Tag Archives: lace

This and That, and Hello

I hope you all had a great weekend regardless of any “yucky” weather that may have come your way. Our weekend weather, here in northern Illinois, was grey both days, but only half wet. (The Sunday morning sunshine disappeared quickly.)

When I look out my sewing studio window on this brand new day and work week, I see endless blue sky, which I am very grateful for.

Last week I started a new ensemble for Gracie. While looking through my laces I found this tatting lace. Even though it’s gorgeous, and I wanted to use it, I wasn’t sure how to apply it. This fabric, though, is too PERFECT for it; the little circles on the lace mimic the faint honeycomb design on the background of the fabric. Even the color is perfect. I took some time to think about it, made a little sample, and found if I applied it by hand it would work out. Sometimes the sewing machine needs to be put aside.

I applied the lace to the underside of the skirt. I found that the lace “fit” in the space right under the hemline’s seam allowance. I used a very fine (#11 straw) needle and matching thread. I found that putting a tiny vertical stitch through the base of each circle kept the lace in place the best. I made sure to end with a full circle, so I could stitch the first and last ones together. It didn’t take long at all, but I definitely needed my reading glasses for this task.

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Here’s a closeup of the underside after hand sewing. My thumb looks gigantic! This is very tiny lace.

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By sewing the lace to the underside, it looks as if it’s peeking out from the hemline when seen from the right side. I am very happy with the result. Isn’t it the perfect fit for this print?

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My brown-eyed Little Darling beauty, Alice, (painted by Nelly Valentino) wants to wish you the loveliest of weeks. I took this photo of her last week while she was loving on her poodle. I soon put Alice to work, however. She is now wearing a brand new ensemble that she is modeling for me. I will share those photos with you in a day or two.

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I want to wish you a lovely week as well, my friends. Thank you so much for stopping by today. ❤

“Strawberry Season”

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Did you know that May is National (U.S.) Strawberry Month? I just found out from this list at national calendar.com. Fortunately, I have a strawberry themed ensemble all ready to go for this holiday. (ha ha) It is kind of fun to be tuned in to the minor holidays though, planned or not.

Our strawberry season hasn’t kicked in yet. Here in northern Illinois, mid June is when our berries will be ready to pick. My Kaye Wiggs Gracie is all ready to go picking, and somehow even found a few early strawberries. Hmm, wonder how she managed that.

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Gracie’s basket of berries is hand made by me. The fabric berries are stuffed with poly fiberfill, so are very light weight. The berries are machine sewn; the wool felt berry tops are hand embroidered. I found white flower beads in my stash that look like strawberry blossoms! A yellow seed bead for the center completes the strawberry blossom. The stems are beaded loops so that Gracie can hold them. The basket is woven with strips of mint green scrapbook paper, and it holds the berries perfectly. I made a little hand written tag with the name of the ensemble on it; it dangles from the handle.

Even Gracie’s bracelet is berry themed. White berry blossom beads, yellow seed beads (blossom centers) and green seed beads (stems) are strung on stretchy jewelry cord. The tiny red heart bead (to show that this set was made with great care and love) even looks like a strawberry!

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Gracie’s cotton dress is of the palest cool pink. The berries and mint green leaves have a hand painted look to them which I find very pretty and delicate, despite being brightly colored. The white blossoms and doily shapes are subtle, but add to the delicateness of this print. The white inset cotton English Cluny lace I added to the skirt is the perfect accent.

The hand knit lace shrug is made with bamboo thread. It has a crocheted ruffle edging.

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The wide brimmed hat is embellished with a band made from the dress fabric. I appliquéd a wool felt strawberry to the hat that coordinates with the handmade berries.

All in all, I think Gracie is looking ready to celebrate National Strawberry Month, don’t you?

“Strawberry Season” will be available tonight at 7:00 pm CST, cindyricedesigns.com.

“A Lovely Blossom”

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Hello everyone. First of all, can someone pretty please send me some sunshine. I am having a hard time waking up on this wet and dreary day; I just cannot seem to get going this morning. Ugh!

I finished up another ensemble for Gracie . . . again. I must say she is quite enjoying all of the attention she’s been getting lately. All of this modeling is perfecting her look, practice makes perfect. Some days her beauty takes my breath away. *sigh*

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Gracie’s new dress was made out of the final colorway I purchased of this print. If you’d like to see the others again, here are the links. The first was Gracie’s “Beauty and Blossoms” and the second was “Happiness is Pink” made for Patience. I almost put this fabric away for later, but my pink mohair/silk lace yarn somehow got placed next to this piece of fabric. I heard the angels sing, that’s how beautiful the yarn and fabric looked together. a lovely blossom 555

I did something a little different for this shrug. To make it extra lacy and delicate I went up a needle size and still used one strand of yarn. It is extremely “light as a feather”! Because the shrug is so delicate, I made the dress’s neckline wider, so the bodice would be more delicate, also. The look is really pretty on Gracie, no?

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I concentrated on the cool pink for the accessories. I had to dye the two laces and cotton Lycra for the tights, but I had another perfect yarn for the hair decorations. I discovered this blossom charm in my stash. The sparkly stone in the center is the most perfect shade of pink for this ensemble. The basket I found at a thrift store; I’ve been unable to part with it, but it went so well with this set that I decided to let it go. (The pink flowers on it are just perfect.) All in all, this ensemble was a LOT of fun to make, and even though there were a lot of steps to it, it came together painlessly.

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