Dana Fredericksen, from Connecticut, wears a beautiful new dress that her mother, Lisa, made for her.
Lisa used a smock plate from a previous issue of Australian Smocking & Embroidery, creating her own variation. The fabric is from Fabric Finders and available at Blumenkinder Heirlooms.
Thank you, Lisa, for sharing this picture with us.
This adorable quilt was created by Adrea Lynch, of Maple Grove, Minnesota, for her new nephew in Florida. She even took the opportunity to hand-deliver it.
We loved the soft texture of the horses and the fun colors. It will be enjoyed by her nephew for a long time.
We finally got busy a few weeks ago putting together the “fidget” that we had been dreaming of doing for my husband’s Aunt Dorothy, who is now struggling with Alzheimer’s disease.
The idea is to create a lap quilt with lots of texture and interactive things like zippers and pockets and velcro. Textures to touch and feel. So we used a cheerful red corduroy. Hannah created and cut out the little lady here free-hand and added a coat that could be buttoned and unbuttoned. There is velvet ribbon along the borders with yo-yos created by Lydia. The hair was braided of yarn and sewn on by Rachel. My friend, Susan Gregory, came by with her family, and even more ideas were added, such as a pocket with a zipper and rickrac to appear as grass. We didn’t have rickrac on hand, so we added piping and lace to look like grass. I used my embroidery machine to add the buzzing bee, flowers and sign our names.
The fidget quilt is an idea that we noticed in the American Sewing Guild’s Notions publication a few years ago. Ladies of the Lansing, Michigan, (an area of Michigan from which I come–East Lansing is the home of Michigan State University) Neighborhood Group reported that such quilts provide therapy or a type of mental stimulation that helps people with this disease. Associated Sewing in Bloomington also held Sunday-afternoon sessions for making such quilts.
We hope that it is a blessing to Aunt Dorothy. It sure was a lot of fun for us.
Cyndy Pond, of Hastings, Minnesota, created this adorable jungle theme jacket and hat.
The pattern is Simplicity #9456. Included with the coat and hat pattern is a vest, coveralls, and skirt pattern. The fabrics are 100% cotton flannel in yellow and Jungle Babies 100% cotton printed broadcloth.
Cyndy writes, “Although the coat pattern called for snaps, I substituted buttonholes and buttons. The buttons were JHB coconut shell, size 3/4″ inch. I also altered the hat pattern by cutting two circles instead of one. That way, the hat was lined with the contrasting fabric adding interest to the design, and also making it warmer. The pockets were 5-inch yellow flannel squares fitted with the completed smocking pieces and lined with the printed fabric. I used two smocking plates for the pockets, Dandy Lions and Matthew’s Monkeys by Fancy Stitches. I smocked them on blue 100% cotton broadcloth that matched the blue in the background of the print fabric.”
Cyndy brought this outfit to the January meeting of the Lakes & Prairies Smockers. We all loved it!
Lynn Schoonmaker, of Richfield, Minnesota, created this stunning wedding dress for her granddaughter’s special doll.
It is made of silk dupioni and the pattern is Brydee’s Tea Dress 2001 from Fancy Frock Doll Patterns.
Lynn also created the veil and added special touches, like the brooch from her own jewlry collection.
The ladies in attendance at the Lakes & Prairies Smockers meeting in November had the priviledge of seeing this dress along with a few casual doll’s outfits created by Lynn. It was a treat!
After all the Christmas decorations were returned to their place and we settled back into our normal routine, we made a little time to finish a winter outfit for Rachel.
The sweater is a variation of the cardigan pattern from the book, Top Down for Toddlers, by Deb & Lynda Gemmell. I altered the sleeves, bringing them in just a little, and added a lace border on the lower edge. It is made of an alpaca and wool blend found at Smitten with Knittin in Waseca, Minnesota. Rachel chose the golden rose buttons.
The skirt is a variation of the tiered skirt in Kwik Sew’s Sewing for Children pattern book by Kerstin Martensson. I used my pleater to gather the tiers, rather than my sewing machine, which saved a significant amount of time. This means one pass through the pleater creating even gathers verses several rounds of stitching with a sewing machine. Fine wale corduroy by Fabric Finders sails through the pleater beautifully (available at Blumenkinder Heirlooms).
Two pieces can go through the pleater, one after another, eliminating re-threading the needles.
The gathered tiers are manipulated to fit the higher tier.
The tiers are carefully sewn together, matching side seams.
Elastic is added at the top, and a hem on the bottom. This was a fun, fast and easy project.
I spotted this color combination in a recent issue of Sew Beautiful and knew it would be a wise addition to Rachel’s clothing for the winter months of Minnesota. We were at 18 degrees yesterday!
I love to see her smile!
I was able to alter the Pendleton skirt this week.
It involved removing the waist band in two places at each side seam, taking a few inches in and then recreating the box pleats at each side. I had to reattach the band, taking a little out of it as well. Finally, I had to replace the hem at those same two places.
I think it turned out pretty well…
I knitted two wool hats this fall (while moving from Chaska to Waseca); one for my mom (pink) and one for my dad (brown).
I grew up on a small farm in Michigan. When I was in kindergarten, my dad raised sheep. My mom would knit us (4 kids) hats. I recently told my dad that one of my favorite things back then was watching the sheep being sheared. It was great fun.
The sheep shearer would grab one of the sheep by a leg and gently wrestle it down. Once he put his knee on the sheep, the animal would just lay there in submission, I suppose. We would watch a great amount of wool coming off in layers as the clippers went along the animal’s side. The wool was then put into a contraption that had wooden sides, and it was bound with twine. The sheep ran off enjoying his or her new spring haircut.
My dad said he didn’t realize I was even paying attention!
So my parents didn’t really know that I was knitting. I surprised them with these hats when they visited last month. The pink hat is made of a wool yarn, and the brown is a blend of alpaca and wool. I’m enjoying exploring the different yarns. I like the alpaca because it doesn’t have the lanolin that is found in wool; however, I love wool, too. Both hats are my original designs… I’m getting more brave with the encouragement of SAGA!
My daughter, Rachel, didn’t want me to give the pink one away.
Too fun.
There’s a lot of talk recently about using “things” that we already have rather than buying new. There’s even a new catchy word going around: “repurpose”, which means to take something that is used up for its original purpose and create a new use for it, if I am not mistaken. I noticed there’s a Facebook group for this, and a friend of mine did a talk at one of the “Moms” groups at the church I formerly attended in Plymouth, MN. So the word has been buzzing around there.
Both the ladies from the Smocking Arts Guild of America and the American Sewing Guild have been chatting about this in their publications or newsletters. People are saying this is a great time in America to remember our “depression” sewing skills; brush them off or just get them for the first time. Things like sewing on a button, repairing a tear, and so on.
While I admit I would rather smock a dress than work my way through a mending pile, simple mending and repairs have probably added several dollars to my family’s budget over the past 12 years.
Now recently I was given a different opportunity to “repurpose”. My late mother-in-law was the owner of beautiful Pendleton skirts. My step-father-in-law loved to buy these for her. He gave me two beautiful skirts with the idea that I could alter them and enjoy them myself.
I have two Pendleton skirts of my own that my husband bought for me; one as a gift while we were “courting”, and the other as a birthday gift a few years later. Pendleton wool skirts are made of beautiful wool fabric. They are made very well and wear beautifully. They are of a quality that doesn’t just wear out in a year or two. There is a reason they sell for around $150.
So, yesterday I spent a little time seam-ripping (another of my less-favorite tasks–though I love the seam-ripper that Pfaff included with my embroidery machine; there is a difference in its quality.) I need to take a little in on each side and match the plaid as I create the new seams. We’ll see how this goes, maybe today. I think it will be worth my time.
I have come to dearly appreciate the rich heritage of smocking and heirloom sewing found in the southern states of our country, as well as the history of fine needlework around the world.
Here is a beautiful example of heirloom sewing today. What a special memory for a daughter and a mom. Be sure that you read the mom’s notes under the About the Designer link.
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