Sewing in Maine

Hi Everyone from Thomas Pond in Maine- This is our yearly excursion to regain our perspective on everyday events. It takes a week to relax and a week to enjoy. We are staying 3 weeks...a real treat. As I headed out the door I knew I wanted to make my granddaughter a new dress for the start of school. I knew we had a sewing machine here but being unsure of what other things I had I decided to buy a Sew Beautiful kit of the month. I am sew glad I did. I worked all week to finish the dress and it turned out lovely. Not having all the luxuries of home (I have a well supplied sewing room at home) I had to improvise quite a lot. I did not have a piping foot so substituted a zipper foot. with no double needles I had to sew two straight rows very carefully. But I am very proud of having a lovely finished dress. Be sure to notice the Fifi and Fido embroidery. I highly recommend the kits from Sew Beautiful. More later...have to get ready for the grandkids arriving tonight. Happy sewing...Daisy

Pictures

 This is Connie Palmer's Birthday Dress. Knowing my Ginger I figured this would be well received if Tinkerbell were present. Ginger loves Tinkerbell! I believe she will want to wear the slip with the overlay and skip the dress since she is in Texas where it gets quite hot. We shall see.

 Here you see Martha Pullen with me at Sewing for Baby Licensing.

 This is a onesie done with the overskirt. There is a ruffle on the underpanties.

 This is a sunhat. My first finished project at SFB licensing.

 I finished the safari jacket and blanket when I got home in April. It is reversible, made of the softest knit with a giraffe on one side and a lion on the other. One of my favorites.

 This was a darling boy's hat with matching bib and booties. Most of it is done in the hoop.

 This stocking designed by Peggy Dilbone uses piecing, decorative stitches, puffing with a curve, and smocking in the hoop. I made this for Maren Rose, my daughter's good friend's new daughter.

 Another favorite was this bunting. I love the colors!

This was a fun album to make. I will post the photo of my album when I get home. This is the one from the class.
Sorry I have been so slow to post pix but I have been traveling a lot. July should find me home and ready to sew.
Happy Sewing! Daisy

Sewing for Babies

What a wonderful week this has been! Sewing from 830am to 530pm every day. We ate lunch and rushed back to our machines so we could complete our projects. We received 50 projects and while we did not finish everything, I intend to go home and finish the rest. The instruction was great. While I knew how to do most of the things I still went to the demos. It never hurts to have reminders.
The food was delicious and the Holiday Inn did a wonderful job of taking care of us. My room was right around the corner from the sewing room...great positioning!
In the evening there were lectures, trip to Martha's warehouse, special dinner at Martha's home, and, of course, sewing.
Wonderful friends were made! It was fun hearing others dreams, ideas, successes and failures...all to learn from. Now I head to DC to visit my Mom, watch Eleanor as a mushroom in Snow White, play with William and Clara, and then head to Texas the next week. Sewing whenever I can! DaisySews

Pictures will be coming.

Pictures

Today I am adding the much promised pictures. These pictures include the Christmas quilt made with my Go! cutter. I used 2.5 in. strips and Christmas appliques to make this rendition of Eleanor Burns Christmas quilt. This is for my daughter Sallie who loves Christmas.
I also added the embroidered jacket and dress made for Clara. I can't wait to make my next jacket. It is fun to have them come to life. Now to see her in it. (I made one in blue for Ginger last Fall.)

Today I am getting ready to go to Columbia to visit my friend Sally. We will be doing a Farmhouse Fabrics class this weekend with Connie Palmer. A great way to spend time with friends! DaisySews

Smocking and Pleating

This week has been dedicated to smocking Clara's Dress and Top for her Easter Ensemble. It is a Gail Doane design. I have already finished the jacket. To pleat this fine fabric I used a special dowel from Farmhouse Fabrics. It has a magnet that holds the fabric taught when rolling it out. I used to have a friend help me so it is nice that I can do it on my own. I pleated 4pieces on Tuesday night and smocked them last night. Now they are ready to be sewn together. I must interject here that I forgot how much I love to smock. It is very peaceful to sit and watch your design appear before your eyes. My Sallie had around 30 Polly Flinder's dresses in the 1980's but at that time I didn't know how to smock. I am making up for lost time by smocking for my little ones now.
DaisySews

Valentine's - A Day Late

Today I am going to lunch with my dear neighbor Doris. As a treat I had wanted to make her a dish towel for Valentine's Day but time got away from me as usual. I was determined to finish my gift even if it was a day late. Now there are folks out there that think embroidery is easy. Yes you just set it up and change the threads. They don't realize that placement takes practice, stabilizers take knowledge, and, mostly, embroidery takes time. It took me all evening to embroider this darling towel. It has a squirrel appliqued on it holding a heart inscribed with "Nuts About You".. I need to go back and get some more supplies to make these ahead for next year...so cute!

I am working on my PHD (Projects Half Done). I also finished a shirt for William (6). He loves airplanes and spends much spare time at the "airplane park" near BWI where he climbs as high as he can to watch the airplanes take off and land. So I found a design online that resembles a commercial airline and embroidered it on a piece of corduroy that I then attached to a knit shirt. It looks super! William is a bit tempermental about what he will wear so I have my fingers crossed that he will approve of this.

Till tomorrow...DaisySews

Barbara Moore Class

It has been an exciting last couple of days. I attended a Barbara Moore lecture/trunk show/hands-on class. The first day was really interesting learning about all the feet available for our machines and seeing them put to use. I can't wait to try out free motion sewing on my machine. It has always seemed scary but now I am brave! Barbara had lovely samples of her work... Beautiful jackets using multiple threads, girls' dresses with lots of lace, and home decor using other techniques which I am anxious to try.
Yesterday was the hands-on session. We were all making the heirloom dress. Mine would be for Eleanor. We got a good jump on it. The first part of the day was spent doing pintucks in the round, an interesting way to do them so they are continuous. Afterwards we cut the bodice and back out. Then came the lace tape. This has been around for awhile but is having a resurgence. To end the day we made a madeira skirt band for the bottom of the skirt. When I get it all together I will post the picture.

** It is now Monday morning. Yesterday I did try some different techniques. I am finishing my daughter Sallie's Christmas quilt. I needed to tack down some appliques on it but was dreading doing the ones with intricate turns because the quilt is bulky. Well, I decided to do the free motion on this and it worked great. I am almost done the top and ready to send it to the quilter. A good finish to the weekend!

Happy Valentine's Day to All!!  Daisy