The Wedding

Last year, a young couple that I know got engaged and the bride asked if I would make her wedding gown. With a fledging budget, she had seen some dresses that she liked but it wasn't in her budget. I told her that the dress would be her wedding gift from me. She bought white satin, silver organza overlay, and picked out a pattern that was close to her size similar to what she wanted. In May, I took her measurements and started a muslin ... it was too small ... increased it in a new muslin and then it was too big ... did another muslin that fit in most places but needed some adjustments ... so a new muslin and it was too big once again. I just couldn't seem to get the bust right on the bodice. Then the bride changed her mind on how she wanted to look. Finally got the fit right and the bride loved the gown. It was fully lined with the silver organza overlay. I combined Simplicity #2442 with Simplicity #1909 as the bride wanted a train. All in all, 3 weeks of sewing, measuring, fitting and wrestling with 6-1/2 ft long seams for the skirt of the dress (there were 7 of them), the dress was done. It fit perfectly and the bride was thrilled. It was beautiful wedding.

 

 

 

Congratulations to Mr and Mrs Abston!!!

 

A New Machine

While sewing on the wedding dress, both of my sergers went on strike. Hubby took them in for repairs and came home with the new Babylock Ovation serger for me. He traded my Pfaff 4874 and all of the presser feet that went with it for the Ovation. I am beyond thrilled. I am so excited and it is so easy to use. Guess that takes care of his shopping for me for my birthday and Christmas this year.

Happy Sewing!!!

Heirloom Sewing and More ...

Around the first of the year, I wanted to make a little boy's baptismal outfit for a friend. I am new to Heirloom sewing but I wanted it to be extra special. I bought Creations by Michie' pattern #107, Banded Boy Bubble. The fabric that I used was a light blue cotton sateen. I went to the Lace Cottage and bought several yards of a tiny ecru edging lace and several yards of an insertion lace. I made view C from the pattern and learned a lot as I progressed with this project. I made a 6 month size. I learned how to apply edging lace to pintucks, made a faux waistband and suspenders adding the insertion lace down the center of the suspenders. I made the bottom of the bubble and learned how to add elastic around the leg/crotch area plus used snap tape. I referred often to my sewing books for help in making this bubble. Everything was done except the buttonholes when I didn't set the machine properly and ended up messing up the top buttonhole. As I took out the stitches, I made a mess of the fabric. Instead of starting over, I carefully unpicked the back and cut away the damaged fabric. Then I created a placket and did the buttonholes over again correctly. I added the placket to the back of the pants and embroidered his name onto it. I was very concerned that it might not fit the baby. However, it fit perfectly. His baptism was on July 20th and his mom was thrilled. Now I'm making a wedding dress for a friend. I'm trying not to go crazy over this ...
Happy Sewing!!!

Sewing thru Summer

Over the past few months, I have been teaching and sewing a lot ... just not for myself. Our ASG chapter sews training dolls for St Jude Children's Hospital. I just finished up 12 dolls and turned them in. Our chapter's goal is to sew 50 dolls each quarter. It is very simple sewing. Here's a pic of what the dolls look like when done.

 

Also, I am making a little girl's baptismal dress and a little boy's baptismal bubble. The patterns are from Creations by Michie' "Infant Tucked Gown #108" and "Banded Boy Baby Bubble #107". The instructions are for a more advanced sewist but the outfits are very cute. Pictures will follow when I finish the details. My big project this summer is sewing a wedding gown for a friend at church. We will have a fitting of the muslin this evening and the completed gown will be made up by this coming weekend. She will send the gown out to be beaded at that time. The wedding is Aug 23rd. I am keeping very busy with sewing like a madwoman. Once these big projects are finished, I'm taking some time to sew Great Copy's Sedona Skirt for me and will be purging my sewing supplies, fabrics and notions. It will be a long process as I have 40+ years of accumulation of which a lot of it has been over the past 14 years. I realize that as hubby and I grow older, we need to downsize and not leave a huge mess for our daughter to handle.

 

Our daughter, Sarah, is in grad school at Wesley Theological Seminary. She is starting her 2nd year of working on a Master's of Divinity degree and is on track to become an ordained Deacon in the Methodist church. Her focus is on children and youth ministry. We are so proud of her and the young woman that she has become.

 

 

 

Happy Sewing Everyone!!!

My Sewing Corners

These are pictures of my living room and my sewing stations. The top picture is my Horn cabinet with my Ellisimo and Pfaff 4874 serger. Under the living room window, in front of the china cabinet, is my new mahogany table with my Babylock Melody sewing machine. The next picture is a close up of the table with the drawer opened. The drawer holds my manual, bobbins, sewing accessories, scissors, and other little sewing tools. It makes it very convenient. There is a shelf under the table which is perfect for holding the quilt extension table to my Melody. It fits perfectly in the little corner of my living room. The last photo is a view of my living room from the doorway to the bedrooms by the side of my piano (not shown). Our home is small but I love that I have space to be creative. One of these days, I'll have a sewing studio but this has worked for the past 30+ years. Happy Sewing!!!

Christmas 2013 ... A Little Bit of Embroidery

Christmas sewing was done within 10 days and almost everyone had their gifts by Christmas Eve. Here are some of the projects that I did over Christmas.

 

 

 

 

 

 

These were so much fun to do and I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas. I do believe that my family loved their gifts and I now have over 4 million stitches on my machine. I do love sewing and embroidery.

Happy New Year!!!