Heirloom sewing for children

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March 21, 2016 · 2:16 pm

A Second Chance

Although I did quite a lot of sewing for my two children when they were young, there were a few particular dresses I had always wanted to make for our daughter. Somehow by the time I had the time to think about making them, she had grown just a bit too old for these dresses better suited for a two, three, or four-year-old. But now I have a second chance to make them, this time for granddaughters. (Lucky me!)

With our oldest granddaughter’s third birthday approaching, I picked one of my favorite “sewing-for-children” books off of my shelf, and went right to the section on what has to be my favorite little girl’s dress of all time.

This beautiful book by Kitty Benton was published in 1981, by Hearst Book, New York. It is extensively illustrated, with explicit instructions for every project. It also has a complete section on Sewing Techniques, including smocking, embroidery stitches, hems, sewing on buttons, etc., etc. The book is an invaluable guide for heirloom sewing. Copies of it are available on Amazon and through a few Etsy shops.

This beautiful book by Kitty Benton was published in 1981, by Hearst Books, New York. It is extensively illustrated, with explicit instructions for every project. It also has a complete section on Sewing Techniques, including smocking, embroidery stitches, hems, sewing on buttons, etc., etc. The book is an invaluable guide for heirloom sewing. Copies of it are available on Amazon and through a few Etsy shops.

And here is the dress I have always loved so much!

The dress in the book is geared towards a two-year-old, so I decided to lengthen the bodice to fall at the waist, better suited for a young lady of three. I actually used this New Look pattern, version C (in lavender), for my pattern.

Obviously, I intended for the sash to tie in the back.

I lengthened the sleeves as well, in keeping with the intention of Kitty Benton’s design.

To transfer the embroidery design onto the bodice, I photo-copied it and enhanced the stitching lines with a fine-tipped black marker. Then I held it up to a window, with the blue gingham bodice piece centered on top, and I traced the design lightly with a sharp pencil.

A simple and sweet flower bouquet.

I used purchased yellow piping, being fortunate enough to find the perfect color. No need to make more work for myself when what I needed was readily available.

The embroidery on the dress took me longer than I anticipated, but I was able to finish the dress in the nick of time (except for a hook and eye at the back neck; I actually finished much of the hand sewing on it while spending the past 9 days with my daughter and granddaughters while our son-in-law was away on business; I forgot to bring hooks and eyes with me, so on my next visit, I’ll be doing that little addition!)

I actually hand-picked the zipper. I’ll be happy when I can get that neck properly finished with hook and eye.

And a close-up look at what makes this little dress so endearing, besides the little person who will wear it!

All I had to do was hope that the dress would fit little Aida well, and most importantly, that she would like it! Fortunately, both concerns were quickly dismissed, as she seemed to love the dress from first glance in the box and immediately wanted to put it on.

Her birthday party was held on the first day of Spring, and although it felt more like Winter, Aida happily wore her new dress for that special day.

The birthday girl!

Aida has already given me more joy than she will ever know – and also a second chance for some “little” sewing!

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April 9, 2013 · 4:35 pm

Fifty little dresses!

Can you guess?? It’s a girl!

Our dear daughter and her wonderful husband have given us our first grandchild. Little Aida was born on March 19^th in the middle of a last-day-of-Winter New England snow storm. She weighed 6 pounds, 12 ounces and was 19.5 inches long. Of course, she is beautiful and dainty and looks like she will wear little dresses with delight!

Aida – one week old

I had the wonderful opportunity to spend three weeks with my daughter, Susanna, son-in-law, Jon, and baby Aida to help them over the initial hospital stay and adjustment to home. I cooked and baked and cleaned and shopped for groceries and did laundry, and cooked and baked and cleaned and shopped for groceries and did laundry, and cooked and baked and cleaned and . . . did all the things my daughter could not do. (Aida was persistently in breech position while in utero and, despite heroic efforts to get her to turn, remained so, necessitating a c-section.) Sewing and blogging went unattended, but such is life in all its sweetness and toil.

I also sang silly songs to Aida, whispered in her ear about Christian Dior and Cristobal Balenciaga and about sewing from pretty Vogue patterns, and we planned tea parties and dolls’ fashion shows. No time like the present to get these things started, right?

Aida’s birth brought back many memories of the birth of her mommy – my daughter – almost 32 years ago. Before Susanna was born, I bought this book as a gift to myself and took it with me to the hospital.

Of course, I didn’t know we were having a girl (neither did Susanna and Jon). Then I found myself so busy and overwhelmed with my growing family (Susanna’s brother was born less than two years later), that somehow I never used the ideas in this book, preferring commercial patterns for all the sewing and smocking I did for my two. But I never stopped looking at it, and never gave up hope of making some of the lovely clothing and gifts.

The blue gingham dress, adorned with a spray of embroidery flowers, is my favorite dress in the entire book. Yes, I think Aida would wear this dress well!