Designing Dilemmas

Designing a new project is fun..starting from scratch, putting colors together, pulling out fabrics, threads, beads...whatever can be possibly used. It makes a mess of my sewing room but it sure is pleasurable to imagine all of the possibilities of a new garment, doll dress or any number of stitching projects. After I get over the euphoria of a new design idea I have to get down to the details and dilemmas: will it work, where can I put the needlework on it and will it fit, how does the entire design balance out...on and on. I sleep with this in my mind, I mull it over when I'm cooking and I run over the details while I'm watching sports with my husband. It takes over my mind for awhile until I think the idea can work. Then I put it to paper in my notebook of sketched ideas.

Case in point, the current design endeavor.....Here's a photo of the different design ideas I worked for the current project using View 3 of my Baby Yoke Baby Ensemble Pattern. Below is the line drawing of View 3 along with the matching bonnet.






It has a lovely little ruffle sleeve that just catches your heart on a wee one. The pattern shows a tiny printed fabric appropriate for a baby, but I wanted to use a tiny gingham and a new embroidery design along with other ideas that I'll share in another post.

 As much as I like mixing prints, stripes, etc., as is the current fashion for children (and my grand daughters love it, too!) I still believe that the child should wear the clothes, not the clothes wear the child! Especially babies....I want to see the sweet baby, not a riot of design and colors and THEN notice the baby. With that in mind, this new project has to enhance the child, not take away from her. In comes the embroidery design....

I reviewed my antique magazines, looked at embroidery books, checked over some of my previous projects and finally got down to pencil it out. I decided upon a sprig of three flowers (each one in a different color in this case) using stem or outline stitch, lazy daisy leaves, cast-on flowers with French knot centers. I traced the outline of the front yoke and seam allowances onto my chosen fabric (Swiss batiste) using the fineline blue washout marker. Then I positioned my design underneath (very easy to see through this fabric) and traced one side in fineline mechanical pencil and the other side in the blue washout marker. I wanted to see how each side worked up with the different tracing methods. The embroidery design was easy to do (once you know how to do the stitches) and fairly quick to work up. Here is what I came up with, easily stitched in one day and photographed as it is: unpressed, wrinkled and with a practice cast-on flower below the bodice pattern line.

What else I plan to do with this baby dress is still slightly up in the air. I've selected the fabrics (tiny pink and white gingham and white batiste) but the trims and where I will use them are still in the design stage. Stay tuned to see what's next!