Christening Gown Embroidery is Done!

The only stitching I worked on at the retreat was Ely's skirt of her christening gown. 

  The night before we were to leave coming back home...I just stayed up all night so that I could "hopefully" get it completed. At 7 a.m. the next morning...the last French Knot was stitched. 

  After we drove home (no I didn't do the driving...thank you Sara!)....I unpacked...and went to bed at 2 o'clock in the afternoon...didn't get up until 7:30 this morning!

  But...it was worth it! Now, I'm off to start putting this little gown together...and create her slip too!

Christening Gown - Bow & Top Flowers Done...

Want to see the back? I know I sometimes wonder what the back of a piece looks like. And, in this little dress...the back is very important as it will not be covered. So, anyone who wants to "examine" the stitching will be able too. I've tried to keep my work neat...which requires a lot of starts and stops!!

 And, here is the front version...

 The bow is done now...

 As is the top area of flowers...and now, I'm starting to work on the bottom. But, first...a couple of other projects need to be completed before the 1st of November...so, I have to put this gown aside for a couple of days. Before then, here are some more photos...

I hope you decide to give this design a try as well! It does take time...but only uses basic stitches. And if you don't want to do the bullion stitches...then simple roses and leaves in detached chain stitch would work for the rose buds too! Just over stitch the bud twice to add some fullness. Wouldn't ribbon-work be glorious too! But, not as washable I'm sure...
   

Christening Gown - Dogwood Begins

The dogwood petals are done in split stitch...white. I'm also thinking of putting some lines of white inside the petals...but have not yet "made my mind up about that". So, what do you think...more split stitch lines? Maybe 2 or 3 per petal...from the center outwards, but not all the way to the edge of the leaf...that's what I'm leaning towards.   The outer little part of the leaves are done in a medium light rose color. This is not a perfect match to the true color, which is much darker...but for this delicate gown, a darker color would not be good at all. So, I'm taking some "creative license" and changing what Mother Nature really produces.

 Here is the flower center, and it pretty close to the correct color of the blooms as they first come on the tree. Later in life, it turns a much darker golden and brown mustard color...with green speckled in too. But, for now...four shades of thread are used...cream, light golden yellow, pale green, and pale yellow. The French knots are done as two types of color sets...beige/light golden yellow and pale green/yellow. Each set is a single ply of each color...combined to create a one-wrap and 4-ply (doubling the threads) knot. I often combine single threads to get a good variegated blend...try that if you never have, it is a good way to introduce other colors without having an object look "splotchy". At present, the center appears to over-power the flower...and that's the reason I'm wondering about adding those extra "white lines". But, I'm also wondering if the center will be sufficiently balanced by the color on the leaves when they are stitched...so, I'll hold off on the addition of more white until I get those leaves done.

Christening Gown - Rosebuds

I'm starting to work on the rosebuds at the top of the design for the christening gown. At first thought, these were going to be satin stitch in two shades of pink. But, after all of those satin stitch "pearls" I just could not face doing more of the same stitch! So, I decided on bullion rose buds...which I also love! The center is 3 bullion stitches in a color slightly darker than the two side bullion stitches.

The leaves along the stem are also bullion stitches, done in a medium light gray green.

I like the way that these are looking and think that they will be good with the dogwood bloom...which I'll work on next. The bow is also stitched now, and I took photos...and thought that I had posted them...so deleted them when I started this post. Of course, I didn't post them...duh! So, I'll get some more photos taken tomorrow and show you the bow too!   ~~ "If I only had a brain!" --Scarecrow in Wizard of Oz ~~

Christening Gown - Pearls Completed

The satin stitched circles .... "pearls" .... are now finished. They are done in 2-ply DMC white floss, with white straight stitches as the under padding stitching.

Now, stitching on the ribbon has begun...done in 4-ply DMC silver gray floss...and stem stitch. I want the bow and the monogram areas to be more prominent than the floral in terms of stitch size. The floral areas will be more delicate and have some color. It would be easy for them to over-power the simple design of the bow and center because of the amount of flowers and the addition of color. The satin stitching of the pearls, the dense stitching of the monograms, and the thickness of the ribbon outside edge will hopefully offset the amount of the floral and create a good balance. At least, in my muse's design eye...it will go together wonderfully. We shall see.... Hugs!

A Long Day...but Fit for a Princess

 There wasn't much sewing done yesterday...but more on that in a minute. Here is my biggest "find" of the day...a lovely pearl/crystal headband for Aidan. 

 The price says 14.99...but it was 50% off...so was really just 7.50. Still a bit much for a little girls headband...but not outragious. 

 And it went so nicely with the other two items already purchased at Hobby Lobby before. These are part of my "Christmas Stash" of things for Aidan this year. The little pink/brown "overnight bag" I shared with you yesterday...is getting filled with "stuff". 

 And here is where I'm hiding all of my treasures until they get wrapped for Christmas...the top shelf in my office! In plain site! The 12/25 reference on the box...is for me...so I don't (hopefully) have to search all over the house for this stash when I get ready to wrap presents...Ha! Do you have a special stash place? Is it "out in the open"?  I also got some special little miniature stuffed animals in the dollhouse area...and have plans for those. But, I'll have to save that for later...to see if my muse is as creative as she things! A secret! Sssshhhh...no fair telling! At least, not just yet! It was a long day because I spend 3 hours sitting in the doctor's office...and, because I was more concerned about my trip to Hobby Lobby for threads after that visit...I did not even think to grab any projects to work on while gone! A wasted couple of hours for sure! Lesson learned in that trip!

 Last night, I did get a little stitching done however...more "faux pearls" finished on the christening gown. They are not perfect...but look pretty good in real life. With all the dogwood and roses...they will be just fine I'm sure.  

Christening Gown - Initial Finished!

Stem Stitch with 3 strands of silver gray DMC floss was the final decision, and I'm pretty happy with the results.

 The sheen is more silver at some angles and more gray at others. It should blend nicely with the dogwood and rose buds....don't you think?

 Next is the oval of circles...done in white padded satin stitch...the first two of the top are complete...can you see them?

Start...Stop...Start...Stop...Start

Time to stitch on the christening gown. I have a general plan in mind...and it lasted a whole 15 minutes! The initials and bow were going to be done in shadow embroidery. I wanted a color that was dark enough to be seen slightly through the fabric from the back...and settled on a tan/gray sort of color that I had in perle. Started to stitch...and this mess is the result....

  ...yep, it's pretty horrible. The perle is just not the right thread for this job! Way too bulky...and obviously too large for the smaller initials. So, it has to be floss...and maybe should be a "faux" shadow applique....backstitch on top nice and neat...then wrap the backside in a slightly darker color. So, the perle gets picked out...and let the back-stitching begin!...

 Yuck! Not happy with this either! Not at all neat...so maybe another plan is needed. Stem stitch? I love stem stitch. And, I could use the darker color too! Yes, stem stitch...

Well, I do like the stem stitch. But, when I get to the smaller letters...the perle will be too over-powering for them. Another color? No...So, it's back to floss. Haven't I done this once already??

So, this is the plan...stem stitch fill. I've stitch two lines so far...and am liking it pretty well. Now to decide how to transition to fill that vertical part of the "T"???
Do you ever have days when you REALLY need to get a project underway...but, it just will not cooperate? Ah,...perhaps tomorrow will bring better stitching results.

Ely's Christening Gown...Beginning

 Free Design For You!! Today I got my fabric out for Ely's gown. It is an ecru linen...and will have white/beige/tan/pink embroidery on the skirt and top. The pattern I settled on is pretty simple...so the embroidery and lace needs to be nice. My niece picked out some trim lace for the sleeves an skirt...but I found a prettier one that I'm seriously thinking of using also...or instead. We'll see how that goes.

 Spent a few hours this afternoon staring at the computer screen and drawing, re-drawing...changing my mind...deleting...drawing again...changing my mind...over and over until I got an embroidery design finished that I will like stitching. I love the dogwood flower...and it just screams out in symbolizm and has deep Southern roots...and I also adore little baby rose buds...so these are both part of the design. The bow will be stitched in shadow embroidery. And, of course...when the stitching begins...you'll get to see loads of photos.  If you would like to use this design...you may. Just remove the initials for Miss Elizabeth Jane and insert your own. If you don't have any initial designs...I would welcome you purchasing one of my Embroidery Quilt Patterns (Alphabet Soup)...and you'd get 26 letters...all can be sized to fit the oval in this design...just ignore the flowers in their quilt block design. (Sorry for the blatant advertisement ...but I worked hard on that pattern set and want you to enjoy them...they really are super cool!)

  Edited to Add: Got the design traced on to the skirt front...didn't take too long...about an hour. Thank goodness for my light table!