Bullion Roses

I'm finishing up the fine embroidery on the second Elegance Christening Gown. Bullions are not hard...it's the mechanics that throws people off switching back and forth between left and right hand. Personally I think they're beautiful and versatile. They give embroidery a two-dimensional look. I prefer to use floche, but other threads work. The right needle is extremely important: use a milliner that's appropriate for the chosen thread. Here I'm using a #9 milliner with one strand of cloche. It's a stitch that I practice first on a doodle cloth, as you can see here against the finished ones of the Over Dress. Bullion Roses can be a little tricky because of placement around a circle.

This rose has two center bullions at 6 wraps each, then 4 more at 11 wraps each curving around the two center ones. I love this ecru Floche against the Swiss scalloped edging and the ecru silk satin ribbon!

The last row is 8 bullions at 12 wraps each done in white floche. The white highlights the ecru billions so nicely. These roses are so elegant, understated and beautiful!

Carrot Time

I absolutely love what I do and am grateful everyday that I can stitch, sew, embroider and design when I want to...which usually is each day! But when I have a big project....that drags on and on...then I have to use other tactics to get myself to finish it: carrots. Dangling out there to bribe myself to get more work done on that BIG project, the Christening Gown.

 

Carrots are rewards. Kind of like treats are for my big Golden boy named Barley to get him to do something he really doesn't want to do. So what carrot am I using today? This gorgeous wool shawl project from a class at the Embroiderers Guild of America National Seminar last year. It's called "Flowers for a Fall Evening" designed and taught by Kris Andrews.  Here she is demonstrating on a student's green shawl.



I'm slowly improving on the Long and Short Stitch used in the flowers and leaves. I've finished the yellow Lily side...love it!

Now I'm working on the Red Poppy side and just completed the big poppy, beads and all.

I still have to finish the vines, leaves and poppy bud (not to mention lining the shawl and beading the ends). But a little a day in between working on the ivory and white version of the Elegance Christening Gown is all I need to make determined progress on both. Soon this carrot will turn into a big bunch of carrots, and a completed project in no time at all!

Hiding a Seam

I'm sewing up the Elegance Christening Ensemble in the ivory and white combination. The lovely (and long) ruffled Swiss edging seam on the Over Dress is always a fun one to do. It's "hidden" so the wrong side of the garment looks just as neat as the front side. There's the old adage that the inside of a garment should be as neat as the outside. It's important during the christening when holding the baby....the Over Dress will open up and the wrong side will be seen.

Here's how I do it:
First I sew the gathered ruffle to the Over Dress with wrong sides together, zigzag it, trim and press towards the Over Dress. Next I trim off the fabric from both sides of the Swiss beading up to the "railroad tracks". I lay the wrong side of the railroad tracks (it's actually a row of entredeux) right over the ruffle seam and stitch with a narrow zigzag. The zigzag is over the straight stitch on the wrong side. And one stitch goes in the entredeux hole and the other swing of the needle goes just into the fabric.

After pressing the beading down around the whole seam I run the silk ribbon through the beading with a bodkin.

Then it's on to the left side to zigzag it down, encasing the raw seam underneath. Here's the wrong side... pretty neat (pun intended!).

Here's another photo of a dress yoke from my Basic Yoke Baby Ensemble Pattern using the same technique at the yoke seam.

It's so easy and neat. I love this technique!

Elegance Christening ensemble #2

The Elegance Christening Ensemble comes in three color choices for the class and kits. I only have the pink and white one made up

so I have to make another one in the ivory and white combination. The other one is all white. It's a good time to go over the instructions, get more photos and generally tidy everything up in preparation of teaching the class at Sewing at the Beach 2018.

I've been busy ordering supplies.

Preparing and drafting the 6-9 month size in for printing the pattern.

And finally starting construction of the ivory and white christening gown.

There is so much to do preparing a class but it's all fun, creative and challenging. I love that!

Sewing at the Beach 2018

I'm done...submitted my classes a week ago for the next Sewing at the Beach in Myrtle Beach, SC, in January 2018! I'll be debuting two new classes. The Elegance Christening Ensemble, a three piece christening outfit with an Overdress, Underdress and matching Bonnet. Fine machine work and beautiful hand embroidery for this one!

And the Springtime Jewelry Bag Class with luscious colors in silk ribbon embroidery, beading and the Beaded Hedebo Edge Stitch. And don't forget the two-color cord and tassels.

There will be lots of teachers and wonderful classes to choose from. I would love to see you there in January 2018!

Introducing...The Elegance Christening Ensemble!

It's done! I'm so happy to get this finished. But first I have to tell you about the inspiration for this ensemble.

Last year at Sewing at the Beach an antique gown was raffled off as a fundraiser. It had scalloped, embroidered edging matched together down the dress front to the hem. When the gown was displayed the proverbial light bulb went off in my head about the matched edging, but I knew I wouldn't use it all the way down the front. So during 7 hour drive home I was figuring this design out in my head. Working the construction details....the gentle curve of the ruffle in front. The ribbon showing between the scallops. I couldn't wait to get home and start drawing out variations of sleeves, necklines...so many details, so little time!

I also wanted to use some of the new techniques I learned while taking those Whitework courses from the Royal School of Needlework: the little eyelets and the Shadowwork on the Under Dress! The embroidered beading with the ribbon covers up the ruffled seam so delicately. Even the gathered sleeves have the beading and ribbon.

The neckline of the Under Dress has a touch of embroidery!

I love this ensemble...it's perfect for a Christening or Dedication.

I will offer the Elegance Christening Ensemble in pink and white (shown), in all white, and in ivory and white, as a kit and as a class/workshop. It's not posted on my website just yet. There are a few more details to work out but I just couldn't wait to share this with you!

Bonnet Relations

I've been writing about relating elements while designing and stitching my Elegance Christening Ensemble. The dictionary says an "ensemble" is a group of items viewed as a whole, a set of clothes chosen to harmonize when worn together. The bonnet has to harmonize with this christening gown....who doesn't love a beautiful bonnet on a baby, especially at a christening or dedication?

Anytime I make up a baby "ensemble" I include a bonnet. The bonnet design has to relate to the gown: the matched and embroidered Swiss edging is perfect because that's a 'front and center' motif.

The pattern is from one of my own (the Basic Yoke Baby Ensemble) but I won't use the the brim. Instead entredeux and gathered lace will go around the sides and front. The Swiss edging motif will go across the bonnet from ear to ear. The little circle in the back....hmm.....maybe a little embroidery?

The bonnet back circle needs some embroidery so the circle of eyelet flowers, vine and leaves is perfect for the circle center.  Some featherstitch will work with bullion rosebuds, too, since they're on the Under Dress. See how it looks before it's sewn into the bonnet?
The bonnet lining will be the same gorgeous pink batiste of the Under Dress. And of course, beautiful pink silk ribbons for the ties....I think it will look perfect with the gown.

Here's the bonnet back of the completed bonnet. It looks pretty over the pink lining.

And the finished bonnet on one of my bonnet stands with a view of one of our gardens with a pink hydrangea in the background. This will look so elegant on a little baby girl!

Relating Elements Two

I'm working on the embroidery for the Elegance Christening Ensemble between other commitments and making lots of jam (oh my goodness, the berries are ripening faster than I can make the jam!). I wrote earlier about relating design elements throughout a project. I decided to use the little embroidered flower circle of the Swiss edging in my embroidery design. It's simple, elegant and easily stitched.

There will be three of them in the embroidery design at the bottom of the Under Dress. The circle works up easily in tiny eyelets surrounded by granitos (one of my favorite stitches!) because I enlarged it. With a vine of either Outline or Stem stitch, a few lazy daisy leaves and it will look perfect. The little design is only 3/4" wide from leaf to leaf. The eyelets are smaller than 1/8". I like detail work......

Here's one of eyelets being worked with granitos in white floche (a perfect thread for granitos) on the pale pink batiste. Next comes the vine and lazy daisy stitches.

And here's the completed motif. It looks very similar to the motif on the Swiss edging.

I think this will be especially nice on the Under Dress. I can't wait to have the entire gown finished and see the embroidery peaking out from under the Over Dress ruffle! Stitching in the air conditioning is a great way to pass the time on a very hot, humid day.

Doodle Cloths

Ah...the Doodle Cloth: the stitcher's helper, practice piece, sample record...whatever you call it, it's the necessary piece of fabric that I use to work out stitches, colors, practice stitch rhythm, and generally get my courage up to stitch on The Project.

Right now I'm working on a christening gown ensemble, the one I'm designing and stitching up slowly to enjoy the process. I've worked out and drawn up the actual embroidery design that will relate to the elements of the overall gown. Decisions on the stitches to use come next depending upon the design. Bullion Rose, Bullion Rose Buds, tiny Eyelets with Granitoes, Lazy Daisy leaves, Outline Stitch are some of the stitches I 'll use. But those Eyelets with Granitos and Bullion Roses need to be stitched on the Doodle Cloth so I can figure out the number of stitches, wraps, etc., to fit the design.

This Doodle Cloth is a piece of the same fabric of the soon-to-be embroidered Christening Gown Under Dress, a very pale pink Swiss batiste that is very sheer, gorgeous stuff. It will help me to decide on what types of threads to use for each motif or stitch, which are DMC Floche and DMC floss, one strand each. And the needles that will work best for each thread and stitch, although I'm pretty familiar with what to use. I like to write the number of wraps for Bullions on the doodle cloth and perhaps what thread for each motif.

I'll also mark an "X" for what not to do. In this case I marked an "X" for the little flower that I did in the circle, purposefully without using a hoop. I didn't like it.

The other two flowers done in a hoop look pretty good. This design is from the Swiss embroidered edging used on the Over Dress. The whole Doodle Cloth is great for working out stitch mechanics, thread positions and just plain warming up.

So, to summarize, Doodle Cloths are good for:
Working out stitch combinations
Practicing or warming up
Practicing a particular design
Figuring out which needles to use
Deciding what threads look best
Deciding on colors and color combinations....

And just plain warming up before tackling "The Big Project" like the Over Dress front of my Elegance Christening Ensemble.