Charm's First Nightie Part 2

This is the little nightgown I made for my dear friend Lauri's new baby girl. It is not as elaborate or fancy as I like to do but I think it has a sweetness about it, a 'charm' all its own. The baby's name is still a secret and I have been calling her by her nickname for months: Charm. It is just perfect for the third girl in a family! Her sisters, Ashlyn and Cassidy, have nicknames, too. They are Chief and Champ and their names suit them, too.

I love babies in white clothing but Lauri had asked for 'no white, no ironing, and no lace'. Well, there is the tiniest bit of French cotton lace on the sleeves but it is so small that I don't think it counts as lace! Blue Imperial batiste was chosen for its easy care and softness. I used Grace Knott's nightie pattern and lengthened it just a bit before adding the casing at the bottom for the blue silk ribbon to travel through to close the gown at the toes.

The smocking design is one by Peanutbutter and Jelly Kids. I restrained myself and only embroidered three roses. I do so love to embroider roses! (My favorite flower!)

Tiny French lace at the wrists of the smocked sleeves.

Tiny antique mother of pearl buttons to close the back.

The gown with the ribbon untied.

Lauri did love the gown when she first saw it at the shower the first Friday in May. I hope it is used to bring Charm home from the hospital. (I hope her eyes are blue like her mommy's, too!) Just a couple more weeks and she will be with us! More 'charming' clothes to share soon!

Piano Recital Dress for Kaitlyn

Kaitlyn's Recital Dress

What fun I had making this dress! Kaitlyn's mommy came to me early this year with several pieces of musical note fabric that she had purchased and a request for me to make a recital dress in the spring. Kaitlyn is in the first grade and would be in two recitals (at two different places). She started playing the piano a little more than a year ago and is in my Piano Club at school.

I knew immediately that I would only use two of the fabrics that she gave me and that I would add solid black as an accent. Kaitlyn's mommy wanted a full skirt for twirling and a big sash. As she talked I started sketching and the finished dress is almost exactly like the sketch. There was a beautiful piece of Venice lace in the bag with the fabrics that her mommy hoped that I would use. I added it to the first pair of sleeves and just felt that it was too much so I made a second set of sleeves and finished them with a bias binding.

The black border hem, sash, piping and the bias binding is a beautiful piece of cotton satin batiste from Farmhouse Fabrics. It is a lighter weight than the quilting cottons used in the dress so I doubled it everywhere. I purchased 1 1/2 yards and used every scrap! By the way, I wash and dry all cotton and silk fabrics that I use before cutting so that there will be no surprise shrinking when the garment is laundered.

The pattern I chose for the dress is Kari Mecca's Sweetheart dress. I love this pattern. The neckline is so lovely. The dress was finished with a purchased red satin bow that is attached with a jewelry pin back.

There will be pictures of Kaitlyn wearing the dress to share soon! As always, the photos are clickable to enlarge if you wish to see more detail. I really liked the way this came out and hope you do, too!

Mothers' Day 2010

I have been so neglectful of this blog! I feel guilty and I hate that. (Wish we could just banish the 'G' word!!!) Mothers' Day was delightful with my mother and my sister and her family here for dinner. What a blessing! My mother had a procedure performed on her leg to get better blood flow to her foot at the end of April that didn't work that led to bypass surgery that did. She did so well in the hospital this time! What a relief! What a blessing to share another Mothers' Day with her!

Aren't my children beautiful? I can't believe that they aren't babies anymore. Victoria-Rose is 16 and Logan is 15. I stand at 5' 7" and I am wearing 2 inch heels in the above picture and my son towers over me! How did this happen?! He was such a tiny thing when he was born, wearing preemie clothing for more than 2 months! I am blessed beyond measure with these two. God is so good to me!

More things to share. I have been sewing, etc.

Have a wonderful day!

More for the Portrait Gallery

I am adding a few more pictures to the Portrait Gallery (see side bar of my blog). The picture above is of darling Natalie and her grandmother's dog. The dress is one of my favorites and is smocked with a Pat Garretson design. Her beautiful smocking designs can be found at http://patgarretsonheirlooms.com/index.html.
Here Natalie is wearing an adorable bonnet with a scalloped brim and a lace trimmed frill framing her beautiful little face.

This is the lovely Catherine in an eyelet dress nearly identical to Natalie's with the same smocking design stitched in shades of pink. I really think these eyelet dresses make lovely special portrait clothing. They are classically pretty and so very feminine.

If you have the time, check out the other sweeties in special outfits made by me.

Emma Models!

I love this shot! Emma had so many 'poses'. So cute!
Emma looks so much like her mommy in this picture! I remember her in elementary school!

The dress fit her perfectly and she loved it.

Cassidy's Bunny Dress

This is one of my all time favorite creations. I made it three years ago for my godchild Cassidy's third birthday. My inspiration was the "Teddy Bear's Picnic" dress in AS&E # 75. She adores that stuffed gray bunny and has since very shortly after her birth. 'Bunny' appears in many pictures of Cassidy over the years. He really bears no resemblance to the bunny he once was but like the Velveteen Rabbit, he has become 'real'. He is so precious that he no longer leaves the house for fear that he might get lost.

I used another pattern in the same AS&E issue to make the size 3 dress and based the flowers and bees on the ones in the floral cotton print. As I had hoped, the dress was beloved and will be a keepsake to be saved along with 'Bunny'. I hope that I will be able to create a similar dress with an embroidered 'lovey' for her baby sister (due in May) someday!

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.