Sewing Projects

For those of you who want to skip this introductory part, here is the is sewing gallery.

I think I must have been born with a needle and thread in my hand. I can hardly remember a time when I wasn't sewing. I never really took an interest in crocheting or knitting ... but sewing? Absolutely!

My earliest memories of sewing are of making doll clothes for my 8" Betsy McCall doll (which I still have, by the way). They were (in retrospect) utterly horrid. The hemlines, necklines and sleeves weren't hemmed ... just the raw edges of the fabric. They were just one flat piece of fabric folded .. or if I was really adventurous, a front and a back, sewn together by hand. But, I was very young ... probably younger than 10 years old .. so perhaps I should cut myself some slack.

I'm sure my Mom must have guided me at some point; she certainly was a good seamstress. I don't ever remember any criticism (or,for that matter, helpful comments), though I'm sure there must have been some of both.

What I do remember most is sewing during high school. I probably sewed most of my clothing .. at one point, my P.E. teacher, whom I was very close to, inquired as to just how many clothes did I have? That was a very intriguing question, so at the beginning of a month, I resolved to see just how many unique outfits I could create. Single garment outfits were obvious, but using mix-n-match separates became a challenge. Ultimately, I determined that I had an entire month's worth of unique outfits (one month = 4 weeks of school days, Monday-Friday). Even I was impressed by that count!

I must admit with no false bravado, that most of my garments were doggone good. They weren't perfect by any means, but they sure couldn't be immediately seen as "made by loving hands at home". Because my Dad had an eye for details, I made sure that I matched plaids & stripes, buttonholes were matched up evenly, sleeves were set-in without puckers, hemlines were even. In essence, all the sewing techniques that a good seamstress would use, is what I strived for. I even learned some small details that make no difference in the long run, but add to the overall specialness .. such as .. when sewing on hooks & eyes or snaps, you can simply sew them on plainly. But, I was taught to sew them on using a buttonhole/blanket stitch. The name of the game for hooks & eyes and snaps is thread .. the more thread you use to sew them on, the better chance they have of STAYING on. Using a buttonhole stitch not only puts a lot of thread around the perimeter of the items, but the purl edge of the stitch makes it look gorgeous. It's a very small item, but I know I'm doing a good job when I do that.

My Dad had an office job to which he always wore a suit and tie. At some point, my Dad made a bargain with me: if I would make him a tie a month (hmmm .. was it a month? My memory is kinda dim on that point.) then he would buy me all the fabric I wanted for any project I wanted to do. It was a deal! I had a great pattern from Simplicity for men's ties and through trial and error, I learned which fabrics were better for ties than others. My Dad slowly became the proud owner of an incredible, eclectic collection of ties. From the fabrics I used, it was obvious these weren't staid, store-bought ties ... but no matter what, my Dad proudly wore them. I think he became somewhat (in)famous for his ties in his office. :-)

After high school, I went to college. College was a real eye-opener for me in terms of academics. In high school, I was an excellent student, used to comprehending the topic the first go-round and practically getting the homework done before school was out. As a result, I know I didn't have very good study habits .... school work came easily to me. Not so in college. Everything was just that much more difficult and as a result, my sewing took a distant back burner for the duration. Very few garments got made during my college years.

After college, I resumed sewing and started into needlework. I found Mr. Pirate, got married and once we started having little pirates, I "retired" from being gainfully employed to become a stay-at-home-Mommy ... one of the most difficult jobs I will have EVER had. Very rewarding, but it's definitely 24/7. And I loved (and continue to love) being a stay-at-home-Mommy.

However, I soon realized that I really couldn't justify the hours my needlework entailed just to have "another" picture or pillow or some other frou-frou item. I decided that I would bend my efforts to sewing clothing for my girls ... we eventually 3 in all ... a singleton followed 5 years later by twins.

I learned how to smock. Oh Lordy, do I love smocking! And I discovered that in making little girls' clothing, I had the venue for creative expression like no other. I must say that my girls were the best-dressed girls in town and they took great pride in telling anyone who would listen (and I'm sure many people who didn't care to listen!) that "My Mommy made this for me!". About the only clothing that I refused to make were t-shirts and jeans; they just weren't my time nor effort. But, school clothing and party clothing? They got those in spades! Most of their clothing had some sort of hand-needlework on it.

This continued until the youngest entered middle school ... I saw the hand writing on the wall ... at this age, they didn't want to be "different", they wanted to blend in ... and that meant, essentially, jeans and t-shirts to school. This was a battle I wasn't going to win, so I capitulated. The clothing they wanted to wear, I wasn't willing to make. The clothing that I wanted to make wasn't anything they wanted to wear. The clothing manufacturing virtually stopped, although I still made their special occasion clothes.

It was during this time frame that I bent my sewing efforts towards quilting. I still needed my creative outlet and if I couldn't dedicate myself to making clothing, I'd find that expression in quilting. On the main page, there's a link to my quilts, if you're interested in seeing them.

It wasn't until my youngest were in late high school that they "suddenly" realized that Mom made custom clothing. Mom did heirloom sewing. Mom made couture garments. Wow. Now, in their defense, I must say that there was a maturation process going on so that they no longer felt compelled to have the cookie-cutter look like everyone else. This isn't to say that all of a sudden I was making all of the garments again, but I was making some. And this pleased me very much. :-)

The creation of this web page has prompted/encouraged/forced me to go through my cedar chests (yes, I have several) where I have my girls' garments stored. Generally speaking, if I made it, it got saved (for posterity, for future grandchildren, for my girls to remember). In going through the cedar chests to retrieve the garments to take pictures of them allowed me to re-organize them instead of being stored willy-nilly. It was a very nostalgic time as I uncovered the small garments my adult daughters used to wear. I so distinctly remember them wearing these clothes ... when and how did they grow up so fast? I was with them .. I remember! But wasn't it just a blink of an eye ago that they were dressed in their footed jammies, holding a bottle of milk? How time does fly.

And where do I actually do my work? Well, in the Creative Chamber of Chaos, known as my sewing room. :-)

Gallery of Pirate's Sewing Projects Early projects will probably be added as I retrieve them from the cedar chest, so they won't be added in strictly chronological order.
sometime during the 1980's
1980's: designed to be worn with pants	Smocked tunic		1980's: "Maggie" from Children's Corner	Smocked dress
Now pay attention! There is a about a 20 year gap here! As I have the time to photograph, journal & create the web pages for all the other sewn & smocked garments that were created during the intervening years, I'll post them. But life has an irritating way of interrupting what I'd really like to be doing, so there isn't going to be a regular update schedule.
2005-2006
(12/05) Rene's first Dickens Fair	Rene's 2005 Dickens dress		(2/06) for a PEERS themed event	Rene's Titanic dress
(8/06) a Gaskells event	Rene's Bustle dress		(8/06) for a PEERS themed event	Rene's Harem outfit
(10/06) based on Belle from "Beauty and the Beast"	Lisa at Gaskells		(12/06) my first completed corset	Emergency Temporary Corset 1
(12/06) the second rendition	Emergency Temporary Corset 2		(12/06) a new outfit for the 2006 Dickens Fair	Rene's 2006 Dickens dress
2007
(1/07) the third time's a charm!	Winnie the Pooh		(2/07) inspired by the 1940's Swing Era	Bronze Taffeta Swing Dress
(3/07) yes, another test corset before attempting the Real Thing	Tropical Fishies		(4/07) Lisa's Senior Ball outfit	Purple and Gold Brocade Corset
(4/07) Rene's Senior Ball outfit	Machine-embroidered Empire		(7/07) new jammies for Lisa	a sheepy sleep shirt
(8/07) a new top for Rene	Smocked peasant blouse		(12/07) pillowcases for Lisa	pillowcases (with directions to download!)

Pirate's Home Page

I would love to hear from you via an email ... the link is below! Thanks for looking at my pages. :-) You can email me at my email address.

Credit for graphics used on this page .. give credit where credit is due
About.com	www.jsmagic.net