Snowman Smocked Bishop

***Remember to click on the pictures for a closeup view***

I created these two dresses for my friend's granddaughters this month. Haven't posted a lot because making two dresses takes twice as long! I think these two sister dresses turned out so cute. I embellished the snowman with beads for eyes and buttons for a realistic effect. These are size 3 and 12 months with banded long sleeves. I can't wait to see a picture of them modeled!

Favorite Jeans Purse

I took my most favorite jeans in the whole world -- I'm talking about a pair of Levi's that I have been wearing since the mid 1990's and they finally got that hole beside the back pocket and I still wore them until my kids said they knew what color underwear I was wearing...they are officially retired as jeans, but I came up with this purse so they can live on -- I cut the pocket and delicately worked the tag off of them and made the purse from the bigger piece of fabric right under your behind then sewed the pocket and tag back onto the purse. I made some little loops with the seam that runs down the length of the leg and sewed them to the top edge of the purse and tied this fun grosgrain ribbon on for the handles -- I can't wait to use it! I actually don't have to say goodbye to them ... a happy ending to what could have been a sad story!

Christmas Gift Bags

Ran across some old Christmas craft fabric scraps and put them to new use...recyclable Christmas gift bags! Added a ric rac trim around the top of the blue ones so they'd be a little more festive. all in all, it took about an hour to make these once I got everything picked out and cut.

White/Lilac Dresses

These two dresses were designed for my youngest daughter's baptism last month. The purple flowers in the trim were the theme in the smocking also. I was only going to make one for my youngest until my oldest daughter begged for one too -- here they are -- I think they looked like angels!

Lowcountry Scenes Quilt

This project was a collaboration between my Aunt and myself. She, over the years, cross stitched all of these scenes from the Charleston collection and I pieced it all into a quilt and then quilted some simple straight lines by hand. My quilting work was only to highlight the beautiful squares she had made for this project -- I think this is so beautiful!

Quilted tote

It's been a couple of years ago, but I think my mother-in-law wanted a quilted tote for bringing her stuff to work and I designed this one for her. I also embroidered her first name in the center of the block. I think this was fun to make because I got to do anything I wanted. that's always fun

My Favorite

This was one of my favorite quilts. It is only a wall hanging, but I loved the contrast and geometric feel of this one. I think I gave this one to my husband's grandmother a couple of years ago for Christmas --

My Sister's Wall Hanging

How lucky is my sister to have this cool one? I loved making this one! i felt like i was really making a piece of art with my scrap collection -- machine pieced, hand quilted.

Maple Leaves Wall Quilt

Originally going to be a full bed sized quilt, this quickly became a wall hanging -- hand piecing all of the little detail on these maple leaves was too much for me -- but I liked the final result anyway. hand appliquéd hand quilted.

Blue & Green Log Cabin

Made this quilt for my mother-in-law for christmas one year --fell in love with the ease of the log cabin style of quilt -- had a hard time deciding which way to arrange the blocks too. Machine pieced and hand quilted -- with love

My First Quilt

This is the first quilt I ever made - completed in 1997. It took several months to make, but I knew every technique you can use by the end. I pieced the top by hand and machine and hand quilted - fits a full sized bed

Purple "P" A-line Dress

One of my daughter's best friends saw the little Purple A-Line jumper dress I posted on this site and requested one -- her birthday is in a couple weeks so I whipped one up for her this morning so she will be so excited! I really think the crocheted trim is the thing that makes this SO CUTE!

Me, The Witch

Yes, I even make something for myself occasionally -- this was last year's costume...yes, I know it wasn't a stretch, but I think I made a good witch!

Animal Print Log Cabin

You'll have to click on the picture to see the print well, but this is a quilt I made last year for my cousin's new baby boy, it was a log cabin style block except you start with a square in the center of the block that you "fussy cut" from your print fabric -- I thought this one was cute!

Rubber Duckie Quilt

I made two of these rubber duckie quilts for baby gifts. I added their name embroidered on the bottom after they were born.

Snowman Bishop

I found the smocking pattern for this little snowman online and then just backsmocked the rest of the collar randomly adding iridescent beading to look like snow. this was the 2 years ago Christmas dress.

Flower A-Line Jumper

These tights were found at the end of winter clearance last year and I just pulled them out this week and think I found just the right dress to make for them. I made a basic A-Line out of red broadcloth and then embroidered flowers on the front that match the flowers on the tights -- then created little pockets for the flowers to "grow" out of. It didn't seem enough embellishment so at the encouragement of a friend I went ahead and added the pom-pom fringe on the bottom. She was right - ADORABLE.

Purple A-Line Dress

My daughter can't wait to wear this one to school! I got these tights at the end of winter clearance last year thinking, I'll never find anything to match these, but they were too cute to pass up. I created this A-Line jumper dress to match the tights perfectly! The white stripe on the tights is fuzzy so I bought some of that eyelash looking crochet/knitting yarn they are making the scarves out of and just crocheted a simple chain and it made the PERFECT trim to tie the dress to the tights...I also created a hairbow to match -- those of you who know my daughter will believe me when I say that she LOVES this one and I think it will be heading to school tomorrow!

Black Sheep Bishop

This bishop dress is a "sacque" where the bottom cinches up with a white ribbon and I smocked a little lamb jumping over the fence and inserted it into a small pillow to coordinate with the sacque.

Smocked Bib

Made several of these smocked bibs last year and sold them on Ebay. The tie in the back is a satin ribbon. I thought this was a nice way to personalize a heirloom baptism gown so the baby could keep this piece and pass the gown down. They are so cute, with the white smocking and bead accents...picture doesn't do it justice.

Smocked Christmas Ornament

This smocked and beaded ornament was A LOT of work, but so very elegant. I don't know when I'll make these again...they were hard. Smock a rectangle then wrap it around a ball...dress the top with ribbon and bottom up with a button and viola!

Snowman Christmas Dress

This was a last year dress I think I sold on EBay. I smocked the little Christmas tree in the front center and added some red beads as the ornaments.

Pink Front Bishop

This is a smocked bishop, but I didn't smock on the sleeves -- just this patch in the front. It makes for puffier sleeves -- I liked the graduation of pinks dark to light to white.

Back-of-the-seat Car organizers

These were my summer birthday gifts for my niece and nephew...I hope they are keeping their mommy's cars a little neater!

Button Bishop

I just added some buttons after smocking this geometric design and it turned out great.

Purple Dress

I made this dress for my oldest daughter. It is a pattern from the Australian smocking and embroidery magazine. This dress took me longer than any dress I have ever made...but it was well worth the effort...It is looks so gorgeous on my little girl!

Mary's Dress

Sometimes, you pick the smocking design first and then just get some fabric to make the dress, but this is a case of finding pretty fabric and and then letting the fabric just inspire one of my favorite smocked pieces that I've made. This was created for a dear friend's granddaughter...I got to see a photo of her wearing it and she was beautiful. I just fall in love with almost every piece I smock.

Draft Horse embroidery

First of all, I didn't make the shirt, but I did embellish it with this nice draft horse. My in-laws have four of these beautiful creatures, and I made a couple of these shirts for my father-in-law as a (Late) father's day present.


Using my digitizing software on my Singer Futura sewing machine, I created this embroidery pattern off of a .jpg image I found on the web...I was proud of this one...

Palmetto Bishop

Recently gave this dress to a dear friend who had a new little baby girl. This is a size 18 month long sleeve bishop smocked with white thread. I really love the tree, it turned out great!

You will notice a recurring palmetto tree theme in my work. They are very popular in South Carolina.

Grocery Cart Cover

I have created SEVERAL of these in past years.

This is one I actually made for a relative who had a baby boy...keeps all those Wal-Mart germs off of the little dumplin'.

Boy's ready to smock

I have a lady that I do a lot of "ready-to-smock" for through the mail and she really inspires me to try new things...here is something she had me create for her...there is a patch on the chest that is ready to smock and I am sure she came up with something really cute on there!

Also, on my bed,in the background, that is a quilt that I made back in like year 2000. I used to just have it folded up and stored, but recently decided that it was meant to be used! I let my husband pick out the colors and fabrics...he did a good job.

Big Sister, Little Brother

I designed these while not paying attention to the sermon in church a couple of months ago. I know, shame on me! I was sitting beside my friend and she mentioned how hard it is to find big sister, little brother stuff when you have a baby and a big girl -- they looked great in these palmetto tree embroidered outfits.

Babydoll Dresses

I really enjoyed creating these babydolls' dresses for my daughters' dolls. These, of course, matched the girls. I think that "Purple Baby" and "Pink Baby" look good in their angel sleeve bishops. They were made with Donna Dewberry fabric.

Pillowcase gift bags

How about this idea? You can give birthday gifts in these recyclable cloth bags. They are actually purchased pillowcases that I embroidered the names on and then stuffed the present inside for my daughter's summer birthday gifts for her friends.

Toile tote & zipper bag

This was a Tote & small, lined zipper bag that I made for my mother-in-law for her birthday last month. It turned out so pretty that I made one for myself the next week and love using it to tote my library books every week!

Christmas Dress

This dress turned out so elegant. First I created a long sleeve bishop for both of my daughters and then smocked them in an ecru ... but smocked in some tiny iridescent seed beads where the lines of smocking intersect. This was last year's Christmas dress. Maybe it will still fit this year -- probably not...better get to the fabric store for this year!

Three Jon Jons

One of the teachers at my daughter's school had me create these jon jons for her little cutie. I am sure he was proud of those Gamecocks...It was hard to even make that one, as I am a Clemson grad myself!

Easter Jumper

This was last year's Easter Jumper for my older daughter. I just fell in love with the easter egg on the wagon. The picture is a little bright so you may not be able to make it out, but the little chick in a bonnet is pulling an easter egg in a wagon and the wheels are actually sewn on buttons...too cute!

Sailboat Jon Jon

Sometimes you just have to make something for the boys right?

Strawberry Jumper

This jumper was a delight to make. I found this bold strawberry print one day and just bought it. I knew that one day I would find just the right thing to make with it. I found it! I made two of these and gave one to my dear friend for her daughter to wear. My daughter loves her "strawberry dress."

Palmetto Tree Picnic Basket

Here is a hand painted picnic basket with little chickadees on it I believe. My mom painted it. She is a fabulous decorative painter! Inside I had two white plates, two of the palmetto tree embroidered napkins that I embroidered my self. Also my mom hand painted two wine glasses and I tied up some silverware with white satin ribbon. It really turned out nice. This project was a collaboration of my mom's efforts and my own. We donated this project to a charitable basket auction and it did very well.

Ready to Smock Dresses

A while back, my sister taught all the girls in her playgroup how to smock and here are the little "ready-to-smock" dresses I made for them. I think they really enjoyed this project!

Palmetto Tree Napkins

Recently I made a set of 6 of these palmetto tree napkins for a wedding shower gift for my friend Rachel. I have "digitizing" software and used my computer to actually create the palmetto tree embroidery off of a .jpg image of the actual South Carolina state flag. Pretty cool, huh?

I bought cotton, made napkins, and embroidered the tree -- viola!