Kennedy's Easter dress

This is my "Martha Pullen" pleater. It is a 24 row pleater. The needles are crooked so they fit in between the rods. Sometimes you have to run waxed paper through the rods to lubricate them. The lighter weight the fabric the better you can pull it through. I used quilter's cotton for this dress and I would have been better off using lawn cotton because it is much finer. Remind me the next time Lindsay, in case I forget! I thread each of the needles with quilting thread because it is stronger. I had to sew the sleeves into the dress before I pleated it, and had to make sure to used little seams so that it would go through the pleater easier. The first time I went through the seam I broke a needle, so I had to take the whole thing apart and start over.

The second time, I went through thte first seam okay, but the second seam I broke three needles trying to pull the dress through the rods. The needles cost over a dollar each.
Wow, I finally got the dress pleated. The quilting thread rows are guidelines for the rows you have to smock. It takes an hour to smock each row. Instead of DMC embroidery thread, I use one strand of DMC floche. It is a silky cotton thread that is about the thickness of three strands of DMC floss. To keep the dress from looking like a turtle neck, there is a mathematical process you must follow to make the dress like flat across the shoulders.

It took forever to make all these bullion roses.

I don't know why, but the camera would not take a good, clear photo. The first row of smocking under the neck band is two rows, of stitching. It is called a "wheat" stitch.

I embroidered the sleeve band and added piping on top and bottom of the band.

Now I am dying to see how the dress looks like on the actual cutie pie. Wish I could be there on Easter Sunday!