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RECORD KEEPING WITH HAND EMBROIDERY By: Carolyn Hanson Carolyn Hanson is a local knitting and crochet designer, teacher and fiber artist. She can be contacted at cchanson3@gmail.com . Back in 2003, my mom sent me a Newsday article about a large Swedish family who record- ed their “49” births onto the family christening gown. Each family branch used a unique color thread to identify the family tree. It was quite colorful and filled with names. The dress traveled across land and ocean to meet the growing demands. I saved the article with every intention of embroidering our names into our family gown (10 births). Then life got busy and the grand children grew. Jump to 2015 with the birth of my family’s first great grandchild, my mom announced to my nephew that the newest member needed to be added to the hem with the others. Alas, I needed to confess that I had never added the prior names, oops. So, the race against the clock began. Our family christening gown is now 90 years old and still in pristine condition. The gown was hand made by my pater- nal grandmother in 1926. The dress is fine handkerchief linen with inserts of handmade lace ribbon, and mother-of- pearl buttons down the back. The slip is sturdier cotton with an 6” eyelet edge. It’s simple and beautiful. Hand stitching is not my strength, and certainly not freeform like this required. I needed a plan 1. Stitch Style - I started by going on-line and researching the best stitches for mono- graming; the Stem Stitch was chosen since it did not leave spaces like a running stitch. 2. Font - I scanned the various script fonts available on the computer, settled on “Lucida Handwriting,” typed each first and middle name and birth year, and printed using 22 pt. font size. 3. Thread - I wanted a white-on-white effect using the slip as the canvas. [Did not want the stitching to show through the gown.] My expert sewing friend (HF), suggested using the palest gray available from DMC. I used #762. Brilliant! 4. Supplies - Pencil, embroidery hoop, scrap cloth, light board 5. Practice - Using scrap cloth and pencil, I placed the printed name under the cloth and traced. Then cut 24” of embroidery floss and separate the six strands into groups of 2. I liked working from right to left, but choose what seems most natural to you. Follow the traced lines, keeping the stitches uniform in length. I did not use any knots but caught the thread underneath. Continue practicing until you are satisfied with the results. Don’t forget to gently hand wash your sample to make sure the pencil washes out. I used a mechanical pencil and had no issues. 6. Layout - Decide where you want to place the names. It took me 2 tries to get this right. HF suggested a family tree layout after I had already started with a linear design. I agreed and I undid several hours of stitching to set the new layout, which I love. So spend some time planning for current and the future additions. 7. Placement - The names need to be straight and spaced according to your design. This is where the light board comes into play, if you are lucky enough to have one. I laid the fabric over a grid and then slid the paper template in-between the grid and the fabric. Then lightly trace all the names. 8. Stitching - Using an embroidery hoop, I started at the center bottom and moved upward and outward. The hoop assures that the fabric does not pucker. 9. Finishing - Gently hand wash the garment to remove the pencil stenciling. I used Ivory Soap for babies, followed by air drying and pressing. Here is the finished product. It’s really lovely and ready for the 4th generation of Cianciabella’s and beyond. You can make any item into an heirloom. Use a pillowcase or blanket. Identify a keeper who will keep it clean and stored away until the next use. If it yellows with time, common, make a wash or a capful of bleach to a gallon of water. Do not soak, but dip until the color changes, then rinse. You can also bleach naturally by leaving in the sun. Welcome ARR, #11 in our family tree. www.Twitter.com/connectionsnj Follow Us On Twitter Scan This Code to Follow Us On Twitter www.theconnectionsnj.com