Lady Greensleeves

"Alas my love you do me wrong, to cast me off so discourteously!"  It was not until I was putting the finishing touches on this doll's medieval costuming that I began considering who she was.  So very unlike me, but then the lovely ballad Greensleeves came to mind, and I could not get the tune out of my head.  And so is born, my version of Lady Greensleeves.

If anyone has looked up the lyrics on an engine search, or speculated about the myth that Henry VIII wrote it for Ann Boleyn, you well know  this is only a myth.  The lyrics to this ballad were penned long before the tune was written in 1580.  The melody, written for the lute, and has become a well recorded song by many artists over the years, and has also been sung to other poems throughout the centuries.  What is lasting, is a tale of unrequited love for a beautiful woman who could not love a man who gave her the moon and stars.  Lady Greensleeves.

Several artists throughout time have been haunted by this melody inspiring them to paint the likes of Lady Greensleeves.  One among them, Dante Gabriel Rossetti (see below).  Enchanting women, all, and each mesmerizes the viewer and seems to tell a story of quiet longing and promised passion. 

Lady Greensleeves is quite a departure from my normal costuming, but I was inspired enough to give dressing Tonner fashion dolls a try after purchasing, at great cost, several historical costumes from a Russian artist.  Unfamiliar with creating patterns for this body type, I decided to "cheat" and try one by an Ebay seller.  Even after I'd done that, I was very reluctant to give it a try as I felt I betraying my growth in creativity.  At least I could do a mock up.  No harm in that, right?  So I cut out the pattern, gave it a whirl on some quality green cotton velveteen, and had a good laugh at my efforts.  You do know that the reason I make my own patterns is because I can't read directions, and often the patterns just don't fit.  You'd think the hood on Dashenka's coat would have chased me off, but I persevered.  And, when I tried the gown on the doll I bought for my medieval project. it came to just below her knees.  Seriously!  What on earth was I thinking?

Well, there were these weird pattern pieces that seemed to have no use or place and I thought they might be for a shawl or cloak or something.  After my medieval "mini" disaster, I discovered what was meant by "attach bb to bb before cutting"!  But, of course this was written on the tops of the weird pattern pieces and the hems of the real ones.  Nothing in the written directions described this.  You just had to know how to read the actual paper pattern.  So I had a good laugh at myself, considered it a true mock up, and carried on.  

Lady Greensleeves's gown is made from a beautiful cotton velveteen that I've had on hand for a few years.  It is lined with gold silk dupioni and the front panel has an overlay of delicate gold netting - as are the sleeve caps.  Figuring out how to line this gown the way I line all my garments, would be a challenge to say the least.  The pattern lining only lined the upper part of the dress and that would leave a rather messy hem, even chunky.  The belled sleeves that fall from the elbow are lined with this gold silk as well.  I didn't like the designer's sleeves, so I softened them by making them more narrow.  I had to "make this my own" you understand.  Playing with this would also give me a chance to work with this 16" feminine body type. 

And, here's a another lark!  I only started researching medieval costuming after I was well into making the final gown.  I was looking for medieval head wear and jewelry ides and discovered so very many different styles from this time period.  It gave me ideas that I've stashed away in a Pinterest gallery, and I want to stay with this awhile.  After I got the hang of it, dressing this doll, I started thinking of what I could do next, and better, on my own.

Lady Greensleeves wears a wimple beneath the hat I designed for her.  I guess I haven't made a little hat in awhile and remember that I do enjoy making them.  In my research, I found so many images of wimples, long and short.  Sometimes they were called veils, and perhaps the term "wimple" only described scarves wrapped tightly around the head.  Not sure.  I was making this up, designing as I went along, and found some wonderful images of women wearing them beneath their hats or crowns.  Was it for style or modesty that these were worn?  I will find out in time. 

Her hat was modeled off of one designed by Franklin Mint for their Guinevere doll.  Again, I made it "my own" by doing it a bit differently.  The crown of it is the velvet of the gown, and the sides are the gold silk with the same netting overlay.  Vintage French metallic trim was added, as well as a band of flat braid.  I have spent HOURS, literally, looking at trims on Etsy for future projects and have some gorgeous ones coming in the mail.  The gown is trimmed with a vintage French metallic trim I bought sometime last year or so ago.  Its nice to have trims like this on hand.  These vintage metallic trims must be sewn on by hand.  The French ones are the best.  To me.

 

Then of course, we needed her jewels and belt.  So back to Pinterest I went.  I looked at pages and pages of medieval jewelry, alternating my search for more trimmings as well as beads.  I could get lost on Pinterest for hours, and have.  Etsy, too. 

 Not being a jeweler or metal smith, I took an afternoon and drove up to Grass Valley to see what Beads Galore might have.  I looked at everything.  I mean everything!  $135 and two and a half hours later, I drove home and started designing the choker she's wearing.  I found a similar necklace on Pinterest and knew this to be the one.  It had to work with the scoop neckline of the gown.  I made a pair of earrings for her and finally the requisite cross on a long chain.

Her belt was the last thing I added and pushed to get that done.  I was going to do one of ribbon falling from the medallion, but the trim for this did not show up in the mail today, and I really wanted to finish this and move on.  Women did wear chain linked belts, so why not try one?  This lovely chain is more delicate than the kind I would have normally used for this purpose, but it was one of yesterday's purchases and I think it works well.  Lady Greensleeves is wearing a pair of green brocade mules that will never be seen, and I did not make, so I've omitted a photo.  For future medieval and renaissance costumes, Facets Boutique, owned by Marcia Friend, has lovely satin mules for these Tonner dolls.

Today is the spring equinox and Lady Greensleeves is walking the grounds of an enchanting medieval castle like that of Scotney Castle in Kent.  Welcome spring, my friends! 

Love,

Melissa 

Meet Dashenka

We're friends here.  Right?  So let's be honest.  I'm going through a difficult time right now as it was necessary to ease my dog, Dover, over the Rainbow Bridge.  He passed away on February 17th from Lymphoma Cancer, and I miss him terribly.  I just received the most loving card in the mail from his oncologist and her team.  In it, each of Dover's friends, and they were!, wrote something tender and endearing about the relationship they had with him over the last two years.  These women became my friends, too, during that time.  So writing, focusing, is difficult, if you can believe that of me.  But, I have a lot to share so let's begin.

I don't know if I'd mentioned this before, but last October, I purchased my very first Dianna Effner Little Darling.  When the email arrived that my "turn" had come up (you have to get on a waiting list for one), I did not have the money to purchase one, but found a way to buy one anyway.  She's an amazingly beautiful vinyl doll - that simply shouldn't cost as much as these artist's are asking - but, we all know about supply and demand.  Straight arms and legs.  Not one joint of articulation, but gosh, they're gorgeous!  You might have thought that I would want to sew for her, but when I saw the incredible knitted artistry in costuming that the Russian needle workers were doing, my "Polina" would only own and wear their work.  And, it remains so.

The interesting thing, is that many of the listings for these outfits indicated the costuming was for Effner Little Darling, Betsy McCall (Tonner), Maru, and Paola Reina - 13" - 14" dolls.  Paola Reina?  What doll is that I wondered?  Loved the name, so I asked my friend, Nadia, about the dolls.  I'd bought a couple of outfits from her for my Little Darling, and her listings had included the Paola Reina name.  She gave me a brief description of the doll, and told me that she was sure I would enjoy sewing for her.  So I went on Ebay and purchased a "Dasha" doll from a Russian doll dealer.  It would take the requisite 6 - 8 weeks for the doll to arrive, and the package was delivered after the new year.  Oh my goodness, was she ever adorable!  I fell in love the minute I unpacked her. 

The Paola Reina is a 13" doll of high quality vinyl.  Her rooted hair is a German or Italian nylon, thick, lush and wonderful to comb.  Her eyes are "real", not painted, and her eye lashes are the soft lashes found on antique reproduction dolls.  The only complaint I have is that they added a vanilla perfume to her vinyl thinking this would appeal to children.  I can only hope the scent goes away in time.  I'm sensitive to anything perfumed, so its a personal grievance.  One of the best things about these dolls is that they only cost $60.  Paola Reina is a doll factory in Spain, and since their debut in 1994, they've grown into a world wide business.  They have a full line of dolls to include baby dolls, but the 13" doll is so lovely and playable, that she's sure to catch on with collectors of Little Darling - if they simply give her a chance, or don't wish to spend an exorbitant amount of cash.

When I started researching what people were doing for this doll in ways of costuming, I found Russian artists that made stunningly beautiful shoes and boots for her from real suede and leather.  Dashenka (the sweeter name for Dasha -  a Russian variation of Dasha conveyed to me by Nadia), already has 12 pairs of custom made shoes for the wardrobe I've intended for her.  The 13" can also wear some of the knitted outfits offered on Etsy and Ebay, and sellers will state which ones.  She is a little Russian child doll, so I chose to create a folklore or peasant-type of styling for her wardrobe, but contemporary. The main difference in the bodies is that Paola Reina has larger feet, a larger head, and a shorter body length, so any patterns you might purchase under the Little Darling title will need major adjustments. 

I began with a basic dress with a natural waist, simple neckline and puffed sleeves.  This little blue dress is made of brushed cotton and is soft and "warm".  Since I began her wardrobe in winter, I wanted Dashenka to be cozy.  Her pinafore is made from the woven cotton I used in the apron for the Alsace-Lorraine doll I made in the fall of last year.  I love this woven cotton as its very versatile and easy to work with.  I recall as I was making this, that the outfit reminded me of something the Hummel figurines might wear.  So, European in style (Sound of Music even?), and traditional.  I also created a little head scarf for her and hand edged the entire thing to finish it nicely.  Dashenka is wearing a pair of the custom made boots I ordered for her, in this outfit.

She also needed a coat, and against my better judgment, I bought a pattern for it from a seller on Etsy, that came in a pdf file.  It was exactly the hooded style I was looking for, and decided to give it a try.  As it turns out, I had to make this over three times to get the fit, and just about redesigned the entire pattern, which only had four pieces.  The hood, the back on a fold, the front which was exactly the same as the front piece, and the sleeves.  The most upsetting of the adjustments was that the hood was HUGE.  It was so big that the tip of it in the back came down to the hem.  I doubt this would even work for Little Darling.  There was nothing wrong with the pdf as far as size translation, but maybe much larger seams were made, and since the directions were in French, I can't be certain.  I like hooded sweaters, jackets and coats for myself, so I enjoy them for my dolls, too. 

The coat is made from a suiting brown wool and is lined with a textural woven cotton that I've had in my stash.  That was another thing I wanted to do with Dashenka.  Use fabrics from my own stash.  The coat features lined patch pockets in front, and leather loops that close over wool covered buttons.  I'm still debating how best to create patterns for her because, I'll admit, she's difficult to dress since her arms move in only two directions.  Tightly forward and back.  This is another reason why I love sewing for the wood body Lawtons.  Their arms can go straight out "airplane style".  Lastly I made a pair of thick, warm stockings for her in a shade of light cream.

 

It was my intention to make Dashenka one outfit that could go from winter to spring, hence the coat, but I was having fun, so I made her an outfit designed only for winter.  During this time, I was reading the book The Bear and the Nightingale, a Winter Trilogy.  Its a story told by an American author in the style of a Russian folk tale.  Immersing oneself in a culture to create a style can be rewarding, not only for the education of it, but it gives you a deeper understanding of the subject on an artistic level.  I also continued to research clothing styles on the Internet as well as Pinterest, and came upon a website called RusClothing.com  I really hit the jack pot with this one.  They not only sell traditional Russian styles, but they sell fabric from Russia!  Cool.  So at some point I'll order some half yards of fabric that will work on a small doll.  And, as for contemporary styling, what's better than looking to the work of those knitters in Russia?  Just copy the style and adapt it for fabric.

The winter outfit consists of the baggy, bloomer style, pants worn by Russian boys (and these were shown on little girls).  A short, lined vest that buttons up the back, is worn over a simplistic peasant style blouse.  The fabric is a thin wool suiting, in a lovely dark gray, that I used for a Lettie Lane pilgrim dress once.  Wishing to brighten things up a tad, I hand-stitched on this adorable jacquard trim that was given to me as a gift from Svetlana, a Russian friend I met several years ago.  She'd sent me several colors of the jacquard ribbon, so I have more to work with in the future.  The sweetest thing about this ribbon is that it has scalloped thread edges, like lace.  I'm still debating adding a little red heart button to the front of the vest, but for the time being, I'll leave it as is.

For this outfit, Dashenka is wearing a pair of gray suede boots that I had made for her.  On the RusClothig website, they showed a large jacquard ribbon head band on a child that tied under the hair with ribbons.  So what little left I had of the black and red ribbon, I used for a little head dress.

The lack of brightness in this outfit had to be dealt with.  Sure, I was in a dark mood with my doggy nearing the end of his life.  The chemo had stopped working and his time was limited.  I will tell you that he did miraculously well on the chemo, which kept the cancer from growing, and at the end, his suffering was short.  My goal was "no suffering".  I did the suffering for him.  SO, to brighten my mood, and the outfit, I decided to make my doll a little rag doll in a traditional sarafan and kokoshnik (head dress).  Her dolly could be the bright spot. 

 

This was fun. I can't help it.  I'm always going to be a miniaturist at heart.  I love tiny things.  I guess the last time I tried little stuffed dolls, was in the summer when I made a few little Chinese "star" dolls as toys for Ten Ping dolls.  This one is made from two arms, two legs and a torso with head.  I thread wrapped the wrists, ankles and neck after stuffing and sewing the limbs on, to create the soft sculpture.  I should have put more stuffing in the head, but I'll make another at some point and do that.  The face was ink drawn on simulating the style on a Matreshka doll I saw on images from an Internet search.  Matreshka is another word for the Matryoshka nesting dolls. 

Dashenka's dolly wears a simple "tiny doll" white blouse, and a  cheery red sarafan and scarf.  The sarafan, or peasant apron style dress, comes up high on the chest, to just  under the arms and has straps over the shoulders.  The length fabric is generally gathered and sewn into a band at the top, but for this little doll, I designed a conical pattern to avoid the gathers.  The jacquard ribbon sewn to the front is another one of the samples Svetlana sent to me.  Her hair is DMC 4 yarn and was both sewn and glued to the head.  I made it extra long so I could give her one long braid, which is a traditional look and often is shown draped over the shoulder.  But, probably the best part of this little rag doll are her valenkis, which are wool boots.

In traditional valenki, there is no seam.  They are made from blocked wet wool, are thick and warm, and most likely water, or at least, snow resistant.  For a tiny doll, a seam up the back is okay.  The doll's valenki are made from oatmeal colored wool with a blanket stitch up the back.  They are removable. 

About this time, things were really going south at home.  We had to put my little beloved down on Sunday, February 17th, and I literally walked in circles like a zombie for days after.  I'd finished my book, and picked up a lighter read by Jean Grainger.  I'd read The Tour, and am now reading the sequel to the Connor trilogy.  Darling stories taking place in Ireland.  I'd purchased some new fabric with an Easter outfit in mind for Dashenka, and told myself, "Just one more.  Then we can move on."  By this time, my immersion into Russian clothing styles was giving me more confidence with how to proceed.

I'd bought, on sale, this absolutely gorgeous "ashes of violets" wool coating and some prints for spring including this delicate paisley that coordinated beautifully with the coating wool.  Nadia had asked me if I was going to make Dashenka a sarafan.  I knew she meant a traditional, festival style.  Floor length, silk, highly decorative, but I wanted a simple day dress for a child.  I already had the white blouse, so making the apron would be the effort.  And, the coat.

I was mistaken thinking that the other coat's pattern would be usable.  It wasn't.  For one thing, I found this child's coat on Pinterest by a Russian seamstress, and just had to make one for my doll.  It took three agonizing tries, lots of wasted wool, and a giving up attitude that says, "Let's get the darn thing done already!"  Part of the problem was making a coat for a 13" doll out of wool suited for humans.  It is thick, which had pluses as well as minuses. 

The little sarafan for Easter is made from two pretty prints.  The geometric floral cotton of the main length is light pink and gold.  The soft floral print for the borders and straps has bits of moss green and red in it, but it all blended well for a springtime dress.  I'm calling this outfit "Easter Babushka".  Interestingly, I read a description of the term Babushka that both referred to the concept of the old woman with treats for children, but also, and simply, the scarf.  I'll have to remind myself to ask Nadia about this.  The little red suede shoes are another pair from the shoe wardrobe I commissioned for her.  I have two other pairs in this style in different colors. 

The coat is a style that combines a gathered front skirt to an empire style bodice front.  It has a Peter Pan collar, two patch pockets and three little buttons to close the front.  The big plus on this heavy felted wool is that you could just clip slits for button hole without stitch edging them.  I think this was one of the reasons I so insistently pursued using this wool.  Besides the gorgeous color.  The coat is unlined, which was another plus in construction.  It was very difficult turning under the edges for top-stitching, but I justified shoving the fabric under the needle in that I didn't have to line the coat.  Some effort had to be made.  I really love the Easter Babushka for its brighter, lighter colors and Dashenka will wear this on my shelf for awhile.  When winter finally passes, she can go without her coat and hold her little doll.

Its time to move on to another doll and another project.  I was watching the episode of Victoria last night, where her admiral retires.  He said it most aptly, "At my age you can't be afford to be sentimental about loss."  But, we are.  Try as we might to keep our heads high and show a smile to the world, loss hurts.  I really miss my boy.

Below are photos of the ashes of violet coat, and some lovely photos which inspired the small "starter" wardrobe I just finished. 

Wishing you all soft and gentle days,

Melissa 

 

With violet leather boots!

 

Paola Reina Factory

 

 

 

 

In memory of my beautiful boy who was my joy and sunshine for 9 1/2 years, Dover.

Mary Lennox's Garden Frock - From a Non-Smocking Home

Where I live, in the Sierra foothills of California, its springtime.  Well, not really, but you'd have a hard time convincing the grass, narcissus and daffodils differently.  What we really have is a lot of sunshine and boggy yards.  The perfect conditions for little green shoots to spring up.  Maybe that's the reason why I finally dug in and tackled this paper doll costume for my Mary Lennox.  I knew it would be a steep learning curve, but this was just what I needed.

January has been a roller coaster of a month for me.  I know I've never mentioned this, but my sweet dog, Dover, is finally losing his battle with lymphoma cancer after two years of chemotherapy.  Anyone who's lost a loved one to cancer knows what I'm going through.  Especially a dog lover.  So what I needed was a focus.  You see, he doesn't know he's sick, so I must always keep an upbeat attitude around him.  Trust me, it helps.  Both of us.  Reading and creating are my two escapes, and I'm doing a lot of both right now. 

As I was contemplating my next move after December, I started cleaning up my studio and noticed that I'd not shelved the book on smocking that I picked up a couple of years ago.  If you've been following this journal, you might recall that I've been putting this off for a long time.  Everyone I'd talked with about smocking, either had a smocking machine, or took a class with a piece already smocked, and ready to embroider.  There's two parts of this process, and neither is "a breeze".  But, the garden frock has been one of my favorites from Mary's paper doll book, so I sat myself down and went to work. 

I really can't say enough about this marvelous book.  Whether you're a beginner, novice or seasoned smocker, this book is so well illustrated and so well written, that even I could manage something out of it.  And, that's saying something for someone who doesn't read or follow directions well. 

 

One of things about smocking is that if you don't get the pleats done to perfection, the embroidery work is not going to "work".  My first attempt was a sloppy one.  Between each stitch is a tiny space, and this all has to be consistent to get the pleats you need to embroider on.  And, this is doll clothing, so it would not do to get a people sized iron on transfer.  You could measure out a thousand dots on a piece of paper and lay your fabric over it, then mark over the dots, but I found a better way.  Polka dot fabric.  Next time, if there is a next time, I'll buy a piece of polka dot fabric with dark dots.  But, the light red worked in a pinch.  I was pretty proud of myself after two days of stitching in these rows, but that was just the beginning of what I needed to do.  And, this was only supposed to be a trial piece.  After doing it though, after spending all that time, I wanted to see if I could make the piece work for the pinafore, which seems to be what this entire outfit was all about. 

 

I had to then teach myself the Diamond Trellis stitch, which is about three-quarters of the way through the book.  "Let's do something difficult, the first time around!"  First you have to learn the cable stitch, then the trellis, then repeat the trellis upside down to make the diamond.  Good grief.  What a lot of work for a 2 3/8" x 3" panel for a doll pinafore!  I had a Boneka smocked dress in front of me to guide me, and it was mighty humbling.  I do know one thing, learned one thing, you have to do this often, maybe all the time, to get really good at it.  And, fast.  Those Indonesian girls at Boneka really know what they're doing!

But, I succeeded in getting a reasonable facsimile of a properly smocked panel with which I could fashion a pinafore around.  I think.  No, not really.  I should have left a larger empty space on one side, but that's besides the point since I was determined to make this piece work after all the time I put into it.

 

The next part of this pinafore, which took even longer, was making embroidered trim for it.  As you know, I try my best to follow an illustration to the T.  When an artist paints a seam or a pleat, this is generally done in shades of gray and purple.  There was definitely navy lines matching the stitching on the trim.  So I had to come up with a way to make those navy lines.  I had some beautifully woven navy cotton left over from a Lettie Lane dress that I was saving, and used that for this purpose.  I measured out thin lengths of the batiste and the navy cotton and stitched them together on the machine, then ironed the two navy strips under the white - then did the navy stitching on top on the edges.  This tape would go over the tiny, narrow straps of the pinafore, tiny waist band, and two strips down the apron.  It would also have to be hand-stitched on, after the embroidered stitching was done. 

The other tape work was done for the top edging of the lace that goes along the bottom of the hem of the apron.  This required only a top band of navy, then that navy band was hemmed beneath.  24" of it, before I attached the lace by hand.  There was no pattern made for the apron, save for the strap ruffles.  I sort of just cut and pieced this thing together as I went along. 

I  suppose you might call this an heirloom pinafore, or at least it was done in heirloom stitching fashion, but it me it was like constructing the Eiffel Tower.  The very last thing I did was the pretty embroidery work that made up the "jacquard ribbon" we would be attracted to on this pinafore.  The white bands I made for it were sewn the same way as the tape, and needed to be hand sewn to the smocking as I "built" the pinafore.  So what transpired while trying to piece this thing together, was that the ladder stitching I did to sew the straps to the panel didn't seem to want to allow me the latitude to angle the straps.  With each stitch I put into those smocking pleats, the straps and pleats wouldn't coordinate.  I did this three times and called it quits.  It seems that all the smocking I did got covered up, too.  Which probably isn't a bad thing.  But, that's why the panel isn't narrower at the waist.  I was very happy to be embroidering in any other color than navy by that time, too.  Basically, the artist painted dots, and I had to make up a pleasing pattern that might resemble something other than colored dots.  I hope this isn't the one time where the illustration is nicer than the costume, but I'm my own worst critic.  Heaven  help me when I attempt to make the pink ruched dress next to it!

Oh yes.  I did make the navy floral dress somewhere in there.  I think it was after I'd completed the Diamond Trellis smocking.  In order to make the apron fit nice and be proportionate, I had to build it over the dress.  I've actually had this lovely cotton print since I first began my Mary Lennox collection.  Purely a lucky find.  Basic dress.  Long puffed sleeves and high neck.  Always fully lined.

Having sewn a small snap to close the narrow waistband ties, I worked on her gardening tools.  This little set was the inexpensive Darice gardening set of spade shovel, pitch fork and digging shovel.  I simply snipped off the long handles, shortening them for 16" doll gardening tools.  I used the Krylon Short Cuts red paint to spray the tines of forked garden tool.  For the handles, there's this neat stuff called Plasti Dip, which is a liquid plastic that most people use for exactly the purpose I did - the handles of tools.  It does come in yellow and clear, as well as black.  Its a little tricky on minis, but I'd loved the results.

Next came the basket.  I knew when I started out that I wanted to needle felt the basket.  I wasn't quite sure of the approach I was going to take, but since there was no way to find this exact basket in the size, shape and woven colors of the illustration, I'd have to make it.  Needle felting it seemed the best way to go.  I looked up basket weaving on many sites and Youtubes, and the best one I could come up with was a "round paper woven basket".  I tried a couple of different things first.  The square paper basket approach, thinking I could needle felt the roundness.  Nope.  I tried cutting wool felt sheets for this same purpose, and that wasn't going to work.  So I made it the standard round basket way of layering crosses into a star shape.  Then you weave the bands through.  Now this isn't paper, cardboard, construction paper or straw.  Its made from felted wool strips.  So it was floppy to work with. 

In order to felt this together, I shaped a styrofoam ball by pressing into it, to make the interior basket shape.  That way I had something poke into besides my finger.  I would have loved to make this out of construction paper, but finding the exact colors, etc...well, I just didn't want to take another two weeks to do this.  Is it perfect? No.  But, then you're looking at learning basket weaving as well as doing it from floppy wool strips that need to be poked, so I'm not going to complain.  I finished it yesterday and made a couple of seed packets from vintage seed packet images found on the Internet. 

I'm pleased with the overall outcome of the complete costume, but I spent three weeks making that pinafore, and I don't wish to repeat that again.  Smocking?  Only on a very "need to" basis will I do it again.  But, I learned a lot.  It was a good experience and I feel more knowledgeable about heirloom sewing as well.

My grandmother made me a smocked gingham dress when I was ten years old.  That woman could do it all!  I remember wearing it and studying the funny, chunky stitches on the front of the dress.  That dress was washed and dried and ironed many times, and the smocking looked fresh and beautiful through each wear.  How I wish she were here today to teach me all she knew. 

Love,

Melissa