Recently I was attending a Christmas party with some of my stitching friends and their husbands. We were lamenting the disease of Fabriholicisim and the varying degrees we each shared the sickness. One of the quilters was literally falling to pieces describing how she saved scraps. One by one, each took a turn admitting how many boxes, closets, and rooms were filled with fabric and still we can not resist the temptation to buy more. Finally one of the ladies proudly announced that she had reached her life-time goal where all her fabric could fit into one box – at which point her husband quickly joined the discussion saying, “I wish you would stop referring to our house as a box!”.
Dedicated to my Love of Lace Making and Sewing
I have just returned from my second Sulky Teacher Certification Class – what fun! This was a perfect diversion in the midst of a challenging week – first we were “all shook up” by the earthquake and then we watched as the tree limbs fell and the rains blew sideways when Irene passed by! As soon as I re-organize my sewing room and unpack my sewing gear from the trip, I will start working on the tips and tricks I can’t wait to share. I have new products to try and new techniques with which to experiment – all to enhance my teaching skills. I can’t wait to go to the drawing room and dream up new designs and ways to use all this new found knowledge. I will be adding some stabilizer tips to my website by the end of the week. Thanks for the many letters of interest I have been receiving via my web page. I’m glad there are others as enthusiastic about sewing and needlework as I.
Ellen writes:
Rita, I’m going to make a christening gown and I’d like to know which is heavier: opaque, swiss nelona or swiss cotton sateen. I have better luck smocking on a heavier fabric but I like the shinny look. I may not be able to get both in one fabric!? Thanks for your assistance!
Ellen, Thanks for writing. Swiss Nelona is lighter weight than Swiss Cotton Sateen. Nelona Batiste is 100% Pima Cotton and is made in Switzerland. It is a soft, light, fabric with a gorgeous sheen. It has a very soft hand and a very shiny finish. It has a little body, but is still translucent. It usually has about 129 threads/inch. Martha Pullen carries a very nice quality of Swiss Nelona Batiste. I checked several sources and they all questioned the term opaque. They refer to the Nelona as translucent. I’m not sure if this is the same fabric you are calling opaque.
Swiss Cotton Sateen is a heavier weight fabric – almost broadcloth weight. It is made of 100% Swiss cotton with a slight sheen. Either fabric would make a lovely christening gown.
Martha Pullen is an excellent source for heirloom fabrics. She also carries a Victorian Batiste and Martha’s Favorite Cotton Batiste. The Victorian Batiste is a nice substitute for Swiss Cotton Batiste. It is slightly heavier than Nelona. Martha’s Favorite Cotton Batiste is more lightweight than the Victorian batiste and slightly heavier than the Nelona.
Hint for smocking on lightweight fabrics: If you are using a lightweight fabric, press and lightly spray starch the fabric before pleating the fabric on the pleating machine. This gives the fabric extra body and makes it easier to run through the pleater and also makes smocking on the lighter weight fabric easier. I love using the Victorian batiste for my English Smocking heirlooms, however, there is definitely more sheen to the Nelona and the Swiss Cotton Sateen. I hope this helps – good luck with your heirloom sewing.
Answer: Smocking refers to the beautiful embroidery that is used to decorate as well as gather fabric. The difference between regular smocking and English smocking is the method used to create the gathers and the embroidery.
Regular smocking is a one-step process: the embroidery stitches are worked over a grid of evenly spaced dots to create the gathers and the embroidery design at the same time.
English smocking is the art of embellishing pre-gathered fabric with embroidery stitches on top of the gathered pleats. English smocking is a two-step process: first the fabric is gathered and then the embroidery stitches are worked over the pleats.
For more detailed information, refer to my page “Stitching Tips and Tricks”.
Drawn Thread Work
Wow! A few weeks ago I had the privilege of handling a century old christening gown. The gown design was all done in hand embroidered drawn thread work. It was absolutely lovely and the embroidery was impeccable. I was asked to recreate this gown – what an interesting challenge this will be.
Drawn thread work is the art of withdrawing the weft threads from a piece of fabric and then doing embroidery over the remaining vertical warp threads. Beautiful lacey designs are created by the various ways in which the warp threads are manipulated with the hand embroidered stitches and needle weaving. Traditionally this type of work was done on even weave fabrics such as linen. This christening gown appears to have been made of a linen batiste fabric. Currently I am searching for a fabric that will be supple and soft enough for a christening gown, the threads may be easily withdrawn, and the fabric will be strong enough to support the hand embroidery stitches. I have located several sources and samples are on the way. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that one of the samples will be exactly what I am searching for.
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