Miss Kaitlyn's Dress Finally Done !

It has taken a while as DH and I have been on the road the past two weeks. We sold a business we owned which required a trip to Virginia and then visited all the progeny. We then came home one day to tie up the business end of things and went back to the progeny down in North Andover and Londonderry and had a wonderful time. Of course we each brought home a nasty cold! No sewing was done until yesterday and I managed to finally finish Miss Kaitlyn's dress. Kaitlyn is the first grandchild of a long long time close friend and came a bit early. She and Mom are healthy and on track and I couldn't wait to finish this little dress and send it along.

Here are the details:

* The Pattern is one from Australian Smocking and Embroidery, Issue #75, Teddy Bear's Picnic. We didn't do any Teddies or Picnics but just used the basic dress as our pattern. As always, AS&E's instructions were impeccable, very clear, and easy to follow. (They sure could teach Burda a thing or two.)

* The fabric of the dress is  100% cotton, a Daisy Kingdom toile of children playing, in soft pastels. I fell in love the minute I saw it and have a penchant for toiles on children. They are just so classic. A coordinating stripe is used for the piping and placket.  The collar and cuffs are a 60/40 blend of poly cotton from Joannes. The big mistake was using a blend, but the reason I did was the color match. Next time I will prefer being off a shade. This stuff was miserable to iron and get looking good. I never did succeed and after three complete collars I decided not to iron the collar at all. It worked. It looks a little wonky in the photo but is a perfect match.

* The smocking is a pattern from a Sew Beautiful, and with all the magazines I have tossed around lately, I am not sure which one it is. The threads are DMC. The pattern has a crossover trellis of two shades of rose which I have never done before, very easy.

This will go out in the mail tomorrow. I spent the rest of the day today cleaning and organizing in the cave. I have been digging and found another unique item from Ima's booty. Check out this "lacey edge bias tape". Wow, I wish they made this now. It looks like lovely tatting and is connected to a double fold tape. I can't wait to use it on something.

I wonder what flexicloth is, maybe bias? It is bias. None of these tapes have any dry rot and are very strong and therefore usable, despite their age. Later this afternoon I organized them all by color and type in the DMC cabinets she gave me.
Yesterday, since we had sun and a breeze, I aired out some of the ribbons out on the clothesline.

The cave is clean and re-organized now that the linen jacket and Kaitlyn's dress are done. My queue has been rearranged as DDs have placed their orders for specific garments and of course I will accommodate. More on that tomorrow. It's good to be back!....Bunny