A Really Good Book

I think Carol Ahles is the expert when it comes to knowing how to use a sewing machine.

All those special stitches your machine offers.

If you have a sewing machine that can do the wonderful Heirloom Stitches, her book will teach you how to get the best results.

It's a wonderful reference book.

"A person can not have too many books."

All Designs Are Copyright Protected copyright 2017 Jeannie Baumeister

A Book That Inspires Me!

This is a wonderful book.

Great ideas, text and techniques.  I had the privilege of taking a class from the author many, many years ago and she expanded my perception about what embroidery can be.  

This is an excerpt from the book to tease you.

I don't think this book is in print but you might find it by searching the web.  I am a believer in books.  The more you have, the more you can experience different methods and techniques for the stitches you love. And the better your skills will be.  Plus they inspire you to greatness! 

I think we are often confined by information we are taught by experts.  But I would say to you  "There are no rules in stitching…only helpful tips to achieve the look you are striving for."

Have  a Happy Sewing Day!

All Designs Are Copyright Protected copyright 2017 Jeannie Baumeister

Handmade Tatting

Handmade Baby Tatting in soft ecru is no longer available from suppliers.

I have been slowly cleaning and organizing my personal sewing materials and stock that  came from my brick and mortar "Old Fashioned Baby Shop".

Small White Handmade Tatting

I am constantly uncovering wonderful things and treasures.

I put these in my Web Shop this morning.

All Designs Are Copyright Protected copyright 2017 Jeannie Baumeister

My February Week of Sewing - Day2

We will be stitching on this heavenly pink handkerchief Linen.

I worked on my class for Farmhouse Fabric in March.

And I was busy!

I determined how much fabric I needed when using 60" wide Linen.

…so I can start on my kits.

I stitched this lovely lace to the hem of my dress.

AND…..this took some time.

I determined which color floss I would use for the embroidery.

After auditioning two different stitches, I decided which stitch I would use for ONLY ONE of the stitches on the yoke design.

I decided how many strands of the floss I needed to get the right look for that stitch.

(I did this by trying each stitch…see above…using one strand and two)

I tried different needles to see which one worked best for this stitch and this fabric.

I worked the stitch over and over and over (the pic above is not all my stitches) to see how big the stitch needed to be.

I worked the stitch over and over to find out the right tension for this stitch and this fabric.

I worked this stitch over and over to see the difference it might make using different methods to tie onto the fabric.

I worked the stitch over and over and over again using different combinations of the above.

And after stitching all the combinations above to be sure….I found the right color floss, the right stitch, the right number of strands of floss, the right needle, the correct tension, the method that worked best for attaching the floss to the fabric.

And whew! I was mentally tired.

So I went to my quilting neighbors house….

…and worked on my Peter Rabbit Baby Blanket which I am quilting.

No decisions to make.  Just the same old Running Stitch over and over.

And chatted about absolutely nothing remotely important to world affairs!

And it was a nice day.

All Designs Are Copyright Protected copyright 2015 Jeannie Baumeister

Heirloom Sewing - A Good Class

The Class is "Playing with Lace on an Heirloom Pillow".

If you love the beautiful heirloom collars and dresses embellished with lace then this class is the perfect beginning for you.

This class is a Technique Class that will allow you enough time and materials to learn the techniques so you can then apply them to lovely garments you want to stitch.

It is a Project Class in that you will learn how to actually work the techniques onto fabric so you will be prepared to apply them to the garments you want to stitch.  The Pillowcase pattern is included so you can make your lace creation into a pretty pillowcase  if you wish.

This class will teach you some of the basics you need to know when stitching with lace.  The class is a hand sewing class but what you need to understand is that shaping lace, mitering lace and  preparing the lace for machine stitching is all done by hand!  And we will discuss how to attach the lace by machine instead of by hand once the preparation is done.

You  need to know this information.

Oh, and this is the flower you saw in the first picture.  It is a Passion Vine.  It only blooms in all it's glory for one day. But don't worry because there will be more flowers tomorrow!

I will be teaching this class at the Saga National Convention in Florida this fall.

More information in my next post!

All Designs Are Copyright Protected copyright 2014 Jeannie Baumeister

Teaching - It's Sew Heavenly Heirloom Sewing Shop

The cheerful group of ladies  stitching in my recent class at It's Sew Heavenly.

Heirloom Sewing is alive and well at It's Sew Heavenly in Youngsville, Louisiana!

It's always fun to stitch and learn new things and practice and perfect our skills.

You will find fabric and garment samples all over the place!

This shop has everything "Heirloom"!

And they are always friendly and ready to help you.

Brenda made us wonderful meals for every  class time lunch.

She makes the best Chicken-Sausage Gumbo I've ever had!

And we had Pumpkin cake for dessert.

Very fallish.

A new student for me.  She was very attentive to my demonstration!

…more next time..

All Designs Are Copyright Protected copyright 2013 Jeannie Baumeister

Teaching at It's Sew Heavenly

Back of the Baby dress and Bonnet we stitched in my class at It's Sew Heavenly.

Tucks were the order of the day for this class.

Happily stitching our Tucks!

And even more happy to finish stitching our tucks and get the fabric ready  to cut out!

Precise cutting is important.

The outside of the black line is the cutting line.  With small 3/8" seams it is vital that the cutting out is accurate.

Brenda, the shop owner, is third from the left.

We   had such fun in this class.  The two ladies on the left are Sisters.  

How fun is that?

She is showing me a previous class project - very nice.

I love it when students bring garments they made  to show me!

All Designs Are Copyright Protected copyright 2013 Jeannie Baumeister

French Handsewers Saga Guild Finishes Daygown Program

Sweet and Simple Daygown made from Fairy Fabric.

We finished our Daygown Program (and began our Bonnet series).

A few ladies are very enthusiastic and finished matching Bonnets already!

Beautiful!

Suzette pin stitched the edge of the Bonnet Tie.

The tie was folded over and sewn to the Bonnet, then a Bullion was stitched over the thread.

And added a very cute touch where the tie is attached to the Bonnet.

It was so much fun to see all the different Daygowns.

Another matching Bonnet already completed!

Everyone had their own style.

So each Daygown looked different, even though we all used the same pattern.

Bullion Roses between the Buttons.

Baby Daygowns are the perfect garment for babies. They are the most comfortable thing a baby can wear and very practical for changing all those diapers!

 As a friend of mine told her son when he balked at putting his newborn son in a Daygown....."He is coming home from the hospital with a bloody naval and gauze around his newly performed circumcision.....would YOU want to be wearing bluejeans?"

She had no argument after that blunt statement!

All Designs Are Copyright Protected copyright 2013 Jeannie Baumeister

My Next Column in Sew Beautiful

My next column in Sew Beautiful Magazine involves wonderful White Fabric.  Pink Ribbon. Lace.  A Ruffle.  Embroidery.....

Pink Old Fashioned Bullion Roses.

And fine gathered lace.

Anticipation..

it's part of the fun!

This is my White Wednesday for this week.

I was busy working on it here!

All Designs Are Copyright Protected copyright 2011 Jeannie Baumeisterhttp://www.sewbeautifulmag.com/

Peek A Boo Sew Beautiful Magazine

Just a little peek of the last garment I sent off to Sew Beautiful!

I find my self coming and going with these articles!  

This is NOT the garment that will  be in the next issue.  I have embroidered and stitched this little dainty for the fall magazine.  

The fabric is Swiss Flannel, the lace is Maline and the embroidery floss is Silk.  Luscious!!

This embroidery design is in my book Jeannie B's Book of Heirloom Embroidery Designs and Stitches.

"You have turned for me my mourning 

into dancing;

you have loosed my sackcloth

and clothed me with gladness,

that my glory may sing your praise and not be silent.

O Lord my God, I will give thanks

to you forever!"

Psalm 30:11,12

All Designs Are Copyright Protected copyright 2011 Jeannie Baumeister

Pink Saturday- Baby Gown

This is a pretty pink Baby Gown.

She stitched it using one of my Old Fashioned Baby Patterns.

Made from fine Swiss  Fabric. With French Lace.

It is fashioned after an antique gown - see the story here.

Made using off white lace.  So pretty with pink.

This is not pink but is a Christening Gown made by CW who sent me this picture.  It is the same pattern using a different version.  It makes a wonderful Christening Gown.

This is my Antique T-Gown, Dress and Christening Gown Pattern.

And a pink Rose from my garden.  

Smells wonderful too!

Pink(pingk) n. 1. Light red 2. The highest degree of excellence: in the pink of health

This is my Pink Saturday Post for this week.

All Designs Are Copyright Protected copyright 2011 Jeannie Baumeister

Gathering Lace Evenly and Stitching it to Lace Insertion or Entredeux

To assure the lace is gathered evenly, divide the lace in half and also divide the area where the lace will be attached in half.  Then match them up.

Divide the piece of Lace Edging  in half and fasten a small safety pin at the half way point.  A safety pin is easy to see and doesn't move on you! Fasten a safety pin or mark the Lace Insertion or Entredeux at the half way point too.  I am using a French Baby Lace.  It has threads in the Lace Heading to gather.  When you purchase your lace be sure to buy the fine cotton lace (it might have about 10% nylon in it to strengthen it).

To gather lace, pull the very, very, very top thread in the lace heading.  If it doesn't pull easily, try a different thread.
Pull a thread in the lace heading (the straight part of the lace made up of several threads) to gather.  Pull very gently and don't be in a hurry or the thread might break.  If it does break, simply pick up a different thread to gather.

For more control of the gathers, pull up two or  three threads in the lace heading.

When pulling more than one thread to gather lace you must go very slowly.  Because more threads are used to gather it enables the gathers to stay in place much better than when only one thread is used. And because the gathers do not shift so readily, it is easier to attach the gathered   lace to another piece of lace.  It is more difficult to gather with three threads.  Remember to pull the threads gently and slowly.  This is a good method to use on necks and sleeves but it would be most tedious to use on a long piece of lace such as around the hem of the dress.

Stitching Lace Edging To Lace Insertion

Gather the edging to fit the Lace Insertion , matching the half way point of the lace with the half way point of the lace insertion.  If need be, you can divide the lace into quarters for even more assurance that the gathers are even.

I will whip the Lace Edging to the Lace Insertion with right sides together.   In this photo the Insertion has already been stitched to the dress.  The method is the same if the lace is not stitched to the dress - right sides together.

Use a fine needle and thread. I am using an 11 Sharps and a Madeira #80 thread.  Take a stitch through the lace heading of the Edging and Insertion as shown, binding both headings together.  Pull snug with each stitch. Check gathers frequently to make sure they haven't  shifted.  I am stitching the lace right sides together.  And I am stitching from right to left (or top to bottom is shown).

Continue down the length of the Lace Insertion until complete.

When I am done stitching, I will smooth open the lace so that the right side of lace will be facing up, alongside to the lace insertion.  

Stitching Lace To Entredeux

I am trimming away the clipped edge of the entredeux selvage from the neck of this daygown.

Trim away the selvage of the entredeux.

See the little safty pin marking the center of the lace!

Be sure to mark the center of the lace and the entredeux.

A lace board helps because you can pin the entredeux and lace in place as you gather.  You will take it off the board to stitch.

Evenly gather up the lace to fit the entredeux, matching centers.

Position the lace in front of the entredeux and hold together as you stitch.

This Picture shows how it looks as you stitch.

Work from right to left, bringing the needle through each hole of the entredeux and through the lace heading, binding the entredeux and the lace together.

Here you can see how the needle goes through the entredeux and lace.

Top view.

Back View.

Pretty little finished sleeve.

Use the same method to attach Flat Lace Edging to Entredeux.  Just don't gather the lace!

To see more information about stitching Lace to Entredeux go Here.