Underneath It All

Here is a sneak peek of the Flower Girl dresses. I will discuss the dresses in another post.

The term "Can you see it on a moving child?" applied here ...big time. I worked for months on the smocked dresses and slips and flower girl baskets making sure everything was perfect.

This two little girls discovered their "New Best Friend" at the rehearsal and had a blast. They twirled, danced and ran all over the church together.  They were absolutely adorable.

 The only time they were still long enough to get a photo.

When I make a special dress such as a Flower Girl dress or a First Holy Communion dress I always make a slip to go with the dress.   The slip can be worn in the car to the event and can be worn between pictures and at the reception.

Each slip is unique and is made to go under the special dress.  For this wedding, the Flower Girl dresses were sleeveless with a full smocked bodice. The fabric was Cotton Sateen from Kaufman fabrics.




The slightly heaver weight of the Flower Girl dress fabric allowed me to use a color fabric under the dresses without it showing (except when the girls were doing cartwheels........ and twirling and.......dancing.)




We looked at several colors and went with 60inch wide Imperial Batiste in "Sky Blue". The other color I was considering  was "Neptune". The fabric is available at several places. I bought mine from Fabrics.com.


The reason I went with the Imperial Batiste from Spechler Vogel as opposed to a 100% cotton batiste is that Imperial is soft and does not wrinkle. It is also cheaper (I was absorbing the cost of both dresses and slips as my gift towards the wedding).

As I said before each slip is designed to go under the Special Dress. This means that the slip will not peek out at the neck and arm holes and the ruffles of the slip's skirt will enhance the Special Dress.


The easiest way to accomplish these goals is to make the slip from the dress pattern and make modifications.   I used Children's Corner "Louise" in a size 3 for both Flower Girl dresses.

The following Tutorial is for modifying a dress bodice pattern to make a slip/sundress:


I am going to start with tracing the Front Dress pattern onto pattern tracing material (do not cut out the front bodice that you traced). I like to use Easy Pattern by Pellon from JoAnn's Fabric. I buy it by the bolt with my 40% off one item coupon.

With a pencil, transfer all markings (seam allowances, straight of grain line, notches)  Fold pattern in half and mark the Center Front on the pattern. Also, add notations as to what pattern you are using and what size, ie.....CC Louise , size 3 for Flower Girl dress/slip. 

I know this is a "DUH! I already know this" but I need to point this out in case you didn't realize or need a reminder.  The neck and arm hole seam allowance lines (marked in red in the illustration) are the finished edge of the dress. What this means is the slip needs to be  below these lines if I don't want it to show.

Below my seam allowance lines I am going to draw another line that is 1/2 inch below. These are my guidelines or boundaries. I don't want to go beyond these lines when I am modifying my bodice or my slip will show. I choose 1/2 inch below because I want to add piping to the slips for a clean finished edge.

If I was just going to make a slip that had shoulder seams I would be about done but I want some thing different.   To create a Sundress style slip I need to mark a horizontal line that is parallel to the bottom edge. I drew my line so that it intersected with my 1/2" guide lines. I could have gone lower with this line but these slips are for 3 year olds to wear in church.

Now I am going to connect the arm hole line with the horizontal line with a dress maker's curve.

Mark seam allowances and notations then  pat yourself on the back because you have created the front bodice of your slip. You will need to follow the same steps for the back bodice.

Okay, now lets talk about copyrights. I created my slip from the Children's Corner's Louise pattern. This makes it a derivative of that pattern and is still copyrighted by Children's Corner. Nuf said.

I decided to make the slips extra special and added an insert of joined lace to the front bodices.  I am making two identical slips so instead of  creating two separated joined lace inserts I am going to just make one strip which is long enough for both bodices.

The front bodice pattern measures 13 inches wide and 6 1/2 inches tall.  To make two, I need to start with a piece of fabric that is twice as long as my bodice with some extra ease. 

I cut a piece of fabric  that is 15 inches wide and 15 inches tall(6 1/2inches x 2 + ease).  Pull a thread to make sure all the sides are on the grain.

With a pencil I mark the "Top" of the fabric in an area that will be cut away later (you could also use a small safety pin). I want to make sure my fabric's straight of grain is going in the right direction(up and down)  and stays that way during the construction process.  Set the fabric aside for a few minute.

I choose lace with a rose motif from my stash. I started with the center piece then added the 2 pieces to the outsides.  My center pieces was 15" long. I match the print design on the crosses(B) and turn one of the rose prints(A) upside down so that the patterns were mirror images.  I estimate that I used a yard(36") each of the cross print lace and  the outside rose print lace. Each piece was then cut in half to make 2 strips.

The lace was joined together with a narrow zigzag. I used Madeira No 80 thread and my Bernina #10 edge foot.  I started with my center piece then added the cross print lace(B) then the rose print lace(A)

On my fabric I folded it in half to find my center and just finger pressed the top fold. Make a tiny cut on this fold line and pull a thread. This is a guide to make sure my lace inset is straight with the fabric.

Pin the lace insert to the right side of the fabric. Stitch the lace to the fabric with a straight stitch. Again, I used Madeira No 80 and my Bernina #10 foot.

Now the scary part comes next!  I am going to cut my fabric that is behind the lace along that pulled thread line down the center. For extra security I like to insert a ruler in-between the lace and the fabric. With Appliqué scissors cut the fabric (not the lace) along the drawn thread line. Fold each side back and press.

Pin Stitch along the lace edge. This stitch on your sewing machine looks like a ladder with a rung missing. Trim the excess fabric down to 1/4 inch. Press again.

I made a copied of my slip pattern so I could lay both patterns on my fabric at the same time. Aline the center rose motif with the center line of the  pattern.  Make adjustments as needed. Pin in place and cut out your lace/fabric bodice.

And the front bodice is done. I made 1 inch shoulder straps that buttoned in the back and added piping to the top edge and bottom edge of the bodice.

I wish I could show you the expressions on the Flower Girls faces. This was their first look at the bride in her dress. They were  totally mesmerized. They told her that they had pretty white dresses to put on also.

Picture Smocking part 6

We left off in this tutorial with tying off our floss. Now we need to rethread our needle with 4 new strands of floss that has been stripped and tweaked like we did in the very beginning.


We are  going to stack our next row but we are increasing the number of cable stitches. Our design calls for 9 cables starting and ending with an Up stitch.


You can choose to start the new row to the left or right of center. It is totally a matter of choice. I am going to start to the right of the center line.


Just as we have done before, we are going to take the needle and floss through the back of a pleat to secure the knot. Bring the needle up through the bottom between the 4 and 5 pleat to the right of the center line.

Bring the needle and floss through the pleat on the right and we are ready to start stacking again.

I am going to stack 9 cable stitches.

Sometimes I use my needle to "Lay down" a stitch. Making sure my floss is separated, I place my needle under the floss. While applying a very slight tension to the floss with the needle, I am going to pull my floss gently down.

You could also use a needle trolly for this. To be totally honest, I have tried a needle trolley but didn't like it for several reason. One reason is everyone in the house liked to play Edward Scissor Hands with it. The second reason is I tended to poke myself every time I needed to push up my glasses. :-)

Okay, enough of sewing tools used for weapons of mass destruction. Our next row we are increasing again. Our design calls for 11 cables stitches starting and ending with an Up stitch.

This row is going to be a little different only because it is our 5th cable row. This insert was pleated on a 24 row pleater. This allows us 5 cable rows between pleating thread rows.

The same way a brick layer would use a level line we are going to use our pleating thread to make sure everything is level.


My fifth row is going to be just under and kissing the pleating thread row.  If your picture smocking was perfect you would just stitch your 11 cable stitches. But since the world and my smocking is not always perfect I use these rows to get back on tract.


I am going to start my increase row as usual (Come up in the valley between the pleats then take my needle to the left through the pleat.)

To straighten out your picture smocking we are going to either fluffy the cable row a little by laying down the cable stitch as shown before……..

Or we may need to flatten out a stitch with the side of our needle. Neither of these techniques are substitutes for bad cable stitches. If these slight adjustment don't work and you are really off then you will need to take out the previous row and restack the cable row and make corrections.

Everyone back on track? Our next row is something new. This row is a mirror image 11 cables.

When we ended our row before, we slanted our needle on the last pleat as usual. This would bring the needle and thread  in the center valley of our first stitch on this row.

I have stitched these matching rows 2 different ways. One is to just bring your needle and floss through the bottom of the pleat (as shown) so we are ready to stitch our cable row.

This works, but I find it doesn't give much support to my first cable stitch. After years of picture smocking I really prefer something different.

• After I have stitched my last cable on the row before and my needle and floss are in the valley of pleat 5 and 6 (from the center line).
• I take my needle down to the back through the bottom of that valley.
• Bring my needle and floss back up the same valley but not in the same needle hole.
• Then bring my needle and floss to the right through the bottom of the pleat as shown.

Notice that my needle depth with either technique is identical to the previous row.

We are almost done! Two rows left.  We are decreasing on both rows. The first row will be  9 cable stitches and the second will be 7 cable stitches. Both rows are  starting and stopping with a Down stitch.

Lets see if you know how to proceed on your own.

Walla we are done (with the Gingerbread Girl's head)!

Oh No!……...Before I tied off my floss I noticed the dreaded "Two headed Cable  Stitch".    I knew this would bug me so I unstitched my last row and fixed it by making sure my floss was really separated and slanting my needle more on the last stitch.

Now we are done!

What next?   Normally, I would say we were going to turn our work over and finish the body of the Gingerbread girl. Since the Gingerbread Boy's head is identical and everything is fresh in our mind, your homework is to duplicate what you have just learned.

• You know how to read the design and dissect it.
• How to choose your starting spot.
• How to strip and and squeak you floss.
• How to tie on.
• How to start your row.
• How to decrease a stacked cable row.
• How to increase a stacked cable row.
• How to stitch a matching cable row.
• And how to tie off.

Note: We are getting ready for an Ice storm followed by snow to hit here at the farm on Friday. Due to the possibilities of having no electricity  the next installment may be delayed.   We are busy getting the farm prepared for the possibilities (gas for the generator and the vehicles, wood rack filled up, extras straw in the chicken house, everything charged up and something for me to smock) Stay safe and warm!~jg

Picture Smocking part 5

Now the fun part. Lets stack our cable rows! :-)


(if you need to see any of the pictures up close just click on them)

We are going to work upwards completing the Gingerbread Girls's head.

When we stitch the second row, each cable is going to match up with a cable from the previous row.   Think of it like an online dating service…."Everyone has a match"

 

If you need more visual help, dig out a set of Lego's and practice stacking.


Besides stacking our next cable row we are also going to decrease the row. The row above is going to be smaller the the row before.



The next row, according to our designs, is 11 cable stitches and starts again with a Down Cable.


Bring the needle and floss down in the valley of the last pleat. We are going to do the same steps we did when we started with the very first stitch.  Bring the needle and floss up in the center valley of where we want our next cable to be.

Notice something different?  Look at the hint of the green border….we have turned our insert over.

Now, repeating what we did on our very first cable we are bringing our needle and floss through the pleat on the left so we are in position to stitch our second cable row.

After we have stitched our 11 cable stitches we are going to again slant the last stitch. 

Congratulations! We have stacked a cable row.  I've turned the insert back right side up (notice the green border?)

Now, check your work to make sure everything is correct. I have noticed that my floss is beginning to show some wear. I can get the next row smocked but I am going to have to change threads after that.

On our next row, we are going to be decreasing in the number of cable stitches again but we are going to start with an Up Cable.    Bring the needle and the floss down in the valley of our last pleat so we are ready for the next row.

Each cable row is about 1/8" wide. When I bring my needle and floss up I don't want to be exactly next to the previous row. Just eyeballing it, my needle and floss are coming up about 1/16" or half the width of my cable row.

As we have done before, the needle and floss are going through the pleat on the left. We are now lined up to start on next cable row.

We are stitching 7 cable stitches, starting with an Up Stitch. Notice the distance of this first cable compared to the row below.

Now when we take our second cable stitch, which is a Down cable stitch, everything is lining up perfect. If the row is not lining up, take the stitches out and reposition them.  Remember to keep a consistent  stitch depth.

I have finished my last stitch on the row and have slanted my last stitch as we have done before. My floss is showing wear so it is time to tie off and start with new floss.

To tie off, we bring the needle and floss to the back.

Take a tiny stitch in the back of a pleat.

Go through the loop.

Then go through the second loop and tug gently to form the knot. I leave about a 1/2 inch tail.

To be continued……….. Up next, Increasing our cable row!

Picture Smocking-Picture Perfect Part 4

Everyone ready to start?

Find a comfortable place to sit with good lighting and lets begin……

Choose one of the designs to the left or right of the center design to begin with. The reason for this is because the center design will be the focal point. As you smock your stitches will get better. Leaving  the best for last.  

I am going to start with the Gingerbread Girl.  Choose your floss colors. I am going to use DMC #400 (brown) for the Gingerbread. #911(green) for the Christmas tree and #956 (pink) for the border for this tutorial.

Looking at the smocking design, notice where I have selected to start. This is a suggested location. You can choose any location  to start as  that long as it is on a pleating row. You could start on the outside edge or start in the center and work outward.

I am going to start 9 pleats to the left (as you look at the smocking plate) of the gingerbread girl on row 4.

We have dissected the smocking design, now we are going to break down the picture smocking design down to the lowest common denominator …….The Cable Stitch.

We are going to start by threading the needle with 4 strands of floss(brown) that has been stripped. In all of these photos my floss has  only been "squeaked". 

Make a knot on one end. We are going to bring the needle through the back of one of the pleats near where we are starting. Four strands of floss makes a bigger knot. I do not want the knot to fall in the valley of the pleats and give me a lump to smock around.

Gently pull the needle and floss till it is snug.

Bring the needle up in the valley between pleat 8 and 9. I have placed a straight pin to show you the edge of the design on that row. 

I like to make my first row to be a just slightly above the pleating threads. This is a matter of choice. You could also make your first row straddle the pleating thread, just watch that you don't go catch your pleating threads. 

Now, bring the needle to the left through the 9th pleat. Take notice of the depth of your needle. You will take a slightly deeper bite then you would with a geometric smocking plate.

Now we are ready to take our first cable stitch. According to the design this will be a Down Cable.

Keeping your needle parallel to your pleating threads and at the same depth bring your needle through the pleat.

Walla! A perfect cable stitch.  Notice that my floss looks like a ribbon.  This is good.

This picture is included for three reasons. The first is so you can see the depth of the needle through the pleat. The second reason is to talk about how you hold your insert.

I prefer to keep my insert sideways (as shown in this picture) so that I am smocking away from myself. I find it reduces the carpal tunnel in my wrist. This is a matter of choice. Choose to hold your insert/smocking the way it is most comfortable for you.

The third reason is to show you how to make the second cable. Keep the needle parallel and the depth consistent.

How is your floss doing?  Sometimes it just doesn't behave. If your floss has become twisted after you have already made your stitch just pull it up and smooth it out with the eye end of your needle.

If your floss is really twisted, you can slide your needle down the floss so that it is laying on your insert and then straight out the threads.

Continue stitching your cable row. We need 17 cables for first row.

When you get to the neon green thread that marks the center be carefull not to catch the thread.

When you get to the end of the row  to stop the last stitch of the Picture Smocking from making a "Y", I am going to slant my last stitch.

I am going to keep my needle straight as I have previously done. But before I pull my needle through the fabric I am going to pull the eye end of the needle to one side twisting the pleat. Then pull the needle and floss through.

The first row is now complete!

To be continued…….