Happy Monday morning, everyone! Can you believe we're starting the last week of January? And *poof* just like that one twelfth of the year is gone!
About five and a half years ago I shared a post here at the Cafe that I called, "Quilts, Pieces, and Memories." In that blog I wrote, "I wanted to call this post, "Among the Things I Used to Do." (Go here to read that post!)
I guess you could call this post the second in a series. :-) Because not only have I started working on the quilt I mentioned in that post again, I've also resurrected another favorite craft.
Long, long ago when we lived in Texas, one of my friends was a smocker. She offered to teach a couple of us, and I was in heaven! I was able to make two dresses for my daughter before we moved, and I enjoyed it so much.
When we moved, I lost my access to a smocking pleater. And with the birth of our third child just before that move and our fourth child a couple months after that move, I, well, ran out of time and energy.
But the pleater was the main thing. I tried to find someone who I could pay to pleat my fabric, but was never able to make the connection. Smocking became one of those "things I used to do."
Many years went by, then a few years ago my dear husband was able to find this pleater for me at a reasonable price (I love used items!) I was so excited to start smocking again, but I had book contracts, weddings, dogs...and too many excuses.
This year I made up my mind: If I wanted to do the things I enjoyed, I needed to make time for them. So out came the forgotten quilting project!
It's amazing how much you can get done in one hour a week!
Then a friend had a baby girl...and another friend had another baby girl...and I decided it was time to dust off my smocking skills. Keep in mind that it had been nearly thirty years since I had first learned to smock!
I got my pleater out, but was immediately lost. I couldn't even remember how to thread it! YouTube came to the rescue! (I love that place!)
I wrestled with my aging brain and memory, and dove in...
I learned how to move the needles in the pleater to pleat half rows - an indispensable skill when smocking baby outfits.
After a couple practice runs with scrap fabric, I pleated the material for my project.
I adjusted the pleats so that this skirt would fit into the yoke in my pattern and tied off the pleating threads. Then I was ready to start. Smocking is just a form of embroidery, with its own types of stitches. The smocking keeps the pleats in place after you remove the pleating threads.
Hmmm, I can see the mistakes, but I guess it isn't too bad for my first try after so long!
Once the smocking was done, I could start sewing the little sundress together.
And here it is, nearly done. I still need to sew the side seams. And I need to hurry! This dress is for little Ella, but little Ruthie's baby shower is next week and I haven't started her outfit yet!
But now that I've refreshed this skill in my memory, the next smocking project should be a little bit quicker.
After the smocking projects are done, and the quilt wall-hanging is finished, I'll resurrect another craft I used to do...
Needle-felting, anyone? This little guy was my first attempt about seven years ago. I'd love to make some of the cute items I've seen on Pinterest!
Do you have a list of "things I used to do?" Are there any that you would like to start doing again?
Jan Drexler lives in the Black Hills of South Dakota with her dear husband. They enjoy hiking in the Hills when the weather cooperates, and when it doesn't, they just drink in the beautiful view from their back porch. When Jan isn't giving life to the characters who live in her head, she enjoys all kinds of needlework. Find out about her books on her website, www.JanDrexler.com, and find her on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JanDrexlerAuthor
Oh, Jan, you've inspired me. Maybe I'll add some photos of things I used to do on Wednesday.
ReplyDeleteI always wanted to learn to smock. I used to make all my daughters' dresses when they were young (and even some for friends). I took quilting classes and did some pretty amazing work. I used to do embroidery and crewel. I crocheted (though I never mastered knitting). I also made most of my own clothes from the time I was a teen.
The main reason I stopped was a pinched nerve in my neck. I never figured out a way to sew that didn't involve agonizing pain in my neck and shoulder (as I got older).
I LOVE your smocking. Ella baby is so lucky. Thank you for sharing this today.
Sewing is so rewarding, isn't it? But with a pinched nerve...that sucks out all the joy. :-(
DeleteI hope you do share the photos! It will be fun to see what you used to do!
Jan, you have much more patience than I do. My former MIL dud smocking I gave me a beautiful gown for our youngest daughter when she was a baby. Two years ago, I was able to pass that on to her for her daughter. Such a precious memento.
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful keepsake! I hope it will keep on being passed down through the generations!
DeleteThis is so cool! I did not know there was an official pleater machine for smoking! I thought it was all measured out by hand and the actual stitching created the pleats. The only thing I've smoked is a Christmas ornament which isn't finished yet after ohhhhh a decade or so. Bwahahaha!
ReplyDeleteI had to give up lots of handwork stuff that I'm still not spritely enough for. I have a pile of my dad's old flannel shirts that I am trying to make into a quilt for my daughter but it's slow going.
Oh -- I'm so excited to see your felting puppy. My daughter felts -- but not needle -- she actually makes bowls and 'paintings' and jewelry. We've wanted to try needle felting but haven't gotten around to it. If I remember correctly, we need a think piece of foam or a pillow or something to work on? And the special needle. That's actually something I think I could do so maybe I'll give it a try this year. You've inspired me.
Yes, there's a special needle for felting and a foam block. I bought a kit when I wanted to try it and it had all the supplies. If I remember right, it takes concentration!
DeleteI hope you try it, Kav!
Oh my stars, what a clever machine! I love it. And I love smocked dresses and tops. Jan, you're bringing out the yearner in me.
ReplyDeleteI sewed a lot when the kids were young and even made clothes for Sarah and Matt on a treadle sewing machine, just to learn the art of the foot pedal and a simple but complex machine... and it was fun!
But as I had to take on more outside jobs, sewing became a "used to" thing.... but then writing began about twenty years ago and I haven't missed the sewing...
Although I love the nostalgia of all of this...
But I made sure I kept my gardening because there's something about dirt under my nails that feeds my soul. So when things get to me, I plan my gardens. Not the big pumpkin patches, but my little gardens and now my fairy houses. We let them winter to see how they'd do, and we'll have to have a repair day this spring and then a new Fairy House Making Day come summer, but it became a family project last year... and maybe an annual one? We'll see.
Jan, I'm so glad you revisited all of this. We need things for those creative releases. It's important to feed our creativity through various channels, don't you think?
And those babies!
I think Lena is our last baby for at least a while and she's off to Kindergarten this year, and it will be so weird to not have kids in the house.
I may pull out that sewing machine yet!
Jan, I missed your post somehow! What a great job you did! I'm amazed that you could pick it up and do so well. What a sweet dress!! I know the recipient will love it.
ReplyDelete