heirloom baby gown - classic sewing magazine€¦ · blunt nose scissors used to cut fabric from...

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HeirloomBaby Gown s e w – a l o n g

PRESENTED BY BROTHER INTERNATIONAL CORPORATION

and CLASSIC SEWING MAGAZINE

GOWN DESIGNED BY JANICE FERGUSON,

Brother Expert Sewing Consultant


This baby gown is an example of heirloom sewing, also known as fine machine sewing or French sewing by machine. Heirloom sewing is a (relatively) new name for the fine art of French hand sewing. The techniques and materials of which were used on garments before the advent of commercially machine-made fine clothing. Most commonly, it is seen on infant and children’s clothing, including but not limited to special occasion garments such as Baptismal gowns, Easter dresses, and first communion dresses. The Simplicity pattern used here, #8024, is designed for christening attire. Stitched in pastel pink, it would be so pretty for a baby to wear to a wedding or other important event. Traditionally, natural fiber fabrics such as fine cotton batiste and linen were embellished with lace, ribbon, hemstitching, tucks, smocking, ruching, embroidery, and more. Today, most of these hand-work techniques can be replicated beautifully and in a fraction of time with THE Dream Machine 2 Innov-ís XV8550D. If you’ve never tried heirloom sewing, this tutorial can be your introduction and first lessons. If heirloom sewing is not new to you, we hope you will find a few new ideas, techniques or inspiration. Select one or more of the techniques as an introduction to the satisfying beauty of heirloom sewing. Techniques in this project include working with lace insertions, lace shaping, gathering and attaching lace to flat lace, pinstitch, roll and whip, and lace width reduction.

LESSON 1 – Heirloom Terms, Supplies and Cutting

LESSON 2 – Creating the Skirt

LESSON 3 – Creating the Front Bodice and Ties

LESSON 4 – Creating the Sleeves and Finishing


Pinstitch can be created by hand, if you have hours and hours and days and days to stitch, or by sewing machine in a fraction of the time. THE Dream Machine 2 Innov-ís XV8550D has a beautiful pinstitch. This stitch looks like a ladder with one long rail removed, leaving you with one rail and the rungs or steps. A pinstitch will take several stitches back and forth, along the long vertical side and one, some-times two stitches, side to side, creating the horizontal part of the stitch. The long, vertical side of the stitch is stitched on the fabric while the horizontal stitch catches the piece being attached to the fabric base. In this case, the piece to be attached is the straight side of the lace. When this stitch is used with a large needle or a wing needle, a hole is produced along the vertical line of the stitch. A pinstitch stitch is also called “point de Paris,” “Madeira appliqué stitch” or a “Pari-sian hemstitch.”

Wing Needle or Large Needle is from a #100 size to a

#120 size. A wing needle produces a large hole because it has flanges on each side above the point. A large needle will simply be larger.

HEIRLOOM TERMS Batiste is a fine, lightweight, soft, opaque fabric made

from cotton, wool, polyester, or a blend. We love using 100% cotton batiste for heirloom sewing, especially when working with a wing or large needle and one of the beautiful hem-stitches, like the pinstitch, found on THE Dream Machine 2 Innov-ís XV8550D.

Lace Insertion is a lace that has two straight sides and is at least 90% cotton.

Lace Edging is a lace that has one straight side and one scalloped or decorative side. It is also at least 90% cotton.

Lace Heading is the border on the straight side of the lace. Insertion has two headings since it has two straight sides. Lace edging only has one heading. The lace heading has several threads running through the straight edge that make up the heading. The very top thread in the heading can be used as a gathering thread and can be pulled to create gathered lace or pulled to make a shaped lace flatten against the fabric.

Hemstitch is decorative drawn thread work or an openwork hand-sewing technique used for embellishing or applying lace, appliqués or for actual hemming in garments and household linens. One type of hemstitch is a pinstitch.

Lesson 1 – HEIRLOOM TERMS, SUPPLIES AND CUTTING

BASIC TIPS FOR HEIRLOOM SEWING1. Starch lightly and press lace which is not shaped but inserted straight.2. Place lightweight tear-away stabilizer behind fabric where lace is to be pinstitched.3. Use finest cotton thread available for lace work and pinstitch. You want the thread to almost disappear when stitching laces together. If you use regular sewing thread when stitching a pinstitch, the holes created by the large needle will be filled with the thread. We love the elegant look of the tiny holes next to the lace.

4. Always use a small needle for lace placement, joining and construction.5. When shaping lace onto a fabric, place the fabric on a padded surface that can be ironed and stuck with pins. Some use a very padded ironing board.6. Use a large needle or wing needle for all hemstitching (pinstitch).7. Heat-erasable markers are unsuitable for this project. There are so many steps which require pressing, heat-erasable marks will erase before you use them.


SUPPLIES NEEDEDMany heirloom materials such as cotton batiste, heirloom lace, and fine thread will be available at Authorized Brother Dealers who support heirloom sewing and smocking. If you do not have a local dealer, many online shops carry these goods.

ThreadsConstruction – fine sewing thread

(to match fabric)Lacework and hemstitching – white very

fine sewing thread size 50/2 (DMC), 60/2 (Mettler) or 80/2 (Madeira)

Machine embroidery-white, green and pink machine embroidery thread

NeedlesConstruction – #65 to #75 universal or

sharpLace joining – #60 to #70 universal or

sharp/microtexHemstitching (pinstitch) – #100 or #120

wing or #100 to #120 universal, jeans, sharp/microtex

NotionsGlass head straight pins – no plastic

headsWater-soluble fabric marking penLightweight tear-away stabilizer to be

used when pinstitching Blunt nose scissors used to cut fabric

from behind lace insertion, sometimes referred to as “kindergarten scissors”

Pattern & TemplateSimplicity pattern #8024Template for loop and scallops on skirt Fabric, Lace & TrimsPink 100% cotton batiste fabric

(View B – Dress) plus 1/2 yard (bodice lining and ties) Amount to purchase for 42"- 45" fabric

XXS–XS 21/8 yards S–M 21/4 yardsHeirloom lace (at least 90% cotton) Lace insertion (1/2" to 5/8" wide) – 6 yards

(62" hem, 120” lace loop and scallops, 16" front bodice)

Lace edging (1/2" to 7/8" wide) – 4.5 yards (90" hem, 40" sleeve edge, 18" neckline)

Baby or mini piping cord – 1 yard OR pre-made piping that matches the fabric

Optional: 21/2 yards of 1/8" ribbon, if lace insertion will accommodate a ribbon

Buttons5 Mother-of pearl buttons (3/8")

Sewing Machine and FeetBrother combo sewing/embroidery

machine with 4x4 frame and pinstitch capability

Zigzag foot, Adjustable zipper foot (for piping)

Optional feet: Edge joining foot, Open-toe foot, 5-groove pintuck foot (for piping)

NOTE: Embroidery designs shown are available from your Authorized Brother Dealer and are also given in PES format (with Lesson 2)• Bodice and scallop points – single

flower extracted from Brother EDB Floral 1 design 02017

• Inside lace loop – flower cluster extracted from EDB Assorted 03 design 34058


Fold

Fold

Selv

ages

3 Tie

3 Tie

1a Front Bodice

(on fold)

1b Front BodiceLining

(on fold)

2a Back Bodice

2b Back BodiceLining

4a Sleeve Front

5a Sleeve Back

4b Sleeve Front Lining

5b Sleeve Back Lining

6 Skirt Front (on fold)

7 Skirt Back

8 Bias Strips

forPiping

(1-1/2” wide)

4a

4b

5a

5b

8

8

8

Heirloom Layout for Baby GownCUTTING Read the directions carefully and refer to the pattern guide sheet when necessary. Use the layout provided, not the layout in the pattern.

One frequently asked question is “Do I pre-wash or pre-shrink my fabrics and laces before cutting?” The answer is “Usually not, the fabrics are generally high quality and do not shrink enough to make a difference. The laces are a bit stretchy and will be starched and pressed several times during the sewing process which will aid in any shrinkage that might take place.” Study the layout provided before cutting. We will be using pattern pieces 1-7 for our gown. The skirt front and back (pieces 6 and 7) will be cut using the Medium size no matter what size bodice and sleeves you are using. The smaller sizes will have more gathers when the skirt is attached to the bodice. The lace shaping template (provided in lesson 2) will be used for all sizes. This template fits a completed skirt 52" in circumference.

Cut the following (View B):• Two Front Bodices from the fold –

one outer, one lining• Four Back Bodices – two outer,

two lining• Four Sleeve Fronts – two outer,

two lining• Four Sleeve Backs – two outer,

two lining• One Front Skirt from the fold –

Cut out a Medium for all sizes!• Two Back Skirts – cut out the

Medium for all sizes!• Two Ties

NOTE: Take care to transfer all marks. Heat-erasable markers are unsuitable for this project. There are so many steps which require pressing, heat erasable marks will erase before you use them.

heirloom baby gown - classic sewing magazine€¦ · blunt nose scissors used to cut fabric from...

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