Saturday, April 5, 2008

The fruit of my Momma's hands

Yesterday my Momma and I organized and cleaned out some of her old maternity clothes and my baby clothes. I am so excited to know that when I am ready to put them to use, she saved lots of things for me! From little tees to lace trimmed shirts and a green silk dress, most of the maternity clothes she made will be happily worn by me, Lord willing! :)
I am so amazed at my her sewing skills, I had to share my little dresses she saved. She made all of these- and the details are breathtaking. Pictures just won't do them justice. All the insides are finished to perfection- bound with soft fabrics for sweet baby skin, trimmed with hand sewn cotton lace, and all smocked or embroidered by my Momma's sweet hands. I pray the Lord blesses us with a daughter so that these may all be worn again!

So here for your viewing enjoyment, is a sampling of her work. Nothing is store bought- everything is hand made. I'm hoping to learn how to smock sometime soon so that I can make things as lovely as these!

Thank you so much, Momma, for loving me so much and putting so much love into my clothes!!

A beautiful Christmas dress in red velvet, trimmed with lace and a deep ruffle at the bottom, covered by a smocked pinafore with little Christmas trees.



These are some of my favorites. Little rompers... I just love the sheep. And I love the unique touch of the little black sheep :)



A closeup of those cute little sheep :)



Hand painted little tulips over a seersucker jumper.



My "Little House on the Prairie" dress. And my flower girl dress, made with one of my Mema's handkerchiefs for a collar, with pretty little pintucks. Too bad I wouldn't actually walk down the aisle in it... :) Guess I was a little too scared at the last minute!



Little painted farm animals on my denim jumper.



Lovely summer dresses!



My Easter dress. Apparently I sat down the first time I wore it and picked off all the little bunny tails. Momma had to make new ones!



A closeup of the bunnies!




More summer dresses!


And last, a gingham dress with my initials.

21 comments:

mrsidotf said...

Those are so cute! Your mom is so talented. Thanks for sharing them. I pray the Lord will bless you with a girl someday so she can wear them!!

Anonymous said...

AWWWWWWWWW! How special!

Jen said...

Gorgeous! I love the rompers and the "Little House on the Prairie" dress especially. :)

Anonymous said...

Wow! They are all so beautiful! Makes me want to sew some sweet little girl dresses... and learn how to smock. :) Maybe we can do it together one day!

Anonymous said...

Precious! I love the angel sleeve bishop smocked in purple with purple trim.
BTW smocking is EASY! If you can cross-stitch you can smock. I love to smock bishop dresses better than anything. Looks like your mom liked them too as she made you several.
Your mom did a great job!
Wendy
in Alabama

{ jessica } said...

How adorable! What a treasure you have! I've just started smocking things myself and you have inspired me to make a few items for my hopechest :)

Janel said...

Lauren, those are beautiful! I love the blue bunnies. Sooo nice!

Clare said...

Wow, Lauren, those are absolutely beautiful. What a priceless treasure you have there!

---Clare

Mackenzie said...

What gems to be able to share with you daughters!! Did your mom have a smocker, or does she have some other brilliant diy method for gathering the fabric? That's the thing that's always stopped me from learning...the machines to gather are expensive!

Serena said...

Those are all beautiful! I am very partial to rompers. The smocking and details are all so pretty!

Anonymous said...

The lovely little machine is called a "pleater". You an get a 16row pleater for about $100. That might seem high but if you end up having a daughter/daughters you can then make endless amounts of dresses with it. I have a 24 row Amanda Jane pleater that I love dearly!
You can also purchase pleated inserts on ebay and from most online smocking shops. If you do a search on ebay for "ready to smock" you will come up with dresses as well that are completed except for the smocking.
HTH,
Wendy
in Alabama

Anonymous said...

Forgot to add you can also purchase a smocking dot transfer. It enables you to be able to pleat the fabric by hand. But it takes awhile and is harder to get nice even pleats using this method.
HTH,
Wendy
in Alabama

Anonymous said...

Oh, such precious pretty outfits. Your momma sure does have a nice eye for putting an outfit together:). I had to laugh at your story about pulling off the bunny tails--that was really cute.

From a fellow smocker,
Krista (Also from the S & S board)

Sarah said...

Those are indeed exquisite treasures. I too am amazed at the skill your mother had! What a lot of time and a lot of love she must have put into them!

~ Shannon said...

What a treasure! Your mom was certainly skilled in sewing -- the collar on your little Easter dress is truly a thing of beauty :) The smocking is so darling, and those little dresses and rompers never go out of style. Classic!

I hope you'll get to use them soon :)

Yours in Christ,
Shannon

Meghan Durst said...

So cute...if I ever have a daughter and if I ever learn how to smock...she will hate smocking by the time she's old enough to talk.

Those dresses are adorable...your mother must be very talented.

Leigh said...

How special!! I need to stop procrastinating and get my sewing machine out!

Leight :)

Keri said...

Soooo cute! I love the black sheep on the romper as well. What a treasure!

Sommer said...

What beautiful treasures! I pray the Lord blesses you with a little wee girl so that you can pass such treasures on!

I wish I'd put more effort into making my first daughters' clothes. I plan to do more now and with other children(God willing).

ZipZip said...

Dear Lauren Christine,

So glad that those darling clothes have been lovingly saved! My favorite is the little dress with the sheep, of course. It's precious, and you can see the love with which it was made.

Our mother sewed many of my clothes as well, and I loved all of them, but we lent them out and they never came home again. May yours grace your children and their children, too!

Thank you also for the sweet note you left me about little Inkspot. Oh, we miss her so, and oh, she is indeed in my heart. She has been ever since the day I looked out my window to see her little self crawling out from under a parked car, skinny and dotted with engine oil down her back. I ran downstairs to help her, and before long, she was inside and happy with us...

Very best to you,
Natalie in Kentucky

Anonymous said...

Lauren,
Accolades to your Momma, what a wonderful seamstress she is, you must be very proud of her and what a blessing to know they were all made from a momma's hart of love for you. I pray the Lord will bless you with a little girl, you have the heart to be a sweet momma. Thank you for sharing such a treasure, the love that went into them surely shows through!
God Bless.
Lisa

 

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