Betsy's Heartstrings: June 2015

What a beautiful Sunday we had!

I have always loved Sunday. For me it is a day of rest, a day of worship, a day of spiritual renewal and special family occasions.

This sabbath day, last Sunday, was the day that our sweet new Grandgirl was given her name and blessed by her earthly Father and by her Heavenly Father.

This little white dress I made for Grandgirl*3's special day. These first two pictures I took at home. I wasn't sure about this fabric. It has a beautiful pattern woven into it, but it looked somewhat stiff and I was hoping to make a dress that had a little softer flowing look to it.

When I arrived in Germany and showed what I had started to Daughter*1, she loved it and asked me to continue on this dress. I had serged the edges of each of these pieces when I was working on them at home, and I was glad I did. The seams lay much better when I use my serger.

The fabric is vintage, probably from the 50s or 60s. I was drawn to the patterned weave and wanted to try it. I love the leaves and flowers on the fabric.

I fully lined the dress using... Mmmm... Can't remember what that fabric is called, I think it is Voile, but it's a fabric that has been around for years and is a semi sheer cotton. I decided to sew it with French seams, since my daughter does not have a serger and I don't want the dress lining to unravel.

I haven't done French seams on an entire dress before and I was pleased with how it turned out.

There were some tricky parts, and I learned a lot! Especially since I didn't have the sewing instructions with me. I was just sewing from memory. Next time I will attach the yoke lining at the neck leaving the rest open until I have the lace and the beads sewn on. That way the hand stitching will be inside the lining and unseen. And I will completely finish the skirt lining BEFORE sewing any section to the dress! Making another dress like this right away so I remember what I want to do might be a good idea!

I have made this dress pattern four or five times since I started sewing 32 years ago. They were all for family members' baby girls, and each was lovingly made.

Two of the dresses, sadly, were burial dresses, worn by baby girls who didn't live for very long. But I was honored to be able to serve my sisters when there was nothing else I could do to be of assistance at such a time.

Two of the other dresses were made for some of our own girls, Daughter*1 and Daughter*2,

Grandgirl*1 also wore her Mother's dress when she was blessed. I added some silk ribbon embroidery and pearls to that dress to make it a little different from when her Mother wore it. It was during a very difficult anxiety time for me and I was feeling so intense, I couldn't even judge if the embroidery looked very good. I was afraid to do much because I felt so overwhelmed at the prospect of having to take it out and redo it if I didn't like it. But my creativity feels so drowned by fear during those times, I was afraid I couldn't do it at all. But I did a minimal amount and it actually looks okay. I probably could add more to it, but I am trying to stop the unnecessary perfectionism. (There IS a certain amount that is necessary.... Isn't there???!?) LOL

The lace that I used on the edges of the sleeves and the bottom hem of the dress is some vintage cotton crotchet lace that I got from LuluLiz. She found it at a brocante in France and I love it so much! I purchased one long length from her, and a few other times when I ordered things from her Etsy shop, LaCroixRosion, she tossed in some shorter pieces. Because she gave those extra pieces to me, I had enough to finish the dress! I love how it looks on the patterned cotton fabric!

In the picture above, you can see that it looked pretty plain even after I stitched the trim around the neckline. This tiny trim was some from my own Mother's stash of laces I inherited when she passed away. I loved the idea of making this dress from old elements that are connected to family and foreign countries, since the baby was born in Germany. It just seemed "apropo". As you see in the picture below, I hand stitched tiny white beads on each point of the trim around the neck. It added a dainty sweetness to the dress, just as I hoped it would. Then, I hand sewed the trim just under the yoke and I liked the look of the dress better.

I had planned to do some silk ribbon embroidery but my silk ribbon had a thread pulled out through the entire length and I just couldn't make myself use it. We had no idea where we might be able to find some silk ribbon for embroidery where she lives. I also ran out of time add beads to the points on the trim at the yoke. I hope to add those later.

I also sewed the tiny trim to the hem of the lining, so it looked like a pretty slip underneath the dress. I would have liked to try some thin ribbon in the lace, but the 16th inch ribbon is very hard to find now, and I didn't take any of my own with me. It's hard to sew if I am not in my own sewing room where I have so many accent items on hand. But it is also good for me to learn to be satisfied with what I make when I don't have everything I WANT at my fingertips. Even with all the fuss, it was still a very simple dress, but beautiful on Baby Grandgirl*3.

We simply adore her!!! She even has enough hair for us to put a bow on a clip into her hair, and it stayed there!

Isn't she just sweet???!!!! I loved sewing this for her! And I miss them all terribly now that I am home in Washington. But soon they will be here at our home for a few weeks and I will enjoy them immensely!