.

Walt Disney lost out because she didn't want 

to dress up like him for the wax museum.

Lucille Ball ran a close second,

because she would have had fun portraying her
and she adores "I Love Lucy".

But in the end,

JANE WON!
(All right, it wasn't really a contest, but Go Jane!)

And that meant that mama needed to get busy

making a regency style gown.

And Ahnalin suggested

(well, more like agreed to....)

a smocked empire style. 

As research, (cough cough)

we watched most of my BBC versions

of Pride and Prejudice, 

Sense and Sensibility,

Emma

and Persuasian.

 I suggested Mansfield Park

and Northanger Abbey,

and had to watch them on my own time (again)

as she felt she had enough of a feel for the times.

We actually did real research on Ms. Austen,
but the movies were my favorite part.

Two of Ahnalin's favorite findings about
Jane were:

1. Jane's father was a minister just like
 Ahnalin's daddy has been.

2. Jane was proud of her stitching and
handiwork skills, just like Ahnalin.

The dress fabric was rather see-through,
and she wanted a new petticoat,
so I cut a quick yoke style bodice
and long skirt out of some cotton muslin from my stash.

She was practicing her posture with a book on her head
in this picture.
Goofy girl!

I found just enough cotton lace in my stash
to trim the neckline and armscyes. 

I added a long embroidered cotton batiste trim
to the hem of the petticoat.
I had planned on enclosing that seam in a
growth tuck, which is my oft used hem treatment.
However, Ahnalin wanted it to be left
as long as possible.
So we left it alone.
Her plan is to wear it as a nightgown
after the wax museum project was finished.

Ahnalin kept cracking up while Grandma Barbara was
taking pictures from one angle
and I was taking them from another angle.

Yes, there it is.
My favorite cheater hem style.
But I do love growth tucks.

And the long petticoat is peeking out.
And how cute are those pink ballet flats.

I truly love the fabric I used for this dress.

It is "Juliet-Coco" by Anna Griffin,
and can be purchased at the Martha Pullen Company. 

I drafted the pattern and designed
the smock plate based on various
gowns from my favorite
Jane Austen movies.

And, well,
you know I had to include smocking!

I am working on the pattern for this dress
and it will include the smocking design.
 

Ahnalin wanted you to see her hair.
She knew exactly how she wanted it to look.

The back of the bodice is simple and pretty.

I like the lace of the neckline of the
petticoat peeking out.

 I had not stitched the grosgrain ribbon
in place so it fell off when Ahnalin
was frozen in place at the school wax museum.
But it probably looks more authentic without it.

 She got tired of being frozen in her standing pose,
so she sat down and read her "prop".

Good thinking, my brilliant girl!
 

I am so proud of my little one
for working so hard on her Jane Austen project.
Her research paper was very well written
and she enjoyed the process.

And I am so glad she gave me a good
excuse to create a regency style gown for her.

Now she wants one for her American Girl doll.
I guess I had better get busy!

Happy Sewing!

Vintage Rose Smocked Natalie Dress In Sew Beautiful Magazine

I squealed with excitement when

I received this in the mail the other day!

That's my name!

You see, I love the "Vintage Natalie" pattern

that Janet Gilbert designed for Sew Beautiful.

You can order the pattern on the Martha Pullen website. 

I made this version for the First Day Of Third Grade.

And I made this version for Ahnalin's 8th birthday.

I love this pattern!!

So, I had the idea to add smocking

to the waist. 

It combined my passion for smocking 

with my love of this amazingly versatile pattern.

I designed the smocking and wrote the instructions

and you can find them in the May/ June issue of Sew Beautiful Magazine.  

You will also receive the pattern for this 

darling romper designed by my favorite designer,

 Janet Gilbert!

This is my favorite part of the whole magazine.

This is the page that made me cry.

You see, I learned how to smock through

reading Sew Beautiful Magazine.

The talented artists on this page, 

and others who have contributed to the magazine,

have been my mentors over the past several years.

They have been encouraging and so willing

to share their knowledge. 

To see my photo next to these photos

was a dream-come-true!

And now, enough of my teary gushing.

I had better get back to setting up my new sewing room

and work on my next designs! 

Happy Sewing!

A Pink Easter Dress For Ahnalin

A pink dress for Easter.

She told me exactly what she wanted.

She picked out this 

Sandi Henderson Henna Garden

that I had been hoarding in my stash 

for several years.

She simply had to have puffed sleeves!

So, like any "bosom friend" of 

Anne of Green Gable's,

I made her the puffiest of puffy sleeves.

She wanted a full, twirly skirt.

Sadly every time she twirled,

she twirled away from the camera.

So you will just have to trust me that it twirls. 

It had to have a big, long bow.

She REALLY wanted it to be a LONG dress.

But I split the difference with her

and hemmed it at tea length with a growth tuck.

I love growth tucks because

they are such a quick and sturdy

machine hem.

She wanted it smocked,

but ONLY pink. 

I tried to talk her into a little bit of green 

or some darker pink, 

but the answer was no.

When I started smocking this,

I had no real design in mind.

I just "winged it".

At first, I wasn't very inspired

and not terribly thrilled with the simplicity

of the smocking.

But now that the dress is done,

I think it is exactly what it was supposed to be.

She wanted a collar,

but it had to be the same fabric.

I was leaning toward white collar and 

sleeve cuffs.

I managed to talk her into 

a tiny bit of trim.

This teeny rick rack is very vintage.

She was very happy with her dress.

I am think she chose well.

 I asked her for a big smile,

and she decided to flash her gum at me.

She insisted that I show you 

her shoes.

She thinks they have high heels.

She likes to put them on and tap on the tile

because they sound like real heels.

I love this picture.

It shows her standing still,

which is a rarity.

But of course,

we had to have her "Classic Ahnalin" pose.

I ended up using up nearly every 

bit of that fabric. 

 

Tomorrow I will post about India's Easter dress.

I had better get some sleep.

I am busy working on some very exciting 

projects now.

I can't wait to share them with you.

Happy Sewing.