Saturday, December 05, 2009

Reader's Embroidery: Beautiful Christening Gown Set!

Carol DuVall recently finished a gorgeous heirloom Christening set for a best friend's daughter's new baby! The dress, slip, bonnet, storage bag, and hanger testify not only to Carol's attention to detail, but more importantly, to the love that went into making making this fabulous treasure!

We'll begin with a full-length view of the gown. Made from Bear Threads Swill batiste, the dress is adorned with French and French Maline laces. The embroidery is mostly worked in Splendor silk, and is accented with pearls and Swarovski crystals.

Hand Embroidered Christening Gown


Carol used a lace-to-lace technique to create the bodice, and she inserted lace into the body of the gown, marking off areas of pin tucking.

Hand Embroidered Christening Gown


The bodice is beautifully smocked! The bullion roses are stunning, and the pearls and crystals add an elegant touch.

Hand Embroidered Christening Gown


The slip bodice is made out of a sheer cotton organza. Notice the feather stitching and the bullion roses! Beautiful details!

Hand Embroidered Christening Gown


Speaking of details, on the slip, Carol embroidered the name and birthdate of the baby, along with the names of the parents, in a heart-shaped wreath of flowers. The photo is somewhat difficult to see - it's never easy to photograph whitework - but you can see enough to understand the detail and care that went into this (and it's the slip!)

Hand Embroidered Christening Gown


The bonnet is ... wow! Unbelievable! I love the smocked netting and the pearls and crystals, but it's that wreath of bullion roses at the back of the bonnet that I find most enchanting.

Hand Embroidered Christening Gown


First of all, the bullions are fantastic - I love how the roses nestle up to each other. And the little pearls sprinkled here and there among the roses are a perfect touch.

Hand Embroidered Christening Gown


To finish off the set, Carol made a matching padded hanger for it, with a pretty ribbon-wrapped hook, and a storage bag. On the outside of the storage bag, she fitted a pocket made of silk organza on which she printed a photo of little Kate and all the little details of her birth. Ingenious!

Do you agree with me that this is absolutely stunning? What a work of art, and what a work of love!

Thanks, Carol, for letting me share your masterpiece with readers here on Needle 'n Thread! It's exquisite! I hope everyone else finds it as inspiring as I do!

If you're interested in sharing your needlework with readers on Needle 'n Thread, feel free to drop me a line, and I'll send you an e-mail address. It's always nice to see what other stitching folk out there are up to - and a great way to get the creative juices flowing for the rest of us!

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Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Great Tutorial for Smockers!

Just a quick note to let you know about this terrific tutorial for honeycomb smocking on Tumbling Blocks. It's an excellent picture tutorial for a really neat smocking technique. It makes it look really easy and fun! I hope you enjoy it!

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Wednesday, May 09, 2007

Free Smocking Pattern

Smocking patterns (called smocking plates) are not too abundant on the internet for free. Most smocking plates must be purchased from a designer or a company, unless you subscribe to magazines such as Australian Smocking and Embroidery, published by Country Bumpkin. I have managed to find one beautiful free smocking pattern online, so I thought I would share it with readers.

You might wonder why, all of a sudden, I'm on a smocking kick, since I already wrote once about smocking this week. This summer, I plan to smock some baby bonnets, either to use as gifts or to sell. Truthfully, I don't think I'll be able to sell them at a price suitable to pay for my time, but I think it's fun, now and then, to "test the market" on certain hand-made goods. We have several fine gift stores in town which take quality goods on consignment, so I might give that a whirl. We'll see!

So that's the interest in smocking, besides the fact that I just like the look of beautifully smocked baby goods! So don't be surprised if I do mention smocking off and on in the next few months. It's not my "strong point" (I've only smocked one other item in my life), but I'm eager to experiment with the technique!

Back to the pattern - I found this on the Country Bumpkin website, and it's really lovely. It's called Symphony of Roses, and it requires Adobe in order to view it. You may have to register (for free) at Country Bumpkin, but I think it's worth it - they have some nice stuff on there!

The most difficult stitch on the design is the bullion. If you haven't learned to create bullion knots yet, I suggest my bullion knot video tutorial or the video tutorial on bullion rose buds.

If you don't know a thing about smocking, and want to see how it's done, check out the beginner's guide to smocking on Creative Keepsakes. The instructions are good, and it's enough to get you started - once you have something pleated to adorn! I'll be working on ready-to-smock baby bonnets from The Old Fashioned Baby. These are a great way to go, if you don't have a pleater and want to make a special, personalized gift.

In addition to the instructions on Creative Keepsakes, they also have instructions for smocked gift bags, which I think are really cute. Since they're made out of gingham, they can be pleated easily by hand without a pleater.

If you find you like smocking, invest in a pleater! These bonnet patterns are so simple, so I imagine they don't take long to make up. My sister is a veteran smocker, and she almost choked when she found out I spent money on pre-pleated bonnets when she could have done it for me! Live and learn!

I'll keep you up-to-date on these projects when they start to materialize, and post plenty of photos along the way.

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Thursday, May 03, 2007

Smocking - Great Source for Smockable Baby Goods

 
Smocking is a form of embroidery where the stitches are worked over pleated fabric, creating a somewhat elastic effect in the fabric. Smocking is especially popular for baby goods, such as clothing and bonnets.

The Old Fashioned Baby is an online shop devoted to classic baby clothing and accessories. The site also offered pre-pleated goods that are ready to smock, so that you can add your own personal touch to them. These goods would make great baby gifts!

The patterns of the goods on the site are by Jeannie Baumeister, whose works are often featured in Sew Beautiful Magazine, which is geared more towards machine embroidery than hand embroidery these days, but is still a wonderful source of inspiration for those interested in hand-made, embellished clothing, especially for children. If you like "Old Fashioned Baby," you will probably like Heirloom Sewing for Children, a website devoted to heirloom patterns, articles on fabrics, accessories, and tips and hints for heirloom sewing. I especially like the articles on fabric choice (batiste) and garment storage, which are useful for anyone who works with fine fabrics.

Back to The Old Fashioned Baby by Jeannie Baumeister - I was especially interested in the pre-pleated, ready-to-smock baby bonnets offered on her site. You can purchase these already assembled and pleated, ready to smock, or, in some styles, you can purchase the kits that include pattern, fabric, lace, and threads, to make your own bonnet for decidedly less money.

The Old Fashioned Baby features pre-pleated, ready-to-smock bonnets


I think the bonnets are darling! I ordered a small selection of pre-pleated ones to smock for gifts. I thought I'd save time by ordering them ready to smock. We'll see how it goes!

When smocking bonnets, depending on the size and style, it's good practice to keep your stitches a little looser than you would on a dress, for example. This generally accommodates the head better, so that, when moving the bonnet on and off, you aren't stretching out the stitching.

For me, these will be low-priority projects, but I'm looking forward to working them!

After a hectic week of family reunioning - with 75 of us all together for my parents' 50th wedding anniversary - it's time to re-organize and re-prioritize, which means I'll be sorting out my upcoming projects and getting a few specialties online soon, including more video tutorials for hand embroidery stitches. I've got a few stitches lined up and ready for editing - oyster stitch and a bullion rose bud tutorial among them.

Thank goodness summer is coming!

If you have any good sources for ready-to-smock baby wear, etc., please feel free to share them with the rest of us! Thanks!

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