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A lot of the garment-sewing coverage in our crafty blogosphere seeks to simplify the process. Which is sometimes too bad, because there’s so much beauty to be had in older, more ornate sewing techniques like pin-tucking, lace mitering, and sewing with entredeux.
What’s entredeux? It’s a very fine eyelet trim that’s used to join two pieces of material. Want to see how it works? Check out this video from Sew Beautiful Magazine, hosted by editor Kathy Barnard:
(There’s a Part Two to this tutorial, which you can see here.)
Sew Beautiful is hosting a cool blog tour to celebrate these heirloom sewing techniques. It’s traveled around the blogosphere, and if you visit the stops, you can learn a series of beautiful details for handling lace, trims, and tucks. And all these techniques are collected in this pretty camisole project, which is featured in the September/October issue of the magazine.
And then, to further celebrate heirloom sewing, Sew Beautiful is also letting me do a pretty sweet giveaway. Here’s the prize package they’ve donated:
- A complete kit needed to make the Vintage Inspiration camisole, from sizes XS (2-4) to 3X (26-28)
- A copy of Sleepwear Especially for You (which contains the basic tank top pattern suggested in the instructions)
- A copy of the new issue of Sew Beautiful
- A June Tailor Heirloom Stitcher’s Shape ‘N Press board
That Shape ‘N Press board is super cool – take a look:
(As the name implies, those guides are designed for pressing trims and fabrics into various shapes with precision. OOh!)
Anyway – to enter your name for this prize package, leave a comment below and tell me which of Sew Beautiful’s heirloom sewing techniques you’re likely to apply to your own crafting, and why. (Sorry, but due to the size of the items, this drawing must be restricted to US entries only.)
I’ll draw a winner at random on Friday, August 13th. (For no other reason than the ability to make it someone’s lucky day for a change.)
Want to see the rest of the blog tour? look here.
Congratulations to Jean Babbage, our winner!
I am a beginner when it comes to sewing. I love to smock and have been buying ready-to-smock items. But you can never find pretty dresses with pintucks in the ready-to-smock groups. I LOVE PINTUCKS! They just make me say ooooh and aaaah. So alas, I am learning how to sew my own dresses so that I can make them as pretty as I want.
Thanks so much for the woderful video classes!
Leslie
I just used pintucks in a dress I made a couple months ago. It was my first time and I absolutely loved the effect. I thought it was so much better than just stiffening the piece with interfacing. I’d love to resurrect some of these techniques in my clothes-making. Mitering and shaping trim and lace sounds particularly interesting to me.
I have done some heirloom sewing and really liked it. I’d say with what I am sewing for myself right now I would be most apt to do the pin tucks. Thanks for the chance to win the goodies.
So neat! I have a stash of vintage lace that has been waiting for a project, I will likely use entredeux to make something AWESOME out of it! Thanks for the blog tour!
Ooooh. I am so glad you posted this! I agree that it really is a shame when we (myself included) get so busy we forget about the finer details in sewing. I don't know that our grandmothers would appreciate that! I am going to be looking through all of the videos, but I am most interested in pintucking and lace windows. I am one of those guilty of learning all kinds of shortcuts and not paying attention to these details, so I would love to be able learn how to use these techniques!
Thanks for the fabulous giveaway!
Pintucks! Pintucks! Pintucks! I love to say it, I love to type it, and I love the way it looks. One day, I'll learn how to do pintucking myself!
I've always loved the look of pintucking but have been apprehensive to try it! This would be a good time to start since I have some new fabric for a project.
I sew A LOT! I would absolutely love to win this lovely package that SB has put together. And the heirloom technique that I use the most is probably the French seam. Well, and the rolled hem. French seams just look so darned nice, don't they? Just absolutely FINISHED! No sloppy loose ends or anything to mar the inside of the garment.
That's gorgeous! I would love to try the entredeux because I'm a girly girl and 2 out of my 4 kids are too! (The ones who aren't are boys, so. . . ) I can see all sorts of applications for this in our house!
I think I would use more entredeux in my current sewing projects. My granddaughter is 1 month old and I will be making lots of things for he.
I've been smocking for our 15 month old grandgirl since before she made her appearance last May. I still have my 20 yr old Sew Beautiful mags- along with the newer ones. I'm just excited about sewing again. I have the Susan York Heirloom Tea dress I made for her mom over 20 years ago with the all of the lace & embroidery. I will have to wait a few years till the grandgirl grows into it though. So I would love to make an heirloom style dress with lots of lace for her.
I've never even heard of entredeux before, and now I want to try it. And I have a pintucking foot for my sewing machine, but I've never done more with it than decorate the occasional pajama pants cuff. I'd love to know more about how to use it to its best advantage!
Being a European crafter, well that's just my luck! :) Loved the video anyway! xoxoxo Next time Diane, do some smaller sized give aways… :))
I want to use more pintucks in my sewing. I think they are a beautiful addition to heirloom garments.
Hi: I love the entredeaux technique. I make little girl dresses and want to attach sleeves with this technique. And, the bodice to the skirt. How exciting. Thanks for the lesson.
Oooh, that's beautiful! I've never worked extensively with lace (much less mitered it!), but a vintage-style slip is actually next up on my personal to-tackle list as a gift for my friend's bridal shower. She wears slips all the time, and I'm determined to make a brand new one with old-timey, lacy flair for her to add to her collection. I'd never heard of entredeux before watching the video, but I'm going home now to check that my machine has the right foot! (and hopefully my friend's not reading this or my cover will be blown :)
I'd love to try everything, of course! But I'm most likely to use pin-tucks. :)
I would love to enter the drawing for SB. I just used the roll and whip fabric to lace for a smocked bonnet I'm making. I love the videos of the techniques! Sometimes drawings and text are not enough to grasp the concept.
Kristen Benjamin
This tour is sew much fun! The camisole beautiful! I think I will use pintucks more.
I'd love to be able to do pintucks… I think they add so much elegance! I think I even have a foot for that for my vintage Singer, but I have no idea how to use it.
I've always loved heirloom sewing – I have a few nightgowns I've purchased that are replicas of Victorian garments. It would be amazing to be able to try my hand at it!
I've been a devotee of Martha Pullen and a reader of Sew Beautiful for over 20 years now. I have made smocked and heirloom sewn garments for myself – it is very time-consuming but extremely rewarding when these pieces are completed.
Thank you for the great videos. I am sewing my first heirloom project, a baby bonnet. It calls for joining lace to lace and using entredeux. I can't wait to try pintucks. I would love to make this camisole next.
Thanks.
Denise Norris
This is so much fun. Hope it's just the beginning of many more blog tours to come! I'd love to learn how to do pinstitching!
Would love to learn pintucking!
I do most of my french handsewing by hand. But it has been fun to do the blog tour.
And it's a great giveaway!
I love the idea of entredeux and lace windows – but since I work with cashmere, I have to give it my own twist. I do find some lacy cashmere sweaters, so I just need to figure out how to use that lace in a window – or should I crochet my own lace pieces from frogged cashmere?
I love heirloom sewing though it's been quite a while since I've done anything. The camisole is beautiful and a chance to win a kit is so fabulous! Thanks!!
I love heirloom sewing, the pin tucks are my favorite to use.
Sally Hilfiger
hilfiger52@suddenlink.net
I would love to make the whole thing just as it is done in the photo. But if I were to pick one thing about it that I love it would be the threading of the satin ribbon. This can be used in clothing, pillowcases and so much more. I just love it.
i have always wanted to try pin tucking. That board is amazing too!
I have done heirloom sewing for 9 years, I love French seams, and pintucks, and entredeux. What I want to do more of is lace shaping. This project would be great to learn on!
I am preparing to use both lace shaping and lace windows on a shell and tank from the patterns in the “Six Easy Patterns” book from Martha Pullen … I love pintucks, but it's been a while since I've used my pintuck needle/foot … after watching this video, I have been inspired to re-thing/re-design my lace shaping design to include pintucks … they add such a lovely detail to heirloom sewing — I don't know why I don't think to use pintucks more often!!! Thanks so much, and have a lovely day!!!
I have never added the inserted windows of pintucks into lace shapes. I think that is what I would like to try next. Thank you for being a part of the SB Blog tour!
I haven't done heirloom sewing in a while. I always loved to use pintucks, entredeaux, and mitered lace. I have never done a lot of lace shaping, mainly because I don't have a shaping board. Lace shaping is a technique I would like to learn how to do and use in various ways.
I always look forward to rolling and whipping lace on the edges of little girls' dresses. But I am eager to do more lace shaping after watching these blog segments. Thanks a lot!
rmangerer@verizon.net
I like doing pintucks and entredeux but I think I should start adding lace windows in…. I used heirloom sewing techniques on my son's baptism gown.
For me, it would be pintucks — I could see them used in such a variety of things, from clothing to bags to pillows. But they need to be done very well to look at all good.
Thank you for including these types of techniques. It is fun to see something that extends the customary range.
Thanks for hosting the blog tour. I will likely use the lace shaping techniques which the videos have helped me understand much better. I will try all of them though. Thanks again.
Colleen
jleona@frontiernet.net
With 2 new grandaughters on the way, I need to brush up and relearn the better techniques people have figured out…Especially love the pintucks!!!!!!!
I will probably try sewing with lace. lace adds a vintage touch to everything!! thanks!!
carrie
inthehammockblog at gmail dot com
I want to try the lace windows! What fun!
Wow! That center-guide sewing machine foot is really cool. I haven't seen one of them in action before. I would love to try using that. I am not a heirloom-quality sewer at all, but I found the videos very instructive.
Sister Diane…I loved the Lace Window and Insertion…I can think of a million uses for this–not just with lace. thanks for asking!!!! That was a poor question though, I loved all the segments I have watched, and learned much all along!
I am so glad to see this back! I have the Elna 7000, new in 1989, that has all those stitches. I'll use all that entredeux lace I saved from back then in one my of t-shirt refashions!
It's been awhile since I've done any heirloom sewing but this has inspired me to get back into it. I plan to try some of the lace shaping in a home dec project, maybe on some pillowcases. I would like to incorporate some pintucking also for an extra touch of pizzaz. Thanks.
I received my prize today, AND IT IS WONDERFUL!!! I have been getting my crafts area ready for lots of new projects, and this will be one of the first ones! Thank you Sew Beautiful and CraftyPod!