25 Years Ago And Still Today

August 21, 1988

We were practically babies.

He had just completed his Masters Degree

in electronic music and recording engineering.

 

I had just turned 21, three weeks

before the wedding,

and was working as a home furnishings 

specialist at Laura Ashley.

 

We were so completely crazy in love with each other.

 

Don's father and he had started to

build our little love nest,

or "Bunny Hutch" as we called it,

over the garage on their property.

 

Don's 25th birthday

was 4 days before our

wedding day.

 

I made my gown and beaded my shoes

and my mother and I made the bridesmaid's

and flower girl's dresses.

  

Don's mother and I sewed about a hundred

white covers for the folding chairs for the reception.

 

We were married at
Menlo Park Presbyterian Church,

on a perfect Sunday afternoon.

 

My father walked me down the aisle,

while Vivaldi's "Spring" was played

on flute and pipe organ,

and then he preached the wedding sermon.

 

During our ceremony,

my love accompanied me on guitar,

while I sang

"My Romance". 

Our wedding supper reception was held

in Don's aunt and uncle's back yard.

His Greek aunts made the delicious

food for the buffet,

all the while carrying on their hilarious "arguing."

(This is still one of my very dearest memories of the day.)

 

Our friends and family shared tears

and laughter

and joy.

Our marriage was prayed over 

and blessed.

And it was a good day.

 

Over the last 25 years,

we have lived a lot of life,

inhabited many houses in several states,

served the Lord and His people in numerous churches,

made A LOT of music,

given birth to our beloved India,

journeyed to China to adopt our beloved Ahnalin, 

prayed through many crises,

and seen many miracles,

packed around about a ton of fabric (!!)

and

dreamed many dreams.

We are still very, very much in love.

I have been blessed with the very best man.

My "Hot Rockin' Hubby" is still the man of my dreams.

God has blessed us so much.

 

Happy Anniversary my dear Don.

I can't wait to see what the next 25 years hold.

A Birthday Dress For Ahnalin

Ahnalin had a birthday.

So, of course, she needed a new dress.

Because who can resist this face?

She wanted the dress to be in her
favorite style sundress.
I don't use a pattern for this style,
as I just cut it based on her current measurements.

And she wanted me to use this
Cath Kidston napkin, that Grandma
bought at a garage sale,
for an apron sewn onto it.

We both love the apron look.

She picked out this vintage 1930s green
rick rack

and the yellow
floral fabric for the sash
and hem band from my stash.

And the Beatrix Potter
buttons were on a card that was dated "1976". 

She was very happy with her birthday dress!

 And of course!

Birthday girls get to lick the beater for the Kitchenaid mixer.

And they get to blow out candles!

Sometimes, they even receive beautiful bride
dolls as birthday presents!

Sometimes they get their very own
little tiny watermelon.

Sometimes they get free scoops of ice cream
at Baskin Robbins.

Ahnalin was very blessed because Grandma Barbara 

and Grandpa John came for the weekend.

You see, Grandma Barbara's birthday

was on Saturday! 

So we had lots and lots of birthday!

I made this pillow for my mom (Grandma Barbara).

And Ahnalin used my embroidery machine 

and made this fleece scarf her.

Grandma loved these gifts,

but I think her favorite was the chocolate fudge cake

with Nutella frosting and coconut that I made for her

from scratch.

Oh it was so good!!

All in all, we had a wonderful

birthday weekend!

Happy Sewing!

Sivje

Sewing For A Royal Baby

It came!!

I am so honored and excited to share with you

that I was a contributor to this beautiful book.

This book was the "baby" of 

the amazingly gifted

 Kathy Barnard and Amelia Johanson.

The lovely dress on the cover

was created by my friend Janet Gilbert

who just launched her own smocking website!

 Janet-Gilbert.com

I get chills seeing my name printed there.

I really do not feel I belong in this group of designers.

The contributors to this book are the most 

gifted in the field of heirloom sewing!

Do you see whose names are also there????

This book is filled with gorgeous designs,

complete with patterns on a CD-ROM in the back.

My tiny contribution was drafting a pattern

and writing instructions

for a pair of antique lace booties from

this photo.

These were my samples.

I made them from lace and cotton batiste.

But the original antique lace boots in the book

photo were made from a lovely silk.

The pattern for these little booties is included

in the CD-ROM in the back of the book,

and includes 3 sizes.

I am just so very thrilled to have been 

a part of this book. 

You can purchase it 

at the 

Martha Pullen Company 

and

Amazon.com

There are patterns for several dresses,

little boy suits,

bubbles,

booties,

bibs,

bonnets,

coverlets and other accessories,

and even 2 christening gowns!!

 

The patterns ,

 embroidery designs,

and heirloom construction techniques

alone are worth much, much more than the cost of this book. 

But the photography and inspiration are priceless!

I have only taken photos of the pages,

so the actual book pages are not blurry like

my photos. 

All the photos on the pages here, 

except for my two bootie samples,

 are from the book,

and are the property of Sew Beautiful and F&W Media, Inc. 

I hope you purchase this gorgeous book

for yourself and enjoy every lovely detail.

Happy Sewing!

Sivje