By the Skin of My Teeth
I need to get better at predicting how much fabric one of these enfantine dresses is going to take. Especially when ruffles are involved. Because what you see above is all that's...
Outside the Lines
The posts in this category are just what its label says, i.e., every single thing ever written without categorization. If you want to read straight through from the very beginning, go to the last page and work your way through backwards. The most recent posts are always added at the top of the first page.
Life at a Snail’s Pace
Yesterday I spent seven hours cutting out one piece of Maddie's next dress. Clearly, my expectations that it would be finished by Monday were way off base. C'est la Vie. Sometimes, drafting...
Maddie’s Cotton Play Dress
While I diligently stitched tucks into Felicity's drawers, Maddie harumphed around the sewing room grumbling about priorities. It's summer. She wants to run and play, and up until a week ago she...
Maddie in the Garden
Dear little Maddie! She recently read about Chiffonnette's disastrous adventures in the countryside, and took all the good lessons to heart. She insisted that I make her an appropriate dress for play,...
A Hybrid Process for Setting in Sleeves
Chemisettes are the "pâtisserie" of the enfantine trousseau. They're delicate and frothy and packed full of details no right-minded person would ever attempt in miniature. Of course, I think we all know...
Something Old, Something New. . .
. . .something borrowed, something blue; and a sixpence in her shoe. This famous wedding day rhyme is said to have started in the mid-1800's, after Queen Victoria broke with the tradition...
A Bit of Math to Light the Way
Not every girl is perfectly proportioned, myself included. Luckily, very few people ever get to see what's going on underneath the layers of clothing we use to camouflage our imperfections. Felicity is...
Maddie Visits Grandmere for Tea
Spring has arrived, and with it all the excitement of planning this year's garden. Maddie has just received the most recent gardening journal and is eager to discuss some new flower hybrids...
Painter to the Queen
If you look closely at the photos of Maddie's first dress, you'll see a wonderful piece of art on her wall. I chose it specially for her because I thought it was...
Seventy-Seven Stitches
The ruffles are done, the hooks and thread loops have been sewn, and the gathering threads for the cartridge pleats have been stitched. There are seventy-seven pleats. Which means there are exactly...