Heirloom Sewing is not just for Christening Gowns

Renee' Spell, one of the owners of Elegant Stitches, is a Martha Pullen Certified Instructor in Heirloom Sewing and Serging.  The techniques, awareness and appreciation for the needle arts is something Renee' wants to preserve and pass down to future generations.  As focus shifts from just children's clothing and quilting, many trends and techniques are being developed through BERNINA and the couture industry and being strongly fed by Craftsy, Pinterst and Etsy type sites.  Embracing the evolving trends, Renee' created this beautiful blouse using the built in stitches on the BERNINA 880 and Heirloom techniques.

Simplicity Blouse Pattern # 8523

The inspiration for this blouse was from an article written by Laura Jenkins Thompson in Sew Beautiful Magazine.  Renee' chose to work with Italian Organdy however, this blouse would be just as lovely with a  Swiss Batiste or a lightweight handkerchief linen.  You can see how the embroidered panels were created at http://weallsew.com/2014/09/22/diy-lace-insertion-in-the-mega-hoop/.  After creating the panels, Renee' added the lace insertion with pinstitch #720 on the BERNINA 880.  The notions used were a size 100 needle and 60 wt. Mettler Embroidery thread.  The width of pinstich #720 was adjusted to encompass only the heading of the lace.  This adjustment is done with each piece of lace as each piece is woven differently.  As you change your settings from one fabric to the other, it is helpful to keep a notebook to record the changes for future reference.  The lace insertions were placed on both sides of the embroidered design at an equal distance measured from the center of the embroidered design. A tip from Renee' is to stabilize the lace work with a lightweight tearaway such as Stitch'n Ditch Heirloom.

Embroidery and lace insertions create the front bodice

After creating the front lace panel, fabric was added on  both sides creating a palette for the bodice.  From this point, lay the front pattern piece on the fabric panel and trace.  Continue to follow the cutting and  sewing directions for the pattern. Keep in mind, you can make the pattern your own with minor adjustments.  Renee' decided to make the back bodice as eye catching as the front.  She created a key hole opening using lace shaping techniques and closed the opening with a pearl button and thread loop.

Stunning details