Jeffrey Completion

 I haven't made a Children's Corner Jeffrey boys' button-on in a long time. It's amazing to me how quickly all the little ins-and-outs of the construction came right back to mind. Like the 90 degree turns in the stitching at the front and back of the outfit that require precise stitching and clipping. Memory cells are still working!😀

The smocking design is an old one: Teddy's Wagon Ride designed by Bonnie Lynn Suddath which is described as a beginning picture smocking design. I changed it and used 4 strands of floss for the wagons and Teddies, and enlarged the little guys. I also added bowties to each Teddy. 

Six buttonholes are required for this one. I don't mind doing them because my old 7570 Pfaff makes really good ones. Since this Imperial Batiste is rather thin I use a piece of plain tissue paper on the wrong side when stitching. It tears away easily when completed and gives a little extra support when stitching the buttonhole.

I do have a trick for opening them up easily: I 'sew" a pin on the inside of the bar tack at the end before I use the seam ripper to make the cut. The pin stops me from cutting thru the bar tack.

 

I've been using goodies from my stash whenever possible which gave me the chance to use this unusual striped piping for this project. The blue matches the fabric perfectly!

This button-on suit is for my great great nephew born a few weeks ago. A little white t-shirt will work for this since it's a 12-month size: he'll probably get to wear it this summer. It's so much fun to make something for a little one! 

Designing a Project

I get my inspiration from many different sources to start a new project: books, photos, fashion and antique magazines, antique garments. Sometimes just a technique will trigger an idea for a project. Once that idea starts to foment in my brain I turn it over and over working out some of the details. I will even go to sleep thinking about the details, color selections and embroidery ideas. It sure beats counting sheep! But since I'm a very visual person (like most stitchers) I have to draw and write it all out. That's when I really get down to the nitty gritty details. There's something about drawing out the design idea on paper that helps me work out construction details and proportions. I always use a 0.5mm mechanical pencil...the cheap ones from the big box office supply stores. With a good eraser...always need that when I change my mind about something!

I have a notebook that I draw the ideas in....several notebooks over the years. These are a record of the ideas, the year when I drew them, maybe a listing of the supplies and yardage used, and even the design elements that I go on to use in the actual project. Unfortunately one of my most precious notebooks was left on a plane last year....oops. I miss that one, but that loss forced me to start anew and fresh.
Here is a really good example of working out a design for my grand daughter's Easter dress that I wrote about earlier. I was using a Children's Corner pattern so my drawing shows a couple versions of design details that I wanted to "try out" on paper.

The dress on the left is closest to what I actually made minus the idea of piping at the high waist seam (the scratched out line). The fabric was a beautiful floral, hence the scribbles. The collar embroidery was close to what I actually did. The right drawing shows an idea of using a pleated ribbon trim on the white pique collar. Glad I didn't do that one because it would have detracted from the wearer! But you can see how visually I worked out the details close enough to start construction instead of winging it as I sewed. Below is the collar embroidery design I decided upon which I actually used for the template.

I traced the collar piece front onto the notebook paper and figured out the placement allowing for the collar roll at the neckline.


Here's another more recent example:  my Infinity Christening gown. You can tell from the drawing I was trying to decide the order of the pin tucks, lace insertion and the serpentine design on the hem. I ended up with a different order but I had sketched enough to really get a good idea of the proportions. Look at the bodice on the actual dress below...it doesn't look anything like what I drew out, but that's the beauty of sketching it first. I could "see" it and decide I needed to change the design. 

Compare the drawing to the actual gown. Even the sleeves are different. I penciled in the serpentine design around the sleeve but decided one Infinity symbol was best on the sleeves to "match" the ones I decided to put onto the bodice. Drawing the ideas out helps the actual construction process by speeding it up (no spur of the moment decisions) and simplifies the entire process.

Try this technique on your next design project and see if it helps you. The drawing doesn't have to be fancy or perfect. I think you will find this organizes your thoughts and supplies before cutting into those precious, expensive materials!

A Little Boy's Easter Outfit

Another challenge for long distance fitting is little boy outfits. I also smocked and stitched an outfit for our grandson for Easter. So when I requested measurements for the granddaughters I also asked for his. I knew I was short of time so I surmised an uncomplicated outfit for him would be best. Something that buttoned at the shoulder, like an overall, that he could wear with or without a shirt or t-shirt. And he's old enough not to need a snap crotch style. So the most important measurement for him was from the center of his shoulder, down and through the crotch and back up to meet the tape measure at the same shoulder. Basically one big elongated circle measurement. I certainly didn't want to put all the work into the outfit and not have enough length for him to wear it for awhile! The rest of the measurements were easy since he's lean, and not too tall just yet. I used another Children's Corner pattern which is out of print now ("Jeffery") which buttons at the shoulders and has a smocked insert across the front. The old pattern comes with two tabs that can be sewn onto the sides to pull the waist area in a little, but I didn't put those on. The shirt (not included in the pattern) was a basic boys shirt with a round piped collar and piped short sleeves that buttons down the back: dressy enough for special occasions.

I had a wonderful small plaid cotton/poly blend fabric in black, royal blue and kelly green that was perfect for the outfit, and I used a white cotton/poly for the shirt. The shirt pattern is from the out-of-print book Heirloom Sewing for Jack and Jill by Martha Pullen. I made piping out of the plaid for the shirt, and also used some of it on the suit. When choosing a smocking design I kept in mind that he loves cars and trucks right now, so of course, the design had to have cars on it.  I found the perfect design in a Sew Beautiful Magazine (Issue 131, 2010) by Michie Mooney called "Traffic Jam". It featured all red cars on denim blue so I changed the colors to work with my chosen fabric. Our grandson is learning his colors so I decided to use primary colors for the cars: red, blue, green, yellow and gray so he can point them out on his outfit. Here is the result, and he looks mighty happy:

Love those cowboy boots!!!

And here's a photo of all the grand children in their Easter outfits:

Three happy children in clothing that they can wear for a while because of good long distance measuring, fine fabrics and trims and a lot of love!

Long Distance Fitting Challenges

I enjoy making clothes for my grandchildren, especially for special occasions. They really enjoy and appreciate them, which of course, makes me smile. And their parents very much appreciate the effort and time it takes to make these outfits. But they live several states away and it's not always easy to figure out what size pattern to choose and if alterations are in order. And don't forget how fast they grow. That adds a whole new dimension to the process! How do I do it from such a distance?

First I decide what I want to make for them. For the girls it's usually dresses, although I have made all sorts of garments for them. I look for a pattern that suits their ages. They both think they are growing up now so the classic Smocked Bishop is no longer an option. So I have to find something that's a little grown up and yet appropriate for their age, and something that has some "grow room" in it. I also have to allow for the fact that since I'm so far away I will have to choose a pattern that's not too form fitting. The one I chose for them for this Easter (Children's Corner "Emily") has a sash tie at the back so they can "take it in" to adjust the width. Of course, the pattern will dictate the style and type of fabric, too. My next step was to email my daughter-in-law and ask her to take specific measurements: chest, waist and hip circumference. Also length from the back of the neck to where she wanted the hem to end, and upper arm circumference. Two other important measurements are the neck circumference and the length from the neck to the shoulder point for a set-in sleeve.

The next step, after receiving the measurements via email, was to compare these with the actual pattern measurements. Both of the girls are tall and thin for their ages. The older one is wearing some size 10 commercial garments but I used a size 8 pattern and lengthened the bodice and then added more length to the skirt of the dress. See the photograph below and notice the piece of tissue paper inserted into the front and back bodice patterns? I added the additional length between the armscye and the bodice bottom at the same place on both pattern pieces...not at the bottom of the pattern piece. The reason is it would change the shape and width of the bottom if I just tacked on length.

You will also see that I altered the neckline to make it higher in order to accommodate the smocked collar since this pattern has a slightly lowered neckline (see my post "An Easter Dress").

This photo is the bodice front with the two necklines: the higher one above that I drew on using another Children's Corner pattern and the lower one which is the Emily pattern neckline.

This is the bodice back neckline showing both of the necklines, the altered higher one is at the top.

Another Easter Dress

I love simple, elegant clothes for children.  Sure, it's fun to sew and stitch an outfit out of a few coordinated bright, printed fabrics in the colors children like. But there's something to be said for simple elegance: it lets the child shine through the outfit, not the outfit wearing the child. Case in point: the Easter dress here that I made for my youngest grand daughter. It's made out of a wonderful cotton lawn English Import Print floral called "Laura" in pink, from Farmhouse Fabrics. It is 60" wide, so you get a lot of beautiful fabric for the money. I used the "Emily" pattern from Children's Corner patterns, just like I used for the other Easter dress, but the neckline hasn't been altered. The dress has simple ties at the back for fit and ease of wear.

 What makes this dress simple, yet elegant, is the white collar out of birds eye pique with whipped piping and the addition of bullion roses in the exact colors of the printed fabric. Just a touch of embroidery near the face adds so much without overpowering the dress or the child wearing it.  The sleeves are also finished with the whipped piping.

An Easter Dress

I love to make clothing for my grandchildren for special occasions, especially with smocking somewhere on the garment. I was recently asked to make a garment for Bear Threads Ltd. for their monthly newsletter (March 2015 to be exact) that goes out to their retail customers. Bear Threads is a wholesale provider of exquisite fabrics, laces, Swiss trims, mother of pearl buttons, etc. It was a good way to get me started on the Easter parade of grandchildren clothing...nothing like a deadline to get me motivated. 

I decided to make a dress for my oldest grand daughter who is tall and thin for her age. I selected a beautiful pink cotton Pique Jacquard Floral (made in Switzerland). I also used Bearissima II Swiss Batiste (also all cotton) for the smocked collar, and some gorgeous French Valencienne Lace to add to it.

I had her measurements and double checked the Children's Corner "Emily" pattern measurements: I could use the size 8 pattern and just lengthen it a little. I added one inch to the yoke bodice, and one inch to the dress skirt. Easy enough. But I was adding a regular collar to the dress which was made for a lowered neckline. A slight adjustment was needed to make the smocked collar work. So I took the Children's Corner "Lee pattern" regular neckline and laid it under my "Emily" neckline (after adding a bit of tissue paper to the "Emily"). I drew the "Lee" neckline onto the tissue paper after aligning the shoulder seams and center fronts.  Easy as pie...or should I say as easy as jelly beans. So the smocked collar, made for a regular neckline, would fit the now-altered dress neckline perfectly!

Beautiful white piping sets off the collar on the finished dress, a detail that I decided to add to make sure the collar laid down well on the garment.  It ties in with the white piping on the bottom of the cap sleeves. The ties in back, which you can't see in the photo, add extra fit to the dress.

The smocking design is my original that I developed for my daughter, now in her mid-thirties. But the design is another story...and another post that will include the smocking plate and instructions for you to enjoy!