So, I am starting a blog. I want to share my love of heirloom sewing and smocking with others in the hope that new stitchers will carry on the art. I fell in love with this sewing niche when my daughters were little and I was watching an episode of Sewing with Nancy. I just loved the idea of stitching laces together to design fabric blocks that I could turn into beautiful dresses for my little girls….dresses I couldn’t afford to buy in the stores at the time because I was a stay at home mom on a tight budget.
Then I took my first smocking class at a little fabric shop in the area. I started to sketch ideas and I found myself changing and altering patterns to match the ideas in my head. This lead to an interest in pattern drafting which I taught to myself through books and a software program I was able to purchase. I wanted to sell patterns but at the time printing on wide paper was very difficult in my area and selling patterns printed on regular paper to be taped together really didn’t appeal to me. I put the plan aside and went back to the working world. The girls were grown into teenagers and I got sidetracked into the 40 hour a week grind. Boy was that a mistake! Too tired at night during the week to continue my business plan, and too many chores on the weekend!
Of course I still sewed dresses for the girls when they needed something special, but it was a different type of sewing. I did pick up machine embroidery and used it on prom dresses, and I learned how to work with different types of laces for other prom dresses. It was fun, but not the fine stitchery that I love to do. Now I will probably be sewing for some wedding gowns since both daughters got engaged within a month of each other.
However, I also have the time to re-focus on my stitching and designing. I finally joined the Smocking Arts Guild of America, something I wanted to do for years. I’ve met so many wonderful creative and caring women. I highly recommend joining! And the digital world has caught up with my ambitions; patterns are now available as a simple download and wide format printing is one click away at Staples. I went back to my old software and drafting books and started creating again. Which leads me to an issue I had tonight with pleater needles!
Years ago, I could pleat a bishop dress with tiny French seams and they would go through the pleater if I was slow and careful. Tonight, I broke 5 needles and bent 3 others! I used the same Imperial Broadcloth I used in the past, and the same tiny French seam, tucked into the pleater groove. I just don’t get it, except for the possibility that the needles are not the same quality they were 20 years ago. Sally Stanley pleaters are no longer made and it makes sense that the same quality needles they made for that pleater specifically are not available. Now I’m on a mission to find a better way to get around this dilemma…..needles are too expensive and too hard to find. There has to be a better way. Stay tuned.
