Sweet Baby Booties from Embroidered Linens

 Cross stitch is an easy hand embroidery stitch but it takes patience and practice to make all the stitches even.  The needle artist who did this work many decades ago did a lovely job combining cross stitch, French knots,  lazy daisy, and stem stitch onto a linen dresser scarf in shades of pink and lavender.  When I purchased it about 30 years ago it had several rust stains that I could not remove in the center of the cloth.  I used it on a sideboard in my dining room with a silver tray over the spots!  Perfect!

About 15 years ago I was making a birthday gift for a friend's little girl:  a lavender gingham dress with puffed sleeves and a full skirt... when I remembered the cloth in the linen closet.  I couldn't stop thinking about how pretty it would be as the collar on that dress.  So.... it was quickly cut (quick is less painful when cutting up something beautiful) and the dress ended up with a gorgeous large round collar.  The dress turned out prettier than it would have with my original design and my friend's little girl adored the dress!   It was worn for her birthday and for Easter and many, many Sundays.  The linen scraps were saved, of course, or their would be no post today!

 I came across the linen scraps recently and I started to think about what I could make with such a small piece of embellished cloth.  Baby shoes!  I had to stop everything to trace a ballet bootie pattern from an older Sew Beautiful magazine and move the pieces around on the linen.  Then I had to sew the wee shoes up right away to see how they would come out.  The shoes are not identical but I think that they are more charming because of that.  They are lined with soft white lawn and tied with lavender ribbon.  I really love them!

Underside of the baby shoes.