Heirloom Jammies

               

Thoughts of Spring brings my mind to new pajamas.  I always make myself new pajamas in the Springtime.  The pajamas I am showing you today are a pair that I made a year ago.  These are among my favorites.  Made of mint green Victorian batiste, they are light weight and cool and, thanks to the various heirloom techniques employed in their design, feminine.

Pintucks fashioned along each side of the front bodice are embellished with old fashioned feather stitch.  And sandwiched between the button placket and the pin tucks, are insertions which I made from ivory Victorian batiste which I embroidered with bullion roses and chain stitch.

This same insertion is used  along the cuff of each sleeve and adds a nice touch.

The pattern for this set is the Lounging Shirt ensemble from Sleepwear Especially for You by Martha Pullen.

 

Enjoy!  Merry Gay

Roscoe

              
I know this isn’t about sewing, but I wanted to share my sweet granddog, Roscoe, with you.  He is an Australian Shepherd and belongs to my step-daughter.  She is moving to a new house, so he is spending a couple of days with us.  Roscoe is such an entertaining character.  You just have to be around him to appreciate him.  He loves to sing… especially to the Battle Hymn of the Republic!  And he brought with him his baby, a stuffed Mallard duck, which he carries around and takes care of.  LOL.  He just tickles me.  I had to share.

Enjoy,  Merry Gay

The Beaded Pin Cushion

               
I found the embroidery for this little pin cushion a long time ago.  It was at least last summer if not longer than that that I was ‘surfing the net’ and came across this little beauty on the Country Bumpkin website.  I remember I had been over there because I had just bought an issue of their embroidery magazine, “Inspirations”, and having been thoroughly impressed by it, was inspired to go have a look-see on their website.  Anyway,  I found this freebie over there and promptly downloaded and copied it.  And there it sat on a shelf in my sewing room collecting dust until I recently gave my sewing room a good cleaning and re-discovered it.  So I stitched it out.  It is little and didn’t take long. 
                    
When it was finished, my first thought was to make a biscornu out of it.  But then I saw a sweet little pin cushion on one of my embroidery groups that had been beaded all around the edge by inserting beads into a blanket stitch and that really intrigued me.  It was something new to learn, so that is exactly what I did.
                  
I must say that I love the resulting pin cushion.  I am going to use it for my embroidery needles!

Enjoy,  Merry Gay

Vintage Bluebirds!

Yes, there’s another new pair of pillowcases in my linen closet!  I had embroidered these panels a month or so ago and decided to finally put these together.  And I am so glad that I did because I love them.  They remind me that spring is upon us (IN FEBRUARY????).  My next project will be to embroider a white top sheet with the same embroidery, so I will have a set of linens that completely match.  I thought the little ruffle was a sweet little touch.

  

I have been planning a set of Valentine linens for next February and I think I will use a ruffle in those as well.  You know I’ll share a picture of those when I get them done!  Anyway, the embroidery design came from a Crabapple Hill pattern.  I didn’t make my pillowcases using her pattern, but I did use her pattern for inspiration. 

Enjoy!  Merry Gay

Easter Pillow Cases

                     
My online sewing group works on a project together as a group periodically throughout the year.  Each of us takes turns writing the tutorials for the rest of the group.  We learn a new technique or brush up on other techniques while making a useful item or gift.  It is fun.
In March it will be my turn to ‘teach’ the group and my choice of project was to make pillow cases.  Easter pillowcases!    We are learning/practicing making a pieced border and inserting rick rack into a seam. 

I started with an embroidery from the Pfaff website.  I added rick rack and joined it to a simple patchwork piece made from vintage looking fabrics


I added a coordinating fabric for the cuff of the pillowcase.

Then I sewed this part to the main body of the pillowcase.  Sewed up the sides.  Hemmed the cuff.  And VOILA……….
 
Enjoy,  Merry Gay

Castles in the Air

    
                
Many of you don’t know this, but I do quite a lot of embroidery in addition to my sewing with my machine.  This project is one of my favorite things to work on while I watch tv.   It is called “Castles in the Air” by Papillon Creations and is a mystery stitch along.   Well, it WAS a mystery!  This SAL is actually over.  I just started it late.  So I am up to part 8 of 24 parts and this is what it looks like so far.  You really cannot see it’s real beauty in pictures.  Not only is it stitched with floss, but it is heavily beaded with different colors of crystals.  It is just beautiful when the light catches it.  I will post more as I progress through the different parts so you can watch it grow as I stitch.
 
                
Enjoy,  Merry Gay

For My Hope Chest

                         
From an old old pattern …….. one that I purchased when my oldest son was born in 1984.

This sweet little diaper shirt is made from Victorian batiste, buttoned in the front with vintage square mother-of-pearl buttons and smocked with an equally vintage smocking plate.  I think the first time I used this smocking plate, it was stitched across the bib of a sweet little john-john.

  This time it gets wrapped in tissue and laid with my other treasures in my Grandmother’s hope chest to wait for a sweet baby.


Enjoy,  Merry Gay

To Each His Own

                  
We had problems at our house last Christmas!  Towel problems!  The kids came home for the holidays.  I set out towels in each bedroom so that each one would have his own towels.  The problem arose when the towels got mixed up.  My sons are messy people.  Sad but true!  And all of my towels are white.  So when one son threw his towel on the floor, I didn’t know who to get angry with!  So everyone was in the dog house.  Hey, it’s Christmas and I have better things to do but LAUNDRY for pete’s sake!  Anyway,  I cooled down, Christmas came and went, the boys went back to their respective homes and I was left with a mountain of white towels.  After they were all cleaned, I figured out a solution …….. well hopefully so.  I divided my towels into sets of 2 and I monogrammed them.  I monogrammed each set in a different color than the others.  And they are color coded to the wall paper in each bedroom.  So now when I assign a set of towels to a bedroom, and I know who is in that bedroom, I will know who is responsible for that towel!  LOL.  It may not make my sons any neater, but I’m sure they will try a little harder since they can be found out!
                   
Enjoy,  Merry Gay

Bunny Hill

                      
This is the quilt I like to call ‘the bunny quilt’.  Not that this is the only quilt that I have made that has bunnies!  I have 2 others that are quite beautiful.  But this was my first bunny quilt.  This is the quilt that got me hooked on applique.  And this quilt is mainly pink with some green added for balance.  Since pink is my favorite color, and my bedroom is decorated in pink and white, if you were to come to my home, chances are you would see this on my bed! 
 
This quilt started out as a pattern for a wall hanging that was published in American Patchwork and Quilting, I think it was in the Spring of 2010.  Maybe April?  I would have to get up and look, and I’m having a lazy day or I would.  I’m sure it was in 2010 though.  Anyway, I digress!
 
Anne Sutton of Bunny Hill Designs designed it.  And I just fell in love with it.  I didn’t want a wall hanging though, so after I made the wall hanging part, I just kept adding borders until it reached the size that I needed to fit my bed.
I love this quilt. 
Enjoy,  Merry Gay

Crabapple Hill Tote Bag

                                

Last weekend, I was playing in my sewing room and decided to make a new bag for myself for Spring.  I had some pink/red paisley print and some matching red fabric that I had been anxious to cut into; and I had just received a bag pattern from Crabapple Hill, so this seemed the perfect project for a boring Saturday afternoon.                    

This little bag is loaded with pockets!  Look ……

I know you can only see one of the big pockets, but there are 2 ….. one on each side.  And they are large enough to hole a magazine (or 2).  And see the little pocket on the side?  Perfect for pencils.  Or a cell phone.  Candy bar! 

    

Then, there is the large central space in the middle of the pockets. 

There are also pockets on the outside of the bag.

 

 

There is one on each side.  I slipped a pair of dressmaker sheers into one so you can see how deep it is!

When I made this bag, the pattern called for a large pocket on the front.  I thought it would be really cool to monogram it with my initials,  and still do!  However, I hated that green after I had attached it to the bag, so I took it off. 

                         

I may make another one, but I’m in no hurry.  There are plenty of pockets already on this bag.  Probably more than I will actually use unless I pack it with a take-along sewing project for a road trip.  And I am happy with it off.  And, as a final thought, if I were to make this bag again, I would make the front pocket, only I would set the pocket into the seams like the other pockets.  That does give a much more professional finish.  At least in my opinion.

                           

 

Enjoy!  Merry Gay

My Sewing Room

                           
I had posted about my sewing room on my old blog, but not here.  So I thought it would be appropriate to do so since some of you may not have seen it.  This is my sewing room.
      
And this is my sewing machine ……. I named her Maude, after my Great Grandmother who I adored, admired, and respected so very, very much.  And my faithful companion until her untimely death in November 2011, Alison.  Alison and her sisters, Prissy and Carole sewed with me all the time and used to fight over who got to sit in the wingback chair next to my sewing table.  Just like sisters!  And sometimes they would all try to pile into the chair together and there really was only room for one in that chair!  I miss them terribly and have often thought about a new puppy, but it’s just too soon I suppose. 
                           
And yet another view.  I have a walk-in closet just to the left in this picture, which you can’t see.  But I keep most of my stash in there.  And I do keep some of my best fabrics in the dresser where they won’t get jumbled around with everything else.  This set up works well for me.  It is adjoined to my bedroom which is important so I can be close to my DH who is sick so much of the time.

Here you can see the little chest where I keep sewing notions and books.  The closet I talked about earlier is there, you can just see the knob of the door.
And that’s just about it for my sewing room.  Hope you enjoyed the tour!
Hugs,  Merry Gay