Heirloom baby dress

This Saturday I went to my sewing retreat

and I learned so much!

I worked very hard ,

from 9 to 4 with a small lunch break

but I did not finish my dress!

Here what it looks like after one all day:

and here are the sleeves:

I know, still a long way to go!

Here is the book we used for the pattern

and while it is not going to be exactly like this pattern

it will give you an idea :

Obviously, the lace does not go all the way to the bottom!

But you get the direction this dress is going!

A few people have asked me for a definition of heirloom sewing

so here is the description that 

 the A~Z of Heirloom sewing book gave:

(great Australian book)

"The term heirloom sewing is [ ] associated with fine delicate garments

that have the look and feel of eras past.

[ ]

 French hand sewing, as heirloom sewing was once known, was worked

entirely by hand [ ] to produce baby garments, [ ] ,

undergarments and household linens with which to fill a trousseau.

With attention to detail you can

duplicate these methods with your sewing machine and

revisit more genteel times"

I am not sure about genteel times..

I heard a few choice words during our day of work!!

It can be pretty difficult at times!!

To have the desired result, one must use the best quality lace and fabric.
For this dress I used
1 yard of Verona (fine cotton fabric)
2 yards of lace edging (the one with the pretty edge)
1 1/4 yard of lace insertion
1 yard of baby entredeux (translation: in between two)

the top part of the picture show the entredeux stitched to
the lace edging.... it was the hardest part of the day for me!
These laces are very thin and fine, but since they are made of cotton,
it is "easy" to work with them,
they can also be ironed.

In the near future, I need to attach the sleeves,
to embroider some flowers under the laces in the front
like I did for the sleeves,

the bud is made with bullion knots,
the leaves are made of detached chain.
It is almost too hard to see the rosebud in pink,
so I might make them white on the front.

After that I need to stitch the sides, finish the back with the buttons,
and attach laces to make the hem....
just a few more hours!

I will keep you posted
just do not hold your breath...
there is still that lecture to prepare!

Happy sewing!