News and Specials
Address:
Martha's Heirlooms
315 West Main St.
Mason, Ohio 45040
513-229-7340
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January White Sale:
20% off White Fabric
20% off Cross Stitch Fabric
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See our Classes page for this month's classes.
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If you would like to be
on my email list please send your current email address to heirlooms@fuse.net
and request to be on my list. I send one email per month with new
merchandise, current sale and a list of classes
offered.
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New Merchandise
New Fabric:
Giant Waffle Pique: 65% polyester/35%
cotton. 60" wide $9.00/yd
 Sheen
Sateen: Red or White $14.00/yd This
fabric is the ultimate Christmas and Valentine red
fabric. 100% cotton with a soft hand and slight
sheen. Also in a beautiful white.
Fabric Finders:
Orange floral 
peach and green floral
Stylecrest:
Petite Fleur Red/pink 
Verona lawn #17
Verona lawn #8
Sea Island Baby knit, baby ducks print. 60" wide.
$35.00/yd
Pima cotton stripe: 60"
wide. $12.00/yd Blue or
pink.
 Mini Pima Tartan: 60" wide.
Pima Cotton $14.00 Also in Blackwatch plaid
Primitive Gatherings Wool Applique kits now in
stock. Thread kits for these available.
Books
 The
Design Collective: Pincushions, from
Inspirations. $49.00. 12 of the best designers from
Inspirations magazine were chosen to contribute to this book
of pincushions. It's fabulous.
Floral Motifs to Embroider:
Willing Hands 2 by Betsy Morgan: $45.00 More
of Betsy's fabulous designs for sewing boxes and
accessories.
A Fine Tradition: Margaret
Light. $45.00
 Simply
Stitched With Embroidery: A collection of
embroidery motifs for purses and more.
 Inspirations #112 $18.00
Stumpwork Inspirations $25.95. A collection of
8 stumpwork projects from past issues of
Inspirations.
Crewelwork Inspirations. $25.95. A
collection of 8 crewelwork projects from past Inspirations
Magazine
 White Work Inspirations
$25.95. A collection of white work projects from
past Inspirations Magazine.
Willing Hands by Betsy Morgan: $38.00. A
charming collection of etuis and sewing
accessories.
Willing Hands 2 by Betsy Morgan: More of
Betsy's fabulous designs
Classic Sewing: Holiday Issue $24.99
132 pages of smocking, embroidery, heirloom
sewing. Includes full patterns. Published 4 times per
year.
New Smocking Plates:
Cross Eyed Cricket $5.00 each
An Apple a Day Classic
Christmas Gnome for the
Holidays
Old MacDonald's Farm Tiger
Tales School Daze Turkey
Lineup
Crayon Transport
America Strong Seas the Day A
Little Bit Crabby Tiger Tracks
Wild Roses Baby
Liberty
Paris
Bayou Promenade
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Queen City Chapter of SAGA
The Queen City Chapter of SAGA would like you to be our guest:
We have an active Smocking Guild that meets monthly and
offers educational programs as well as the friendship of those who share
the same sewing and needlework interest. We have exciting things
planned for the next year and would love to include new members in our
guild. We
meet at 7:30 pm on the 2nd Thursday of the month at Martha's Heirlooms, 315
W. Main St. Mason, Ohio. For more information on SAGA, log onto
SAGA's website www.smocking.org For
more information on our local guild in Cincinnati, which has a lot to offer
its members e-mail me at heirlooms@fuse.net
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Smocking with Corduroy
by
Martha Bailey
Corduroy has been a long time favorite for children's
clothing. It is durable, warm, soft and can make a special play or dressy garment. The colors available are beautiful and the featherwale
(21 wale per inch) gives the appearance of a velveteen. Featherwale corduroy is easy to pleat, smock, and
care for. In working with corduroy for several years in sewing children’s smocked clothing I have learned a lot,
mostly from trial and error. These are a few tips of mine to help give you the best results.
Cutting out:
Nap up or down: What ever way you cut your fabric make
sure all pieces have the nap of the corduroy facing the same direction. Some people prefer to cut with the nap going up (smooth side of
nap) and some prefer it going down. I have found the the color of the corduroy will be richer with the wale going up
and you won’t have shiny areas after many wears at knees,
backs of skirts and places that the nap would have more
pressure with wear. Most people love the feel of the nap going down so what ever you prefer is correct.
Pleating:
Wale side up: When pleating corduroy pleat with the
wale side facing up as you feed the fabric through the pleater. When the needles go through the fabric they will pierce the fabric and not the
nap of the wale. If you pleat with the wale down you will have the increased chance of having skipped pleats. Pleating
wale side up will solve this problem.
Moiré effect: When corduroy is
pleated you will get a moiré effect. Once the corduroy is smocked and blocked
the moiré effects not as apparent. If you do not want this effect I usually suggest
that an inset is used of the corduroy. Especially if doing a yoke
dress or a jumper. Pleat an inset of the corduroy and smock on the wrong
(un-wale side) of the fabric inset. You will still get the matching color but not the moiré.
Picture smocking: When picture smocking on corduroy is
desired, pleat an inset of the corduroy and smock on the wrong side of the corduroy. You will not have the moiré effect and the coverage should be
sufficient with four strands of floss. It is difficult to get neat picture smocked figures when working with a wale fabric. Note that the
pleats are fatter than if using a broadcloth so figures will be larger. You will also have less pleats to work with due to the
thickness of the fabric so adjustments may have to be made to your design.
Geometric Smocking: I will usually use four strands of
floss to allow for coverage over the wale of the fabric and thickness of the
pleats.
You may get better coverage if you use Floche.
Construction: Featherwale corduroy is fine enough
to make mini-piping for contrast. Corduroy will flake off so seams should be
finished with a zig-zagged or French seam. I usually will do French seams
on my corduroy garments easily without too much bulk.
Pressing: When pressing corduroy press with the wrong
side up so that the iron does not flatten the wale of the fabric. A pressing
cloth may also be used for pressing.
Bishops with Corduroy: Bishops are easily made with
corduroy. When I cut out a bishop from corduroy I will take 2" out of the
center front, center back and center of sleeves. (Ellen McCarn Ultimate
Bishop) The corduroy pleats are fatter than with lighter weight fabrics and less fabric
is needed at the neckline. (If you have too much heavy fabric at the bishop
neckline it may be difficult to pull pleats up tight enough to get the neck
band on. (You may need to eliminate less fabric if other bishop patterns
are used. The Ultimate Bishop is a very full bishop.)
To construct my bishop neckline before pleating I will usually
sew sleeve seams right sides together, trim to 1/8" and overcast with a
small zig-zag. This will allow the seams to pass easily through the pleater,
(Note: I have found that serged seams and French seams with corduroy are too
heavy and large to go through the pleater.
Hopefully these tips will help you with your construction and
smocking of corduroy garments. The fabric is wonderful to work with and your little
ones will love wearing it. If you have any questions or need a source for
corduroy you may contact me at Martha’s Heirlooms, 306 West Main St. Mason,
Ohio 45040 513-229-7340 or 1-888-277-6432 or by email at heirlooms@fuse.net.
www.marthasheirlooms.com
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