Emma's Flights of Fancies

Happy Easter! Happy Spring! I hope that you are having a lovely day with your families or friends. My sweet daughter sang in the church choir this morning. Lovely! Later this afternoon we will be going to my wonderful sister's home for dinner. She is having more than 22 people! My only job is the deserts. My husband's job is to bring extra chairs and tables. We sure are getting off easy! Thank you, Kathleen!

What can be more evocative of Spring than butterflies? (Especially PINK ones!) This little size 2 outfit was made for the cutest little blonde blue-eyed charmer. This is the sixth special outift I have made for her. I finished it last Sunday and I believe Emma wore it to see the Easter Bunny this past week.

I used a pattern from one of the Big Four companies but altered it a bit to make it more heirloom in appeal. The original pattern called for a single layer bodice, bias binding at the neck, and a back zipper. I completely lined the bodice and changed the closure to a button back style. The little buttons in the back are mother-of-pearl flowers.

Back View

The sleeves are cute with the little inverted pleat at the bottom.

I will post pictures of this one modeled by Miss Emma soon.

Aurora's Eyelet Easter Ensemble

Oh, I really love white eyelet dresses! I love pink and green, too, and roses are my favorite flower. Can you tell that I enjoyed making this three-piece ensemble?

Sweet Aurora is 9 months old and is visiting her grandparents here in Florida for Easter. Her grandmother's reaction when she first saw the dress really made my day. She cried! Unfortunately, my photos aren't good. I took them at 6:30 AM in a big hurry and the bonnet pictures were the worst. Please take my word for it: The bonnet was just darling (even if I do say so myself!). The bonnet ribbons are silk satin and I embroidered the same rose on each bonnet loop as the roses on the smocking. The back closes with button loops and mother-of-pearl buttons in which I embroidered more roses.

The dress is one that I have made before but with a different smocking plate. This time I used a 1987 plate by Ellen McCarn called 'Katherine'.

Charm's First Nightie Part 1

This is the little daygown front and sleeves that I started a few weeks ago. The smocking and bullion embriodery are complete and this is awaiting construction. Charm is due at the end of May and the baby shower will be at the end of April. Charm will be her nickname and her given name is still undecided. (Third sweet daughter for my dear friend: "Three times the charm!")

The smocking plate is "Taylor Rae" by Peanut Butter-n-Jelly Kid's Designs. The roses are more full-blown than those on the plate. Since there would be only three of them I wanted them to really make a statement. Charm's mommy asked that I not make anything white (my favorite for babies) and really limit the lace. She also wants things that are easy-care so this is Imperial Batiste with the tiniest French lace I have in my stash.

This little trailing vine of flowers will go on the little bonnet brim. This will be it's only adornment (I am trying to make 'plain' but it is so hard for me!!!)

I have had to put this aside to make two outfits for customers but I hope to get back to it next week.

Portrait Gallery and a Little Inspiration

Since I have been in a little bit of a sewing slump the past couple of weeks, I thought I would share one of my favorite Easter dresses. I made this for my sweet baby girl 14 years ago when she was almost 2 and a half. The dress is smocked from the shoulder. I combined two old Australian Smocking and Embroidery designs and added my own embroidery around the neck and the bottom of the smocking. I hand feather stitched the hem up. (Goodness, that took a LONG time around 90 inches of skirt!). The dress was roomy enough and long enough that she was able to wear it through two springs and summers. I loved it on her! My godchild, Jordan Leigh also wore the dress for two years a few years later. It is now packed in acid-free paper awaiting Victoria-Rose's little girl. (I sure hope she has at least one daughter with all that has been saved for her!!!)

This is a picture of my mother with Victoria-Rose. I have added another shot with the two of them and Logan in a pleated and feather stitched shirt and blue gingham short-all in a new section of my blog: Portrait Gallery. There are three posts there already showing some of the cuties in things that I have made. Please check it out! It is under the section to the right called My Other Creations. I will be adding to that section from time to time.

I am very happy to report that I am officially out of my 'sewing slump'! Hooray! All it took was giving myself permission to put aside the things that I had been working on to begin the special baby things for my dear friend Lauri's baby girl due in May. Oooooo how I love to make baby clothes! I have the smocking begun on a little daygown that I hope Lauri will use to take the baby home from the hospital. I'll give a sneak peak soon!

Old-Fashioned Valentines

I had such fun making these old timey valentines for my family this year! I used my scrapbooking supplies, old Mary Englebreit (love her work!) desk calendar pages, and some heart doilies. Each one is different and made for a special person in my family. They remind me of the valentines my third grade teacher (in the 60's) had us make for our parents. It was the first time I had ever seen a heart shaped doily! I made some for all my small godchildren and their moms, too, but I forgot to photograph them.

This one is for my Tim. (All are clickable if you want to enlarge them to see any details.)

This one is for my beautiful daughter.

This one is for my handsome 15 year old son.

This one is for my mother.

Perhaps next year you would like to make some old timey valentines! Just give yourself enough time. I didn't and I was working until late Saturday night finishing up!

Happy Valentines Day!

Happy Valentines Day! I hope you have had as nice a day as I have had. My sweetie gave me a lovely card that made me cry, a box of chocolate that had a recordable button that told me he loves me in his own voice, and a teddy bear with an 'I love you' banner'. I made old fashioned Valentines and a lovely brunch for my family. We plan on going to the movies after dinner tonight to see Percy Jackson and the Olypians.



It has been a month to the day since I have blogged. (Shame on me!) I have done precious little sewing but lots of Mom's Taxi Service and cooking. Both my teens have been very busy with performances (piano and theater) and my time has been so limited.



Since I have no sewing to share I thought I'd show you the little tree that stays up all year and is decorated according to the season. (I showed you the Autumn 'look' here:)

This is the little Valentine Faery tree topper that I purchased last month at Home Goods.

I made the doves for our first Christmas in this house 18 years ago. The butterfly faery ornament was just given to me by my heart sister, Jana. If you look closely you can see the little silver heart frame with the photo of our family when Rosebud was just 1 and I was pregnant with Logan. He was due on Valentines Day but was born almost three weeks early. The pink Ann Estelle valentine was made by Jana for me a few years ago. The cloisonne' heart in the background is one of two very similar ones that I received for Christmas in 1999. One from my mother and one from my Mickey (stepmother). I found it delightful and a little spooky that they both gave me the same gift without consulting each other!

This is another of Jana's valentines to me. Isn't she creative?

A companion boy faery purchased at Home Goods. I love his little smirky face! The crystal heart under his left hand was an ornament we bought to celebrate our first married Christmas in 1991.

Thank you for stopping by! I promise to do better with my blogging this month! Come again!

"Honey Bear" Sewing Progress

The hand embroidery is complete on this project! I so enjoyed every stitch I made! (Except maybe for all the tiny French knots needed for the honey dripping over the pot. There were so many!) You may click on the photos to enlarge them, if you wish. To the left in the above photo you see the sleeve cuffs. In the center is the embroidery for the bodice of the dress. To the right is the floral spray for the bonnet brim. Do you like it so far?

Sadly, I need to put this project aside for a little while to work on two of the others that I need to finish first. I do love hand work in the evening, though, and may have to begin one of the embroidered sections of another project just to have on hand when I am really too tired for the sewing room.