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Bridal Heirlooms, Construction, Silk Ribbon Embroidery, Smocking

Smocked Bridal Purse- the Next Steps

By | On July 29,18 | 0 Comment

So, I’ve completed the smocking and the backsmocking on the bridal purse.

 

Backsmocking on the bridal purse

 

Now, the next step is to attach it to a stay.  It is very similar to underlining a dress.  A stay is a sturdy piece of fabric that serves to support the smocked piece so that it keeps its blocked shape.  It will be easier to place the silk ribbon embroidery once the pleats are stabilized.   It will also control the fullness of the pleated fabric at the bottom of the purse.  I can arrange the gathers and stay stitch them in place before constructing the rest of the purse.

To attach a stay, merely cut a piece of fabric larger than the pattern piece.  On the stay fabric, mark the center of the frame and mark both ends.

 

 

Lay the smocked piece over the stay, matching up the center the center of the smocked design with the center marking from the frame. Place the end of the smocking rows within the end markings you made from the frame.  You want to make sure all of the smocked area is within the width  of the frame. Fan out the edges a little and pin it all around the edges.

 

 

Baste around the smocked area to hold the two pieces together.  Now the embroidery area has been stabilized and is ready for stitching.

 

 

Here is the reverse side of the basted layers.

 

Reverse side of basted smocking

 

Now to stitch on beads and silk ribbon flowers.  When the embroidery is finished, I will stitch some gathering rows along the bottom and arrange the gathers.

 

 

Classic Style, Construction, Forever Classic, SAGA, Smocking

An Updated Smocked Bonnet

Recently my good friend, Lisa Hawkes, owner of Pink Hollybush Designs, asked me to test a new bonnet pattern for her.  I had such a good time completing this project.  It was quick, easy to put together, and absolutely adorable!  It’s the perfect project if you want to learn to smock.  She includes a detailed stitch glossary with the pattern that will help any beginning smocker.

 

 

Pink Hollybush Designs Smocked Bonnet

 

 

She starts with the traditional smocked band framing the face and adds an updated touch at the back by enclosing it with a lined inset.  This provides a more tailored look in the back while offering an updated, more modern look for babies.  This way grandmas can still smock away, and mommas who don’t like the old-fashioned bonnets can be happy.  The best of both worlds.

 

 

Pink Hollybush Designs Smocked Bonnet

 

 

Traditional smocked bonnets are usually made of batiste, which could be a little too lightweight for colder northern climates.  Lisa has addressed those issues with this new pattern.  It can be made from the cutest cotton, or poly cotton prints.  It can be made with a more casual look, perfect with a sunsuit.  It can also be made with a heavier fabric for those cooler days here up north.  It’s such a versatile design, you can use it with a wide variety of fabrics and prints.  This is definitely going into my Grandmother’s Hope Chest.

 

 

18 inch doll, 18 inch doll clothes, Classic Style, Construction, Doll Clothes, Forever Classic, New Pattern, Quick Projects, SAGA, Sewing Techniques

The Scalloped Belt Dress

My first pattern is finally released today.  It is the Scalloped Belt Dress, designed for the 18 inch dolls.  It has classic styling suitable for the 40s, 50s, or 60s time periods from the American girls.  It has short puffed sleeves, a peter pan collar and an attached belt with scalloped details.  Piping is optional and should be omitted for beginner sewists for best results.  It fastens in the back with hook and loop tape and the bodice is fully lined, which encloses the armhole seams for added strength.  Here are a few variations for inspiration:

 

 

 

Please give it a try and let me know your thoughts and suggestions! I would love to hear from you and if you have any questions please don’t hesitate to contact me.  I can be reached by email at smockermom@littleheirloomangels.com and smockermom319@gmail.com.  You can also send a message through my Facebook page, or through the Craftsy or Etsy platforms.  I am here to help if there’s something you are struggling with.  I really have a passion for sewing and I want to encourage the next generation of sewists by sharing my knowledge.

Construction, Quick Projects, SAGA, Sewing Techniques, Silk Ribbon Embroidery, Smock Alongs, Smocking

One of the Perks of SAGA Membership: Smock Alongs!

One of the nicest perks of my membership in the Smocking Arts Guild is the SAGA Smock Along page on Facebook.  Various projects are posted that feature different skills.  We are given a supply list and we’re allowed to choose our own fabrics and color combinations.  Each week is a different lesson and we post our progress to the group as we go along. The variety of fabrics and colors used is so inspiring.  If someone is struggling with a step, we all help and offer advice.  It is a great way to build your skill set and it can encourage you to think outside your sewing box to explore new ideas.

Even though the projects are called Smock Alongs, they can feature any embroidery technique.  The last one I participated in was an adorable Silk Ribbon Embroidery Tissue Case.  It’s designed by Wanda DeWitt, who does beautiful silk ribbon work.  She is a great teacher and her instructions make it so easy to get the best results.  This little tissue case was such a quick project to do and yet it looks like it took hours.  It’s the perfect gift to use scraps, or when you need a last minute present.

 

 

Some of the Smock Alongs are for members only, and some are open to the general public.  Membership is pro-rated after July 1st until the end of the year, so now would be a good time to join.  Check us out.  We would love to get to know you and share our love of smocking and embroidery.

Construction, Doll Clothes, New Pattern, Sewing Techniques

Finishing Touches

I’ve been working on the final touches of my first pattern and it’s really cute.  It’s a dress for the 18″ dolls and it will be available for purchase through Etsy, Craftsy, and my website here.   I also have a Facebook page where I will post any updates.  Please visit and like the page to be notified of the pattern launch.  Here’s the link:

https://www.facebook.com/littleheirloomangels/

 

I designed the first version of this dress for my SAGA chapter’s fundraiser, Doll’s Day Out.  Every year the Mercer Museum in Doylestown, PA has a fundraiser for kids and their favorite dolls.  There is a tea party and various other activities.  My Smocking Arts Guild chapter, Keystone Smockers, buys a doll and we all contribute items to build a complete wardrobe for it.  We raffle off the complete set to raise money for our chapter activities.

 

 

The Scalloped Belt Dress features short sleeves and an attached scalloped belt.  The bodice is fully lined and the armhole seams are completely enclosed for strength.  That is the area that takes the most abuse when children are forcing those little doll arms through the sleeve!  It’s a quick project and can also be used for beginners if you skip the piping.

Here is a peek at another version in progress.  This one is just one last test to make sure everything is accurate before I finalize the file.

 

The launch should be announced in a week or two.  My next pattern scheduled for release will be a front button bishop top and diaper cover for preemies through 6 months.  It is the perfect Take Me Home outfit for the new arrival in anyone’s family.

Bridal Heirlooms, Construction, Sewing Techniques

Wedding Dress

WEDDING DRESS

 

Finally, I’m back and as promised I’ll write about the wedding dress journey.  The bride wanted something simple and considering she lives in Chicago, I determined that we wouldn’t make any style that required any inner corset or boning.  Too many fitting challenges with that and the duct tape mannequin wasn’t working out as I had planned.  I really should have filled it with foam but didn’t have the time.

 

Here is the dress finished.  The bride was on her way outside for pictures before the ceremony.  Unfortunately, the photographer neglected to take the traditional wall portrait pose and this is the closest I have of the dress and my beautiful daughter.  It’s not a great picture, not worthy of the wall portrait, but you can see the dress clearly.

 

It consisted of an underdress made of duchess satin.  I made all my fitting adjustments on this, intending to mold the lace over it.  The bride wanted allover lace, so I chose a wide one that had a nice pattern and border for the skirt, with designs that I could cut apart and applique on the bodice.  Unfortunately, in a moment of insanity, I chose beaded lace….so that as I cut apart the lace for the bodice the beads came apart.  Beads all over the house.  This led to endless hours hand stitching the appliques and replacing the beads.  I think I spent about 600 hours of hand stitching on the lace.  But she loved it and that’s all that counts.  I also made a detachable train out of netting and pearl trim to give the effect of a ghost train.  Unfortunately, it doesn’t show in the picture.

Here are the construction steps:

First I just draped the lace to figure out the placement of the designs and how the skirt would look.  I needed to work from the bottom up and the top down, blending in the laces at the waist, so lace motifs at the waist line to hide the seams was very important.

 

Next, I cut square of lace large enough for the front skirt and the back skirt.  They had to be cut around the motifs and a little larger because I needed to overlap them at the side seams and blend them together.

 

I pinned the skirt pieces over the underdress and draped the side seams.  I pulled the skirt out at the side and pinned the lace in place on each side of the side seams.

 

Next came the hand stitching.  I laid the skirt flat and overlapped the two lace pieces.  I hand stitched around the motifs and cut away the excess on the back.

 

Then I started on the bodice. I cut out the motifs and placed some soft netting on top of the underdress.  I arranged the motifs until I had a design I liked then I took the netting off the mannequin and stitched the motifs to the net using a fell stitch.  I traced the bodice pattern pieces on some medical table paper and put the net on top to insure that the design would maintain the proper shape.  All the hand stitching was done on top of the medical tracing paper.

 

Here, I am working on the back.

 

Here is where I blended the skirt and bodice together to give the dress a seamless appearance.

 

I also devised a method for an offset zipper underneath the bridal loops for extra security.  I’ll have that available in a separate post.

This was the biggest challenge of my sewing life.   There were many panicky moments that I wouldn’t finish in time, but I eventually did and she loved it.  I’m glad it’s done and I’m glad my youngest daughter found the wedding dress of her dreams at Kleinfeld’s for her wedding next November.  She didn’t want to put me through that stress again so instead, I’m making the veil, flower girl dress and a surprise that I can’t tell about yet.

Bridal Heirlooms, Construction, Sewing Techniques

Wedding Update

The bride will be coming home for a fitting next week.  I have the underdress all ready.  I’ll post pictures after next week when she has it on.  I’m keeping my fingers crossed that there are no major fitting issues.  I’m a little concerned because the duct tape mini-me hasn’t turned out as accurate as I would have liked.

After checking the fit then I just have to sew on the lace.  Appliques on the top, and a lace overskirt.  I bought lace with beads, so it will be a lot of hand sewing.  But working with the lace should be the fun part.

In between working on this, I’ve been tweaking my Baby Bishop pattern and it should be ready for a testing call soon.  I also have an American Girl doll dress in the works also.  It is so nice to get away from wedding stress and work on my patterns and designs.  The business has been put in a holding pattern with the wedding dress project, but I’m still plugging away and I’m anxious to start offering my patterns for sale.

I’m also still waiting for my model to arrive.  I purchased a life-like baby doll from Ashton Drake and it’s taking months to ship it!  Hopefully it will arrive by the August 15th date they promised.

I’ll be back soon with pictures!

Bridal Heirlooms, Construction, Sewing Techniques, Uncategorized

Bridal Mini-Me

I went shopping for a wedding dress with my oldest daughter a few weeks ago.  She lives in Chicago and came home for a shopping expedition.  She didn’t find anything she liked and the shop was really limited in variety as far as different styles go so now I am making her dress.

Since she’s not readily available for fittings, I made a duct tape mannequin of her shape!

It’s something I read about years ago in a Threads magazine and I’ve always wanted to try it.  This was the perfect opportunity.

She put on an old T-shirt and I wrapped her hips in plastic wrap because the shirt wasn’t long enough.  Here is the first layer:

It’s still bumpy and wrinkled which is why a second layer is needed.  This layer is added vertically to help smooth everything out.  It helped a little, but I could quite get the bust area shaped as smoothly as I wanted.  I also think I should have wrapped her tighter, but I was afraid it would be too uncomfortable and I wasn’t sure how long she would be trapped like this.

Next, I marked some horizontal lines up the back over the center back and started cutting it off from the bottom to the neck.

Then I placed it on my regular dress dummy and stuffed it a little to make it firm and stable.  Then I taped up the back to keep it closed.

It definitely needs some tweaking as far as the stuffing goes, so I have to do some more checking against her measurements. Next time I do this though, I would definitely choose a looser T-shirt to get a more definite shape in the bust area and I would wrap a little tighter.  It was a fun project though.

Since daughter was home for the whole weekend, I proceeded to make the muslin for her dress.  I made the alterations that were needed and checked them on daughter, then on the mannequin to see if it would be a good substitute.  It seems to work so far.  I’ll know more in August when she comes home again.  By then I plan to have the underdress done and only the lace work will remain unfinished.

 

Construction, Sewing Techniques

A BIAS TUTORIAL – THE DETAILS MATTER

It’s the annual mad rush to clean out the freezer to make room for the beef quarter coming next week.  So that means pulling out all the chicken carcasses, the chuck steaks and the beef bones I’ve been saving to can some soup and stew.  I spent all day yesterday roasting soup bones and the steaks and making the stock.  Today I chopped and prepped and jarred up the stew.

 

Of course yesterday I nicked the top of my index finger with the knife while cutting up the steaks.  It hurts because it’s right at the tip of my finger.  Now, you might be asking what does this have to do with sewing or smocking.  Well, the cut is on my left finger….and that is my stitching hand.  That little cut put me out of commission all weekend for any kind of stitching.  Very annoying!  You  see, even though I’m left handed, I cut with my right hand…a little quirk that lefties usually demonstrate trying to adjust in a rightie dominated world.

 

Since I can’t sew anything to blog about, I thought I would give a quick tutorial on working with bias strips to make piping.  Specifically, how to stitch gingham or plaid bias strips together seamlessly.

 

Sometimes you want to make a long piece of piping or bias trim, but the size of the fabric you have won’t allow you to cut such a long enough strip on the bias.  The solution is to cut several bias strips and match the plaids when you stitch them together.  I am working on a new doll dress pattern called the Red Checked Picnic Dress.  It’s a version of the dress I made for the Doll’s Day Out fundraiser I talked about here.  I’m still tweaking the pattern but I can show you the bias process.  The width of the fabric that I had leftover for bias strips wasn’t wide enough to make one seamless strip for the belt.

 

The first step is to plan where the seams will be placed.  I didn’t want a seam right in the middle on the front of the dress so I pieced 3 strips together.  This pushes the seams over to the sides making it less noticeable.

 

I chose 3 strips and made sure the design was going in the right direction.  This was a woven check, so the right and wrong sides look the same.

 

Then I slid one strip over the other until the two blended in.  It looked like one continuous strip.  If this is a plaid, make sure all the lines and colors are in the proper order along the whole length.  If you look closely you can see the selvage edge on the top strip.  Other than that the two blend together.

 

 

Without lifting the bias from the table, fold the end of the top strip under along one of the lines in the check or plaid. Finger press to make a crease.  Place it back over the other strip and adjust the pattern to blend in.

 

 

Hold the seam allowance underneath the top strip with a pin to  keep them from shifting and lift up the top bias up so that it’s perpendicular to the one underneath. Use the triangular piece sticking out to hold with the pin.  

 

 

Insert the pin along the crease to hold in place.  Check the pin placement on both sides to make sure it’s going into and coming out of the fabric along the correct line. 

 

 

Stitch together along the crease and you are done!