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May
28
As the month of May draws to a close, we’d like to “bring home” a previously released guest post we shared over at Mama Says Sew earlier this month.
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Hi, Mama Says Sew Readers! We are absolutely thrilled that Terra invited us to be a part of her “Just Sew” Series! We first “met” Terra in Project Run and Play’s season 6 sew-along, and have since enjoyed following along on her blogging adventures.
Unlike most bloggers, we are “sewing aunts,” rather than “sewing mommas.” We are two sisters, Ashley {frances} and Emily {suzanne} who love creating and sewing children’s clothing for our two nieces {our ‘baby’ sister’s children}.
When deciding what to contribute to the “Just Sew” May series, we recalled Family Ever After’s Sew-vivor Challenges. Specifically: the EMERALD CHALLENGE. We have wanted to sew a garment using the 2013 Pantone Color of the Year for quite some time. Maybe it is Ashley {frances}’s work in the printing industry that enamored us with the possibilities.
But, whatever the case, and without further ado, we introduce to you:
THE BIRTHSTONE DRESS, an educational experience for sewist and model alike.
An emerald dress for the month of May? Using the 2013 Pantone Color of the Year? Incorporating twelve birthstones for the calendar year, and adding a little calendar knowledge to top it off??? YOU BET!
Did you know the emerald is the birthstone for the month of May?
Well, it is….and also used as our starting point for this dress.
We used Craftiness is not Optional’s Vintage Feedsack Dress {free in size 2T}. Around the collar, we added small, French knot designs – based on the year’s birthstones – beginning with January in the front center and moving along to December in the back.
We continued the birthstone theme around the hemline of the dress, by evenly spacing dime-sized French knot areas {solidly filled}….each representing a month’s birthstone color.
Since May’s birthstone color of emerald blended with the base color of the dress, we chose to embroider the word ‘may’ in its calendar position – once on the front hemline, and once on the back.
Above the hemline’s French knot embroidery, we added two tucks.
Between those tucks, we embroidered a portion of the familiar calendar poem/rhyme:
thirty days has september…{front of dress}
april, june, and november…{back of dress}
As for the educational experience, the year’s birthstones
have been put to memory….at least with the sewists!
And, for those of you interested in pulling off a ‘birthstone’ garment of your own, here is a list of the birthstones, the month associated with each, and the DMC thread selected to match the given birthstone. *Please note, this is merely the list of DMC colors we used…and is by no means an official, all-inclusive list.
January – garnet, DMC 815
February – amethyst, DMC 211
March – aquamarine, DMC 964
April – diamond, DMC 822
May – emerald, DMC 909
June – pearl, DMC 746
July – ruby, DMC 326
August – peridot, DMC 472
September – sapphire, DMC 823
October – opal, DMC 747 and DMC 754 {one strand of each}
November – topaz, DMC 976
December – blue topaz, DMC 519
To finish off the garment, we made some matching hairbows – using a free, downloadable Oliver + S pattern!
Now, out of curiosity, what is the strangest stunt you’ve pulled to secure a successful, optimal photo shoot? This one involved going on an opossum hunt, complete with an animated two year old yelling, “Here opossum, opossum, opossum….want to come and play?”
One word: HILARIOUS!
Of course, if there had been an opossum sighting during the photo shoot,
a few aunts would have exhibited the following characteristics:
Any suggestions for our next photo session ‘hunt?’
7 Comments
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Ha Ha- love the photo shoot story. Great job- you are inspiring me to incorporate some of your more detailed ideas into my sewing. I have yet to try french knots or hand embroidery…I wonder if I could pull it off? Looks a little tricky! – Shannon
Oooooh, if we can do it…..you can!!!! It is actually fun at times – but time consuming also.
What a fun dress! And the opossum hunt was brilliant- I may have to steal that idea
You have made amazing job!Congrats!
is wonderful dress- I love it!!!
I’m your new follower!
http://freestilcreatingbyvilly.blogspot.gr/
This is just adorable! And that little girl!! Just getting into sewing, so very inspiring.
I’m a new follower!
~Gina (http://ginascraftcorner.blogspot.com)
just saw this now, I love all the incredible details you added-those french knots must have taken ages to do!
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