Heirloom Baby Gown S E W – a L O N G

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Heirloom Baby 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

1 ©2018 Brother Industries, Ltd. and Classic Sewing Magazine - All Rights Reserved | brother.com | classicsewingmagazine.com 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 LESSON 1 – Heirloom Terms, Supplies and Cutting to the satisfying beauty of heirloom sewing. LESSON 2 – Creating the Skirt Techniques in this project include working with lace insertions, lace shaping, gathering and LESSON 3 – Creating the Front Bodice and Ties attaching lace to flat lace, pinstitch, roll and LESSON 4 – Creating the Sleeves and Finishing whip, and lace width reduction.

HEIRLOOM TERMS Batiste is a fine, lightweight, soft, opaque fabric made Pinstitch can be created by hand, if you have hours and from cotton, wool, polyester, or a blend. We love using 100% hours and days and days to stitch, or by sewing machine cotton batiste for heirloom sewing, especially when working in a fraction of the time. THE Dream Machine 2 Innov-ís with a wing or large needle and one of the beautiful hem- XV8550D has a beautiful pinstitch. This stitch looks like a stitches, like the pinstitch, found on THE Dream Machine 2 ladder with one long rail removed, leaving you with one rail Innov-ís XV8550D. and the rungs or steps. A pinstitch will take several stitches back and forth, along the long vertical side and one, some- Lace Insertion is a lace that has two straight sides and is times two stitches, side to side, creating the horizontal part at least 90% cotton. 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.”

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

Wing Needle or Large Needle is from a #100 size to a #120 size. A wing needle produces a large hole because it Lace Heading is the border on the straight side of the has flanges on each side above the point. A large needle will lace. Insertion has two headings since it has two straight simply be larger. 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.

BASIC TIPS FOR HEIRLOOM SEWING 1. Starch lightly and press lace which is not shaped but 4. Always use a small needle for lace placement, joining and inserted straight. construction. 2. Place lightweight tear-away stabilizer behind fabric where 5. When shaping lace onto a fabric, place the fabric on a lace is to be pinstitched. padded surface that can be ironed and stuck with pins. Some 3. Use finest cotton thread available for lace work and use a very padded ironing board. pinstitch. You want the thread to almost disappear when 6. Use a large needle or wing needle for all hemstitching stitching laces together. If you use regular sewing thread (pinstitch). when stitching a pinstitch, the holes created by the large 7. Heat-erasable markers are unsuitable for this project. needle will be filled with the thread. We love the elegant look There are so many steps which require pressing, heat- of the tiny holes next to the lace. erasable marks will erase before you use them.

3 ©2018 Brother Industries, Ltd. and Classic Sewing Magazine - All Rights Reserved | brother.com | classicsewingmagazine.com SUPPLIES NEEDED Many 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.

Pattern & Template Threads Sewing Machine and Feet Simplicity pattern #8024 Construction – fine sewing thread Brother combo sewing/embroidery Template for loop and scallops on skirt (to match fabric) machine with 4x4 frame and pinstitch Fabric, Lace & Trims Lacework and hemstitching – white very capability Pink 100% cotton batiste fabric fine sewing thread size 50/2 (DMC), Zigzag foot, Adjustable zipper foot (View B – Dress) plus 1/2 yard (bodice 60/2 (Mettler) or 80/2 (Madeira) (for piping) lining and ties) Machine embroidery-white, green and Optional feet: Edge joining foot, Amount to purchase for 42"- 45" fabric pink machine embroidery thread Open-toe foot, 5-groove pintuck foot XXS–XS 21/8 yards Needles (for piping) S–M 21/4 yards Construction – #65 to #75 universal or Heirloom lace (at least 90% cotton) sharp NOTE: Embroidery designs shown Lace insertion (1/2" to 5/8" wide) – 6 yards Lace joining – #60 to #70 universal or are available from your Authorized (62" hem, 120” lace loop and scallops, sharp/microtex Brother Dealer and are also given in 16" front bodice) Hemstitching (pinstitch) – #100 or #120 PES format (with Lesson 2) Lace edging (1/2" to 7/8" wide) – 4.5 yards wing or #100 to #120 universal, jeans, • Bodice and scallop points – single (90" hem, 40" sleeve edge, 18" neckline) sharp/microtex flower extracted from Brother EDB Baby or mini piping cord – 1 yard OR pre- Notions Floral 1 design 02017 made piping that matches the fabric Glass head straight pins – no plastic • Inside lace loop – flower cluster Optional: 21/2 yards of 1/8" ribbon, if lace heads extracted from EDB Assorted 03 insertion will accommodate a ribbon Water-soluble fabric marking pen design 34058 Buttons Lightweight tear-away stabilizer to be 5 Mother-of pearl buttons (3/8") used when pinstitching Blunt nose scissors used to cut fabric from behind lace insertion, sometimes referred to as “kindergarten scissors”

4 ©2018 Brother Industries, Ltd. and Classic Sewing Magazine - All Rights Reserved | brother.com | classicsewingmagazine.com CUTTING Read the directions carefully and refer to Heirloom Layout for Baby Gown the pattern guide sheet when necessary. Use the layout provided, not the layout in the pattern. 1a One frequently asked question is 2a Back Front “Do I pre-wash or pre-shrink my fabrics Bodice Bodice and laces before cutting?” The answer (on fold) is “Usually not, the fabrics are generally high quality and do not shrink enough 1b to make a difference. The laces are a Front

2b Back Fold bit stretchy and will be starched and Bodice Bodice Lining pressed several times during the sewing Lining process which will aid in any shrinkage (on fold) 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 8 Bias back (pieces 6 and 7) will be cut using Strips the Medium size no matter what size 7 Skirt Back 8 bodice and sleeves you are using. The for smaller sizes will have more gathers 8 Piping (1-1/2” wide) when the skirt is attached to the bodice. Selvages 8 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 4a

• Four Back Bodices – two outer, Fold two lining 6 Skirt Front 4b • Four Sleeve Fronts – two outer, (on fold) 4a Sleeve Front two lining • Four Sleeve Backs – two outer, 4b Sleeve Front Lining two lining 5a 5a Sleeve Back • One Front Skirt from the fold – 5b Sleeve Back Lining Cut out a Medium for all sizes! 5b • Two Back Skirts – cut out the Medium for all sizes! • Two Ties 3 Tie NOTE: Take care to transfer all marks. Heat-erasable markers are unsuitable 3 Tie for this project. There are so many steps which require pressing, heat erasable marks will erase before you use them.