The New Year 2023

It's been so long since my last posting...life ,a kitchen renovation and Covid, happens. Christmas brought the whole family to the house so getting back to normal has taken a while. January, a start to the New Year, means I bring out Unfinished Objects, i.e., projects, to complete. My file box of UFO's is much smaller after several years of working on them, thank goodness. 

I pulled the "Berry Chatelaine" by Jan Kerton of Australia, from the box. I don't remember when I took the class with Jan but it was maybe 18 years ago....'nuf said! This kit makes up into a thimble pip (the blackberry construction sequence seen here)

One covered with French knots, the other half covered with beads over the French knots...

Beaded berries cut out...  

One gathered, getting ready to stitch to the thimble pip design.

Both berries slip stitched to the motif.

The set also includes a scissor case (already completed in class), a pin wheel and a pincushion, all tied up in a Chatelaine. Stumpwork berries and raised embroidery techniques on a smallish scale. I like it, and who doesn't like berries?

The New Year also means I make up Wee Care gowns (a dozen for now) for our chapter of the Smocking Arts Guild of America (SAGA) since I'm our Wee Care Chairperson. I dug through my scraps of heirloom batiste and found enough to make the gowns to be handed out at the January meeting. All each member has to do is smock and insert a small ribbon in the neckline casing. I kept three for myself to smock.

January brought another deadline for submission for Classic Sewing Magazine. A smocked dress for the summer 2023 issue was in order. I can't share a picture of it for obvious reasons but it has something to do with ice cream since July is National Ice Cream month. But here's a photo of my doodle cloth where I was working out some of the design features. It doesn't look like much here but the finished design, and dress, looks so cute!!

The last project I'm working on - and it has absolutely nothing to do with stitching - are gift tags. Yup...gift tags. I've had the idea to make gift tags out of old Christmas cards we've received the last 8 years and decided this was the year. All I had to purchase was a pack of various colors of cardstock from a craft store. I had everything else, and you know what? It's fun to make a few gifts tags every now and then. It makes me feel good about recycling the cards into something very useful. 

Relaxing, creative and fun! Isn't that what crafts, stitchery and sewing are all about?

2022 Sewing & Stitching so far....

 It's now March 2022 and haven't written anything here on the blog....but I HAVE been sewing, stitching, and, designing another quilt. Seems like I get into a mood to make a quilt in January. So here's a run down of the projects I've completed (or almost completed) since the beginning of the year.

"Le Jardin" needle book, a kit and class I took from Wendy Schoen, in 2005. It features goldwork and fine embroidery on silk. It's lovely and another Unfinished Object out of the box!!

A large crochet edge baby blanket made from cute pastel dotted flannel, prepared by machine first with a hemstitch, then crocheted in a shell stitch, was another completed project.

I fell for some flannel at a Joann's for Wee Care preemie blankets, then some Aunt Lydia's #10 yellow cotton crochet from Michael's. One and an eighth yard gave me four squares, prepared again by machine hemstitch for crochet. I'm doing the shell stitch on them....really the only crochet edging I can do. But who cares? It makes a nice edging and a pretty little blanket. Love that I can pick it up and stitch on it anywhere, anytime.

Next up, two Angel Wing Wee Care gowns made from leftover fabric from a long finished UFO... now ready for smocking with some of my Valdani variegated #12 pearl cotton, along with a finished Grady style one.. I like to stitch up the whole gown, with lace trim and pleat it so only the smocking is left to do.

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Another project from my Royal School of Needlework classes a few years ago in Williamsburg, VA, taught by the renowned Jenny Adin-Christie, is a heart sachet. I've been very slowly working on it (as you can see in the photo below). It's very involved and tedious with eyelets, needlelace, entredeux, satin stitches, etc., but I do enjoy whitework!

Eva, my 1947 Featherweight, needed a quilted carrying tote to protect her hard case. I had everything in my stash, except for the straps. I stitched the tote case (and machine quilted it), a sleeve for the folding bed (protects the bed from the screw on the machine face), a velcro cord wrap from scraps and the sewing machine mat from my pattern but with square corners. Whew!! I love the coordinating fabric from Joann's printed with fashionable ladies of the era (about Eva's timeframe). All I left to make is a matching spool pin cover....yeah, I know, it's overkill.

Now the quilt. I have a book, purchased from a thrift store, that is all about scrap quilts ("Quilting with Bits and Pieces". I chose a nine-patch one and cut out a bunch of 2.5" squares, a few each day, from my stash. I changed the design to have a pieced border from all the colors. Each nine-patch block is a different fabric from the stash, as you can see with it hanging over the hand rail. 

The entire quilt top was stitched on Eva: I love it!!  The quilt  is now out for long arm quilting. I can't wait to see it when it's completed and bound. So that's it for now....a little stitching or sewing everyday (even as little as 20 minutes) can accomplish a lot of completed fun projects!

P.S.: I couldn't resist making the spool pin doily. It's another pattern from the Featherweight Shop: so cute!

Long Island Traveling & Wee Care Gowns

Before we set off on another trip (this one to Long Island to spend with our daughter, son-in-law and his family during Christmas) I whipped up two Wee Care gowns and one bonnet to smock on the flights. I can accomplish so much when zipping through the air, or sitting around waiting for the next flight. Here they are:

We had a wonderful time in Long Island visiting with our son-in-law's family. We toured two wineries on the north end of the island. Beautiful agricultural area and pretty houses. Then we toured the William Vanderbilt's Eagles Nest Mansion and Museum in Centerport, Long Island.

It was beautiful and very interesting. William basically traveled the world collecting all sorts of specimens. They are housed in several areas and buildings of the museum. My husband is reading information about William's famous ship 'The Alma' and admiring the model of it in one of those rooms.

The outside courtyard gate is reminiscent of a Spanish or Italian villa.

And the gate where you enter is also unique. You can see the Long Island Sound on the left: there are beautiful water views from several of the rooms in the house. 

It was a wonderful trip seeing Tim's family again, and seeing interesting sites and towns of Long Island!

Leftovers

No, I'm not talking Thanksgiving turkey...I'm talking leftover fabric pieces, i.e., scraps. What to do with them? Besides making doll clothes or quilts I make Wee Care items. Those are gowns, bonnets, hats, blankets (and other items) for hospital NICU's (neonatal intensive care units) for the little preemie babies, which is a service program of the Smocking Arts Guild of America. The local chapters make these wonderful items and donate them to their hospital(s). You can read about it here.  There are patterns for download, too. So, long story short: I had scraps left over from the Elegance Christening Gown Ensemble that were perfect for the Angel Sleeve Gown and Bonnet. I made three sets up before our trip to Dallas over Thanksgiving so I could smock them on the flights. The Angel Sleeve Gown is completely open on the sides to make room for various tubes that are connected to preemies as you can see below.

Here are the finished gowns and bonnets ready to be turned into our Wee Care Chairperson. They're smocked with #8 Perle Cotton..fast and easy!

Another fun project were little flannel blankets with simple crocheted edges, suitable for boy or girl. Your local big box fabric store has a selection of cute 'baby print' flannels for blankets and other projects.

I've got another trip over Christmas heading to Long Island, NY, so I'll make up some more Wee Care gowns and bonnets to work on in the airports and on the flights. It's s great way to make something beautiful and needed in my spare time.

Valdani Pearl Cotton

I saw a friend smocking a Wee Care gown (a program of the Smocking Arts Guild of America) with perle cotton at a sewing retreat last February. I thought that was interesting instead of using 3 strands of cotton embroidery floss: perle cotton was faster and looked great. Now it's not a substitute for the floss as it doesn't lay flat (like you need for picture smocking). I had purchased a ball of really pretty pastel Valdani variegated #12 perle cotton (M20) on my trip to Keepsake Quilting a year ago....so I took it out and started smocking on a Wee Care gown,
I really liked it! It was fast. I showed the results to my SAGA Guild members and they loved the thread... and asked to buy some. So I tracked the Valdani pearl cotton down to a distributor in Canada. I learned that Valdani is made in Romania. It is colorfast. Valdani also manufactures floss, silk, pearl cottons of various sizes....but I'm only interested in #12 for now. The #12 perle cotton balls are solid (no plastic core in the center) and have 100 meters on them (that's 109+ yards). There are lots of solids and variegates, so I chose a few of the variegates to stock. Oh my!!! It was like Christmas when they arrived.

Here's a smocked sampling of the colors on Wee Care Bonnets.

And a closer look at each color: M20, a not-the-usual pastel mix: lime, yellow, blue and pink.

M24, light blues, teals and greens.

M38 consists of baby soft pastels: coral, green/turquoise and yellow. 

M49 is white, ivory and cream. This looks beautiful with ecru lace and ribbons.

And I added two more colors: M42 named "Summer Sky" because of the sky blues.

And O557 "Rose Suave", a very subtle baby pink variegate. I can see this on Wee Care gowns and smocked infant dresses.

They are available on my online store if you want to try something different and new with your smocking, or any other needlework that requires #12 perle cotton.

Volunteer Sewing

I don't know about you but I do some volunteer sewing. Volunteer sewing to me can be several things: helping a neighbor or friend learn something new about sewing or embroidery, making a garment to give away or doing alterations for free. Volunteer sewing can mean many things. Since I'm a member of the Smocking Arts Guild of America (SAGA) I make Wee Care  items that our Guild donates to local hospitals. Smocked or embroidered Wee Care gowns and bonnets are sometimes the only things that a couple takes away from the hospital...a remembrance of the life they hoped to bring home. As SAGA members we also make blankets, remembrance envelopes and booties. Since SAGA is a non-profit organization, members freely donate their time and talents to make Wee Care items and keep their sewing and stitching skills sharp and optimal.

I've also donated time to help alter costumes for our local, and very successful, Smithfield Little Theater productions. I don't do it very often because of my busy schedule, but I enjoy it when I can help out.

My latest endeavor is making  historically correct men's colonial clothing for our local 1750 Isle of Wight Courthouse in Smithfield, VA. Among other fundraising venues, we always put on a play highlighting a case from the actual surviving Isle of Wight legal records of the 18th century. Yes, we still have those big leather bound books with the incredible cursive writing that can be viewed at the new Isle of Wight Courthouse buildings, and they are amazing to see in person. Our plays always feature the 12 Justices (elected or appointed important citizens of the day) sitting on their row of seats in the Courthouse presiding over a court case. But not all of the volunteer actors have the appropriate costumes... the Colonial Coats and Waistcoats, breeches, linen shirts and stocks, and wigs. That's where I come in.

The local Board of the Courthouse, of which I am a member, helps dress our volunteer actors, and most of us also have our own Colonial clothes so we can fill out the Courtroom and also dress appropriately for other fundraising occasions. Here I am serving punch at one of our Christmas meeting and reception for our members.

But historically correct Colonial costuming is VERY expensive....unless you can make your own, or make it for someone else for free or a nominal fee. The Courthouse has been able to build up a small collection of men's and women's Colonial clothing but occasionally we get a volunteer we can't supply clothing to. That's where I come in.

This week I am making a Colonial Frock Coat and Waistcoat for a gentleman. I already have the historically correct patterns (I'd made another set two years ago). This person is larger from what I have done before so I had to trace off the pattern pieces from the master pattern onto tissue paper. It took two hours to do it all because the pattern pieces are large and don't fit on regular tissue paper (lots of scotch tape used). The pattern pieces also did not have some of the grain lines on them so I had to figure those out, too.

I've done enough Colonial clothing to know what fabrics could work. I was able to purchase some really nice camel colored wool for the two items, and then I bought pre-shrunk basic cotton muslin for the lining for both the coat and the waistcoat. This outfit is for a person of modest wealth and for everyday use. The Colonial clothing patterns are VERY different from what we sew today so it takes some getting used to to figure out the directions, especially for this particular pattern (which is very short of instructions and has no pattern/fabric layouts). I had "leftover" pewter buttons (from previous Colonial construction projects) in both sizes needed for each item....back then men showed off their wealth by the number and type of buttons on their clothing. The coat takes 24 buttons, the waistcoat 16! Many times the buttons didn't even actually button into a buttonhole....they were there just for looks and to impress others.

So here is the final product for our Courthouse Play production this year.


The waistcoat (basically a man's vest) is worn buttoned up over the shirt. The buttons below the pockets flaps are purely for decoration.





Here is the frock coat. It doesn't look like much on the hanger, but this is an extra large and the hanger isn't really big enough. The buttons down the front are again purely for show, as are the "buttonholes" on the other front side. There are no pockets under those pocket flaps, either. The back has one split in the center, and a  double box pleat on each side, also decorated with buttons. This gentleman will wear a wig, typical of the era, that we maintain at the Courthouse, along with a white linen shirt and stock. (Linen was much cheaper than cotton back them.) And he'll have black shoes with buckles on them. A regular Justice of the Courthouse and 1750 community back then. So that's my "volunteer sewing" for this month.
What's yours?