Easter

The lessons in this project were about embroidery stabilizer and trying to find some balance in my work. My inspiration was spawned from a recent article in Sew Beautiful Magazine and what I learned at the Martha Pullen Extravaganza. I was stoked about the new techniques I learned and was determined to apply them on my own.

Before I even attended the Extravaganza, I had purchased some light yellow cotton batiste for my daughter’s Easter dress. My initial intentions were to make something simple. HA! With my new found knowledge, I felt like I had to push my work to another level.

Next I had to source the laces I needed. Fortunately for me, Connie Palmer told me about a local place that has everything I need. Tomorrow’s Treasures in Crofton, MD is my new favorite place to buy fabric and laces. They had an entire section of heirloom fabrics and lace. They also have regular classes for heirloom sewing. This is going to change it all for me. I’m sure that I’m not alone in this, but as a seamstress, I need to touch the fabric I’m going to buy. Until I found out about this place, my only source was online so this was a total blessing!

The article I mentioned was about an embroidery CD that had repeatable patterns that looked like French lace shaping with pretty little flowered motifs. Although, I hadn’t purchased the CD, I liked the concept and chose to mimic it using French cotton lace and design. Enter the stabilizer issues……. My idea was to embroider the flower bouquet onto English netting, edge it with shaped lace and create a window pane look on the skirt of the dress. This is a simple concept but time consuming to implement. Oh, and you have to be very careful with the English netting! The first stabilizer I used was a tacky, tear away with a water soluble topper. The tear away was too strong for the netting and the tacky part didn’t want to let go of the netting. Ugh! I tried my water soluble Solvy on the bottom and the top but it had too much stretch to hold things tight in the hoop. So I went to seek out help. My friend Diana at Capital Vac & Sew steered me in the right direction with some Floriani Wet & Gone. This stuff was perfect for what I wanted! The proper combination was the Floriani Wet & Gone on the bottom and the Solvy on top with a wash away adhesive. I was very happy with the results. In all, there are 11 embroideries on the dress; 8 large ones on the skirt, and a smaller size on the front bodice and each sleeve.

http://www.tomorrowstreasures.info/

http://www.thatssewconnie.com/

http://www.capitalvacandsew.com/

Doll Dress

Okay, I'll admit that I'm a sucker for making tiny things. My daughter has a friend that is really into American Girl dolls and her birthday is next week. I could have gone to the local store and buy her a toy but I tend to lean towards making something myself. As luck would have it, I have a pattern for 18" doll dresses. Of course I have lots of fabric stash too......


I am really happy with the results. I hope she will be too.

Martha Pullen Sewing Extravaganza

Last week I was fortunate enough to attend the Martha Pullen Sewing Extravaganza in Langhorne, Pennsylvania. It was a four day busy whirlwind of sewing and learning new lots of new things. We had three days of  1 day projects and finished up on Saturday with 3 mini projects. This event was sponsored by the Martha Pullen company and Stony Brook Sew & Vac.


Day one was spent making pajamas created completely on the serger using heirloom lace insertion techniques. We made piping, inserted lace, and made coverstitch ribbon out of bias binding to go through beading lace. We also attached the sleeve with the serger which was a technique that always intimidated me. I left that class feeling totally charged about what I learned.

Day two found me making an apron using the Madeira applique technique and lace shaping. My day hit it's high point when Martha Pullen walked in and complimented me on the work apron I made for myself in anticipation of the trip. She was so personable and nonchalant that I didn't recognize her at first. She sat with me and personally taught me to shape the lace. I was in my own little slice of heaven. She even autographed the pocket on my apron!

The project for day three was a linen envelope pillow with shaped lace, gathered lace, and a baby soft silk satin ribbon. I think this was my favorite project of the entire week. It was a pleasure to work with Connie Palmer. She was a load of fun. She introduced me to my new favorite tool, the fabric folding pen. It is like having a magic wand.

The last day, Saturday, was comprised of three 90  minute mini classes. The first project was a lingere bag to coordinate with the pajamas from day one. We learned to make serger pintucks and insert a zipper with the serger as well. The second mini class we embroidered tea towels on the Huskvarna Viking Diamond. What a beautiful machine! The last mini class was a sweet little embroidered drawstring bag using swiss lace.

The biggest highlight for me was an answered prayer. It came in the form of a door prize at lunch on Thursday. It was Martha's book, Grandmother's Hope Chest and the accompanying patterns for the gowns in the book. I was searching for confirmation of where and how I should be using my God given talent. This trip was to help me discern if christening gowns was the path to take. The kicker was that it was Martha Pullen herself who read my name aloud and handed me the book. I think I actually squealed and leaped out of my seat to go claim my prize! Thank you Father for hearing my prayers and always taking care of me!

So, given that revelation, I decided to choose one gown from the book and make it my big show piece. I waited until the last day to make all of my purchases. I bought everything I needed from the supply list and it is awating me in my work room. This week I have been clearing some projects that were occupying space in my brain so that I can put my full attention on the show piece gown.....almost done decluttering.

It was a fabulous week. Aside from all of the wonderful sewing and learning, the opportunity to be surrounded by kindred spirits was truly energizing. In my everyday life, I don't have many friends that sew or who even take it as seriously as I do. I was so blessed to make some new sewing friends. Thank you Barbara, Lynne, and Tina for making my time there more enjoyable. A special thanks to Martha Pullen for the show and for just being her.

Work Apron

If you're anything like me when sewing, I lay down a tool and then a minute later I can't find the darned thing. It is usually hidden under a pattern or a piece of fabric. This costs me a lot of my most precious resource, time. I found this McCalls craft pattern at my local Joann Fabrics on a sale day. This is a project that I have had waiting in the wings for a long time. Since I am heading to a Martha Pullen retreat, I had the perfect incentive for finally getting it done.

This was made from the yardage left over from the Walking With Purpose tote in my last entry. The pattern called for a neck strap and a waist strap but I made a few modifications. I orignally went ahead with the neck strap. After I loaded the pockets with all of my stuff, I found that my neck was really hurting. One of the vertebrae in my neck has a touch of arthritis. I changed it by making a loop on each side at the waist and then made long straps out of bias attaching them to the top of the apron at each side. You then criss cross the straps in the back and thread the straps thru the loops. This helped distribute the weight of the apron to the middle of my back instead of my neck. Now I'm ready to work!

Thanks for looking!

And now for something completely different........

As I’m sure many of you have heard, the north east coast got DUMPED in snow. We had 20” fall in just over 24 hours. Maryland is just not equipped to handle this much snow, even if it came in smaller increments. The kids have not been in school for over a week……and cabin fever is in epidemic proportions. Complaints aside, we were so very blessed that we did not have any interruptions with our electricity or heat!

Since my last post, I created another child’s size dress form for a 9 month old. I am slowly making some progress in that department. Fabric for my next christening gown is laundered and ready to go. Now I just need some time alone to concentrate on the next one.

Although we were snowed in for a few days, I did make good use of my time clearing out some projects that were waiting in the wings for months. Whew! It’s always good to get that back log cleared up. It allows my creativity to blossom again.

One of these projects was an embroidered tote bag for my bible study group, Walking with Purpose. The hold up was that I just had not taken the time to really learn my embroidery machine that I bought last year. Enter the snow storm, several cups of coffee, and the kids sleeping late. It was the perfect setting for what I needed! I must say that I am quite pleased with the results and my resolve for seeing it through.

Making the tote was the easy part. The tricky task was digitizing the logo (did I mention the coffee?). So, today was the day! After a couple of test runs, I was ready to embroider on the tote pieces. I managed to place a pretty monogram on one pocket and the logo on the other pocket. When the embroidery was complete on those pieces, I was ready to assemble the tote. It came along beautifully if I say so myself. I can hardly wait to show the girls this week!

Let’s hope for a full week of school so that I can make some progress on a christening gown this week! Thanks for listening…..

The beginning

Now seems like the best time to start my blog. I am gearing up to launch my own line of christening gowns in the fall. One of the things I need is child sized dress forms. I have priced them and was just not ready to pay that much, considering that I want several sizes for working on gowns as well as for pictures for the website.


A blessing came my way in the form of another blogger's tutorial on how to make one! My picture shows an almost finished version. She still needs to be covered in a jersey knit.


http://tearosehome.blogspot.com/2009/11/tutorialhomespun-mannequin_18.html


Thank you so much, Sachiko!


Good night,


Vickie