"R" is for Ruffles and Rhymes

Katy at No Big Dill is hosting a Sew All 26 series.  She has sewn so many beautiful things for her children using the alphabet as inspiration and has invited others to sew along and link their posts to her blog.  (She has two guest posts up right now with lovely creations for the letter "R".  Check them out!)   I wish I could say that I have made something for each letter but I cannot.  Someday I will!  However, I remembered this dress and jacket that I made several years ago (and never posted here) that would fit this week's letter:  R.  

The dress was made for Abby, a friend's daughter, as a gift for her birthday.  I used a simple sundress pattern from one of the Big Three companies and a jacket from another pattern.  I would have to go through all the patterns in those boxes to get the numbers but there are many similar patterns in the pattern books today.  I used special fabric from Mary Engelbreit that matched the drawings in the book below.  The illustrations in this book are really adorable.  The fabric is copied from the end papers in the book.  I love this book!  I gave a copy of the book to Abby when I gave her the dress and I also have a copy in my kindergarten class.  My class loves the illustrations more than any other nursery rhyme book I have.  There is a copy in my grandmother's hope chest along with a piece of the fabric in my Grandmother's Stash, too!  

I wonder how many of you have Grandmother's Hope Chests/Closets/Drawers with things saved for hoped for precious little ones.  Are any of you saving fabric, toys, books, etc. for future little charmers?

I will be linking up to Katy's blog when she has the link up.  In the meantime you could always look at all the other Sew All 26 outfits posted on her blog.

Have a wonderful day!

Baby Clothes

I just LOVE to make baby clothes! I have a friend who will be having a little girl in November and I have just started a sweet white smocked infant ensemble for her. While working on this project (and some others) I began reminiscing. I've made LOTS of sweet baby things starting with the christening dress I made my niece 23 years ago. It was pretty but I have come a long way since then! Here are some of the outfits that I have made for little ones in recent years. If you want to see some others, just press on the link to Past Projects.



This one was hand embroidered using a vintage reproduction of a Martha White embroidery pattern and a vintage style Kari Me Away jacket pattern.





The bubble is made using a coordinating embroidery design and a bubble pattern from Children's Corner.

This was my own adaptation of a square joked pattern. I added the smocking.

I just love this little hat! It looks like a baby fairy would wear it while sitting in the middle of a pink chrysanthemum!

This set was made for a baby boy. The sheep on the blanket was appliqued and then hand embroidered. The onsie and socks were smocked over the ribs of the fabric and then hand embroidered. The blanket was lined with cotton flannel and piped all the way around. The jacket is made from the same pattern as the little yellow checked one and is also appliqued and hand embroidered.

I love smocked bishop style dresses on babies! The smocking around the neckline brings attention to their sweet little faces and they are so comfortable for them to wear with the raglan sleeves. They are able to wear them for a longer time, too. This is one I called Ladybug Surprise because I put tiny ladybird beetle buttons down the back, on the smocking, and on the bonnet ribbon ties.

This next bishop has a shaddow worked bow and more hand embroidery at the hemline. It is daygown length (to the ankles) and has a matching bonnet. (Please excuse the white mark on the photo. I removed the baby's name.)

Another bishop set that I loved making was this short one. It is hard to see in this photo (scanned into my computer) but the smocking on the pink diaper shirt and bonnet is lavender. The French lace is gorgeous in person, too!

This is Megan in her pale blue bishop daygown and bonnet. There is embroidery at the hemline of this one, too, but you can't see it in the photo.

This little floral number was made from such a soft fabric!

This eyelet set is smocked in lavenders and embroidered with pink flowers. I even smocked the legs of the bloomers so that elastic would not hurt the baby's legs! Silk ribbon ties with hand embroidered flowers adorn the simple bonnet made from the cotton eyelet.

The outfit above modeled by beautiful Emma.

This next outfit was made using a 1951 pattern for the little dress. It is embroidered in pinks, greens, and baby blue and edged in French Lace. The bloomers are smocked in blue at the leg openings.

The bonnet I made to match the above dress is one of my absolute favorite bonnets I have ever made!

I hope you enjoyed my stroll down Memory Lane as much as I have! Did you like my baby clothes?