Portrait Dress with Lace and Puffing Bands

This dress was made for a five year old girl for her portrait. The dress consists of a lace square yoke, two puffing bands, and three lace bands. Puffing bands are quite interesting to make and add so much to the appearance of the dress. The yoke was made using Sarah Howard Stone's Basic Yoke Pattern (Size 5). A half inch was added to depth of the yoke to extend the length of time the child can wear the dress.

Sewn for Sarah Howard Stone, Inc.

 

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Daygown with Pink Hand Tatted Edge

The ragland sleeve daygown pictured below is made from white Swiss batiste. The tatted edge was created using DMC 80 weight thread in a light pink (#818). Simple rosebuds are embroidered on the placket. The sleeves are completed with a fabric ruffle edged in pink tatting.

This daygown has SOLD.

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Robin's Egg Blue Margaret Dress

This robin's egg blue dress has lace bands, half inch tucks, and an embroidered yoke. This dress was made using the Margaret Pattern by Childrens' Corner. Half inch tucks are simple to do and add alot to a dress without increasing the cost. First, you must french seam the front and back sections of the skirt. Once that is completed, it is a matter of determining the placement of the tucks. For this dress, I measured 2 1/2 inches up from the bottom of the skirt and folded the fabric at this point. I ironed a crease around the skirt at this measurement. Next, I sewed a straight stitch 1/2" from the folded edge starting at the side seam. Then, I pressed the seam down toward the bottom of the skirt. The first tuck is finished. The next folded edge is measure 1 1/4' inches from the stitiching line of the previous tuck. I completed three tucks in this manner to finish one band. To begin another band, I measured up 3 1/2 inches from the stitching line of the last tuck of the previous band and folded the fabric and pressed at this point. Again, stitching 1/2" from the folded edge to make another tuck. The 3 1/2 inch space is left to sew the lace band in place. I prefer to complete all the tucks first then stitch the lace bands in place. This dress will have a slip to go under it and will also have a two inch satin ribbon sash at the waist. This dress is a size 7. It measures 37 inches long from the back of the neck to the hem. The yoke is 10 inches deep.

Sewn for Sarah Howard Stone, Inc.

 

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Blue Bijoux Dress with Vintage Lace

The Bijoux is a dress which does not have a traditional yoke, but, rather, drops from the shoulders. This particular dress has been adjusted to have a small lace yoke. I made this dress for Easter in 2009. The dress needed to be lengthened so I detached the old skirt from the yoke and lace band and made a new, longer skirt. The wonderful thing about a Bijoux is that the yoke is unstructured and can grow with a child longer than your basic yoke. The lace on this dress is old and incredible exquisite. It is light, airy, and soft to the touch, unlike our new laces which contain synthetic fibers. Another feature that is different about this dress is that it does not have sleeves. Instead, it has sleeve ruffles. Each sleeve ruffle takes a yard of lace to make.

Sewn for Sarah Howard Stone, Inc.

 

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Examples of T-Cap Bonnets

Here are two examples of T-cap bonnets. The variations of materials that can be used in these bonnets is endless. In the following example, the bonnet is created using lace and eyelet. The longer rectangle section going from ear to ear is finished 11 3/4 inches long and 3 1/2 inches wide. To create the smaller back strip I omitted some of the lace to create a width of 2 1/2 inches. The length is 5 1/2 inches. Whatever lace is used on the outside or longer edge of the larger rectangle should also be used on the outside edge of the smaller rectangle. Hopefully, you can see the adjustments in the photos.

The next example uses a puffing strip in both rectangle pieces but the back one is a fraction more narrow. Again, the lace is adjusted to omit an inch in the width for the back rectangle. However, the same lace is used on the outside edge of both rectangle pieces.

Bonnets have SOLD.

 

 

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Christening Gown with Antique Lace and Pintucks

What a delight this gown was to make! In the nineteen years I have been sewing and working with heirloom quality materials, I have not come across lace like this before. It truly is exquisite! I wish I could tell you more about its origin, but I know very little about it other than it is very old lace. The lace is cotton and it is a beautiful shade of buttery ecru. The lace bands are three inches wide as is the matching lace edge on the bottom. In between the lace bands are two 4 inch wide bands of pintucks. Each band has seventeen pinktucks on it. The gown is made with white Swiss batiste. Both the front and back yokes have pintucks running vertically with insertion across the bottom edge. The sleeves are long sleeves finished with entredeux beading and gathered two inch wide edging. The christening dress has a Swiss batiste liner to give it fullness. The gown has a finished length of 36 inches. This dress also has a matching T-cap bonnet made with same lace.

 

 

 

 

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Krewe of the Athenian Dresses 2010

(First published December 7, 2010) The past two years I have made the dresses for the princesses in the Krewe of the Athenian Debutante Ball. This year there will be nine princesses aged 6 and 7 years old. These dresses have been a delight to make. The dresses, which were designed by Sarah Howard Stone, are a combination of Sarah's Tyler pattern and The Bodice Dress by Collars, Etc. The lace portion of the bodice was made using the Tyler pattern. I made a block using the front and back yoke which allows for the diagonal direction of the lace on the back bodice. The Tyler pattern was laid on top of the The Bodice Dress to finish the bodice design. The lace portion of the bodice includes net insertion and puffing strips made from netting. The net edge around the yoke was rolled and whipped, then gathered and whipped on to entredeux. The shoulder ruffles were also rolled and whipped, then gathered on to entredeux. The shoulder ruffles are not gathered around the entire arm opening. The skirt has an eight inch hem and is floor length. The dress also has a built in slip. Each dress will be finished off with a two inch satin ribbon sash.

 

 

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