Remake of 'Sweetheart' and Bullion Rose Tutorial

I have had many requests for kits for the 'Sweetheart' project that was featured on the cover of the Australian edition of 'Cute As a Button' which is the EXACT same book as the American edition titled 'Sew Cute Couture".  Believe me.... I know it's all a bit confusing.  Unfortunately both titles are now out of print and can be a bit tricky to find at a reasonable price.  If you happen to know of a good source that still has them please let me know.        

The jacket  for the original 'Sweetheart ' project was made from 100% wool Doctors flannel which started out as ivory. I had tried to dye it lavender with a different project in mind with very limited success.  Because I thought I had ruined the fabric I figured there was nothing to loose and I threw it in a pot of hot water with a bottle of Rit brand black dye.  The wool took the black dye beautifully.  You would never know it was once a very unattractive mottled lavender.  The bishop dress and jacket trim fabric is probably one of my all time favorite Liberty prints.  I am being polite when I say it is a 'vintage' Liberty.  It was from back when the dinosaurs still roamed the earth and Liberty prints were only 36" wide.  I would like to hear from some of you fabric hoarders (you know who you are!) who still have 36" wide Liberty prints waiting for just the right project.  So..... clearly it was not possible to provide kits for the project as shown as both the jacket and dress fabric were a bit obscure and completely unavailable.  

My remake of the project is Dakota pique for the jacket and a lovely paisley lawn for the dress, both trimmed with 1/32" pima micro check. You might recognize the paisley lawn from a previous post.  I love this fabric.  It is not an easy thing to find  a good quality lightweight cotton lawn in a small scale print in several  nice color ways.  My rule of thumb when choosing a print to coordinate with an embroidered jacket is to look for at least three distinct colors in the print and a good green.  This lawn more than fits that criteria.   

   
The kit will be available in three color ways on my Etsy site..  I would like to give a big shout out to my friends at www.hillcreekdesigns.com who make all the custom colors in hand dyed buttons for me.

There are probably as many ways to make a bullion rose as there are people making them.  I would like to include my take on the classic spiral bullion.  These instructions are for big chunky roses as shown on the 'Sweetheart' jacket.

Spiral Bullion Rose:

• work with three strands of floss and a # 7 milliners needle
• it is helpful to interface the area behind the embroidery
• use three colors of floss plus a green.  Use a contrast for the center and two shades of pink or red (a light and a medium shade) for the spiral rose petals.  Use the darker shade for the center fifteen wrap spiral bullions and the lighter shade for the outer twenty-two wrap spiral bullions.
• the spiral bullion is made in four sections (colors):
• center - one, five wrap bullion and two, ten wrap bullions
• inner petals - six, fifteen wrap spirals
• outer petals - eight, twenty-two wrap spirals
• leaf base - four, twenty four wrap spirals

1.    Work one, five wrap bullion at the center point.

2.    Bring the needle back to the left and take a new backstitch to make one, ten wrap bullion that cups beneath the five wrap bullion.

3.    Turn the work completely over and make a second ten wrap bullion.

4.   To make the first fifteen wrap spiral bullion, bring the needle up at about 11:00.  Leave a gap, the width of one bullion stitch, between the entry point of the thread and the center bullion stitches. 

5.    Backstitch about ¼ of the way around the center.  Make the first fifteen wrap bullion.

 

6.    To make the second fifteen wrap spiral bullion, drop the needle to the back of the work and bring it up at the half way point on the first spiral bullion. 

7.    Backstitch about ¼ of the way around the center and make a second fifteen wrap spiral bullion.

8.    Repeat Steps 6-7 to make the third, fourth and fifth spiral bullions.

9.    The sixth, and final fifteen wrap spiral bullion is made be bringing the needle up at the half way point of the fifth fifteen wrap spiral bullion.  Backstitch about ¼ of the way around the center bringing the needle in close to the center, to the inside of the first fifteen wrap spiral bullion.  Make the sixth fifteen wrap spiral bullion.

10.  To make the first 22 wrap spiral bullion bring the needle up at 11:00 leaving a gap the width of one spiral bullion stitch.  Backstitch about 20% of the way around the center fifteen wrap spiral bullions.

11.  Make the first twenty-two wrap spiral bullion.

12. Make the second through seventh twenty-two wrap spiral bullions in the same manner as the previous color spiral bullions.

13.  The eighth and final twenty two wrap spiral bullion is made by bringing the needle up at the halfway point on the seventh twenty-two wrap spiral bullion.  Backstitch about 20% of the way around the center, bringing the needle in close to the fifteen wrap spiral bullions.  Make the eighth twenty-two wrap spiral bullion.

14.  Bring the green in about 2/3’s of the way up on the left hand side of the spiral bullion rose.  Backstitch about 20% of the way around the rose.

15. Make a twenty four wrap spiral bullion.  Make the second, third, and fourth green spiral bullions in the same manner. 

16.  Stitch the heart button at the indicated position. Use three strands of floss to outline stitch the stem line.

17.  To make the bows draw a ¾” long line on a piece of paper.  Mark the center point and the ends of the ¾” line.

18.  Using ¼” wide silk/satin ribbon cut the end on a 45° angle.  Fold the ribbon in on itself half the distance of the ¾” line and secure with a pin. 

19.  Fold in the second loop keeping the cut end of the ribbon on the inside and secure with the pin.  Fold in a third loop directly behind the second loop and secure with the pin.

20.  Fold in the fourth and final loop resulting with two sets of two loops stacked on top of each other and secure with the pin.

21.  Cut the ribbon on the back side on a 45° angle.

22.  Using a hand sewing needle and doubled thread in a matching color to the ribbon, bring the thread up through the center of the bow.  Wrap the thread tightly around the center three times and tie off on the wrong side. 

23.  Use the center thread to tack the bow to the center of the stem.

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Flower Girl Dress for Jane

Jane is very excited to be a flower girl next month and the occasion called for a special dress.  I chose a luscious ivory silk shantung to smock a VERY simple sleeveless yoke dress.  The fabric was challenging to pleat ( a BIT of an understatement!) but I  was very  pleased with the finished results.  I did iron on a layer of very lightweight interfacing to the back of the pleated area prior to running it through the pleater.  The fabric is amazing.  It does not crush or wrinkle as many silks would.  Should be perfect for an active, never stand still, kind of a girl.

I chose Marlitt (rayon) floss to do all the smocking and embroidery because of it's beautiful sheen.  It's a bit of a nightmare to work with but I love the end result.  I was lucky to find Swarovski crystal beads in just the right colors to complement the smocking.  In the daylight the front of the dress really sparkles.

The back of the dress is finished off with a large silk organza bow - only a cute four year old could pull that off!  I also added a touch of sparkle to the back of the dress with beaded sash carriers.

The dress is lightweight and should not be too fussy for her to feel comfortable wearing.  I will post pictures of Jane wearing the dress next month.

Finally... Something new!

After a long absence of complete non stop busy I finally have something new to post.  This project will be for classes later in the year.  I am having a bit of an obsession with small scale prints paired with feather weight corduroy and this set keeps it going.  The paisley cotton lawn print is from a Robert Kaufman collection called 'London Calling' and  is a lovely 'Liberty' like knock off.  I have paired the print with the feather weight corduroy to look like a jumper and blouse but it is really all sewn together as a dress.  

The collar is piped with the lavender corduroy and trimmed with a bias cut ruffle.  Not the easiest collar to assemble and get to kiss together right at the center front and center back.  The skirt has three large box pleats across the front and two inverted pleats in the back for a controlled amount of fullness.  The dress is meant to be paired with a jacket and I wanted to keep an A line shape to the skirt.  

The jacket is completely interlined with 'baby' interfacing for better weight and wrinkle resistance to the feather weight corduroy.  It is fully lined with lime 1/32" micro check and has an adjustable fold up sleeve length. The embroidery on the pockets are simple beginner hand stitches - chain, French knot, and backstitch.  The little bird is just one of the paisley shapes from the print inverted and embellished.

The 'London Calling' paisley comes in three great color ways which I plan to pair with the lavender, red, and hot pink corduroy.

One of my granddaughters showed up unexpectedly this morning - I really think it was to claim the cookies that were just coming out of the oven but I took the opportunity to have her do a little try on.  Jane will be five in July and is wearing a size 4 dress and jacket.

 

When I Grow Up I Want To Be........

When I grow up I want to be just like Miss Dot.  I had the immense pleasure of spending a few days with Miss Dot in Richmond Virginia this past month.  Miss Dot is a well know figure in the heirloom sewing world and at just shy of 90 years young is still sewing up a storm.  I could not have been more impressed with anyone.  She is blessed with a quick wit, a gentle spirit, and a major gift with a needle in her hand.

It was my privilege to spend time stitching (please excuse the casual attire!) side by side with this gracious lady.   She can convey more with one arched eyebrow than 1000 words could speak. Clearly I have lots to learn!

Miss Dot was up for the challenge of participating in a three day class to make this corduroy scalloped jacket and matching dress.  May we all be as engaged and willing to try something new when we reach her years.  She was a model student who probably REALLY should have been the teacher.

I also managed to get to Colorado to see some of my grand kids this past month.  They don't think I'm that much fun but can hardly wait for my two teenagers to show up.  This is Hailey modelling a version of  'April in Paris' from AS&E issue #80 with her Aunt Doireann (my youngest daughter) who has spent many years putting up with modelling dresses for me.

Not to forget the boys... My youngest son could not sit down without a niece or nephew landing in his lap and it usually turned into an entire chair full.

My sewing days are long over for these big boys but they are clearly the life of any party.

Red White and Blue

Happy Canada Day (July 1st) and Happy July 4th

It just sort of worked out that my current project is red, white, and blue.  Two little sailor rompers in a size 1.  

The girl and boy versions have a white linen top and a  1/32" cotton  micro check bottom. The bodice front has a pulled thread grid which was machine stitched with an entredeux stitch and then the red or blue floss was woven through the holes created by the machine.  The sailor collar and sleeve cuff feature a line of hand stitched double feather stitch.  The girl sleeve has some 'puff' at the cap in contrast to the fitted sleeve on the little boy romper.

 

The sewn in shaped belts are piped at top and bottom.  The girl romper has a tie sash in the back and the boy version is more tailored with a lapped button back belt.  These rompers are a bit more complicated to put together than they might appear.  I like everything to line up at the center back and this project presented a few challenges in that department.  

These rompers in sizes 1-3 will be a new class for me in 2014. I think they are a good mix of a 'do-able' project paired with lots of interesting design and construction details.