Little White Bishop

 This little dress was in Austrailian Smocking and Embroidery, Issue 83.
I used Chery Williams' bishop pattern.

The center front of mine is slightly different than the plate in the magazine.

I messed up some counting and adjusted the design, and I like the way it turned out!

My daughter is not fond of the seed pearls, but I think they are pretty!

A peek at the sleeve...

Someday a little girl in my family will wear this...

My next post will be the complete opposite of this one!

A little boy's appliqued football Jon Jon!

...coming soon...

Pretty in Pink

This is another dress in my "hope closet".

I used another very old pattern, Lee, by Children's Corner.

Good news! The pattern is still in print.

I think this is such a sweet little pink print...

Once again, not sure which plate I used. :/

If I figure out what I used I will add it to this post.

You could probably just copy it by looking at this picture though!

I need a new camera, don't I? These pictures are just not great!

Elephant Sunsuit

I was not creative while creating this sunsuit.

I totally copied the idea from Michie' Mooney's blog.

Here is a link to her FREE smocking design, and pictures of her Jon Jon.

http://creationsbymichie.blogspot.com/search/label/Free%20Smocking%20Design

I made two changes from the outfit she created.

I used white Imperial broadcloth rather than pique,

and I used her sunsuit pattern rather than her Jon Jon pattern.

The pattern I used is Creations by Michie, #132, Sunsuit/Sundress.

I love the way Reid looks in this outfit.

I think he still has a sweet baby look wearing this, which I love.

My daughter calls this Reid's Republican outfit. :)

Pumpkins and Turkeys

I know it seems really early to think about pumpkins or turkeys,

but I thought some of you might be ready to start a fall project before long.

I made this outfit for Reid last fall. The idea was good, but it needs some tweaking!

I wanted him to have a pumpkin outfit for his first fall,

and a turkey outfit for his first Thanksgiving.

I knew he could wear pumpkins for a couple of months,

but the turkey he might only wear a couple of times.

I decided to try making 2 collars for the same outfit.

The pattern I used was Creations by Michie', #103, Knickers.

I used green Imperial microcheck for the outfit.

I made 2 different shadow embroidery collars out of white Imperial batiste.

This is the first one:

The smaller pumpkin is in Michie's Heirloom Embroidery book.

I think I just drew the taller one.

When I finished the collar, it needed a little something extra,

so I added the writing. :)

Here's our little pumpkin in his outfit at the pumpkin patch!

He was about 5 months old in this picture.

So...here is what I did. I just finished off the outfit separately, without a collar.

I made a completely separate collar using the front pattern pieces only.

(I cut 2 of the front piece, one was for the lining.)

I trimmed the collar with entredeux, and weaved floss through it.

I put clear plastic snaps on the shoulders of the outfit

and on the shoulders of the collar.

I made an additional collar for Thanksgiving.

I just drew the turkey.

The collars were interchangable on the same outfit.

Here is our little turkey on Thanksgiving.

We live in Katy, Texas, near Houston, and it was hot outside!

Although he looks adorable (doesn't he?!), you can see in this picture

 that it looked sort of funny having the collar just stop at the shoulders.

I guess it would have been better to make an entire collar, front and back.

If I ever try this again, that's what I'll do.

I also need to learn how to turn corners with entredeux.

Does anyone know if there is a tutorial online showing how to do that?

If you look closely at the picture above,

you can see that my corners sort of roll under.

I know there is a better way to do that...

Reid with his mommy...

Reid chillin' in the patch with his little friend Clara, who hated the pumpkins!!!

Hahaha! Isn't she a doll?! :)

I Love Lavendar and Blue...

I loved making this dress.

It is another dress I am saving in my grandmother's "hope closet"

for a future granddaughter.

The colors just make me happy! :)

Again, I used an old Yvonne Denise pattern, called Erin Lindsey, for the dress.

I think it is out of print, but I'm sure there are other patterns just like it.

I made this last year, and I cannot remember the plate I used. :(

If I remember I will come back and edit this post!

I may have made it up or combined ideas from other plates.

I honestly have no clue.

I kind of winged it on the lace collar. I just gathered some lace and measured

 to see how long the piece needed to be and sewed it in between

the yoke and yoke facings, right sides of facings together.

So that's really helpful of me, isn't it?

A pattern that is out of print and a mystery design plate. Hmmm...

Oh well, maybe you'll just think it is fun to look at!

Reid's First Birthday

Reid's 1st birthday was May 23.

He had the most adorable Brown Bear Brown Bear party at the park!

  

 Rather than bringing gifts for Reid, 

my daughter and son-in-law asked guests to bring stuffed teddy bears

to be donated to the police department for children in crisis.

Reid is the first grandchild on both sides, so as you can imagine,
he really didn't need gifts, and he doesn't know the difference right now.

I thought that was such a good idea!

                           

Of course, his Mumsie needed to make him a special brown bear outfit!

I used Imperial royal blue microcheck fabric.

The pattern is Corey's Bubble, by Maja's Heirlooms.

The plate is Huggy Bear, by Ellen McCarn.

I think the pattern would be adorable on a boy or a girl,

 but I expecially loved it on him because it wasn't too full.

He still looked like a baby, but not too foo foo for his daddy. :)

This is Reid with his mommy, my daughter, Brittany, and his daddy, Chris.

I also made Reid a bib, using an online pattern called "The Bapron".

http://www.craftinessisnotoptional.com/2011/05/bapron-tutorial.html

If the link doesn't work, just google "bapron" and you will find a link.

At first Reid was not too sure about his cupcake...

...then he decided it was funny!

My crafty friend, JoDee, told me about the Bapron.

She told me to cut it a little bigger than the pattern. I did, but it was still a bit tight.

 If you make it for a one year old, I would make it about an inch bigger everywhere.

The great thing about the bib is that it really does keep the baby pretty clean!

It can't be lifted up because it goes under the baby's arms!

Reid was just beginning to walk at his party,

and I love this picture of him walking with his Popsie.

Look how he is holding up his little arms to keep his balance. :)

You can also kind of see the back of his outfit and how the pattern looks.

This is one of my favorite pictures of Reid's special day.

This is Wayne's mother, Reid's great grandmother, Guinny.