SLEEVES
Here were have the first stage. Its the sleeves. I am using an embroidered linen. Its off white, more of a grey than a ususal linen colour so I will be using silvered whites to do the embroidery with.
TOP SLEEVE: I've added the lace edge.The lace is already gathered with a bound edge. I over-locked this with a narrow rolled hem stitch, feeding the fabric edge and the lace edge through the machine together.
BOTTOM SLEEVE: As the lace is bound with a particularly nasty looking nylon tape, I topstitched the sleeve edge just to make sure that no tape was visible form the front. This step is not always necessary as a simple pressing of the bound edge to the top on the reverse would be enough.
The only thing to do before the smocking is the gather stitches along the curved edge.
BONNET
This is the bonnet, or it will be when some magical smocking has been stitches along its front edge. As you can see, the front edge has a slight curve in it. If the smocking is stitched on straight then this curve will form a peak which I think is a nice wee feature on a plain bonnet.
So far, the lace has been over-locked and top stitched in the same way as the sleeves. The sides have been hemmed using a size 4 bound hemming foot - quite easy to use when you've got the knack, but quite difficult for a left hander. The back edge has been turned to form a channel for the gathering ribbon. This will be threaded through and pulled tight to make the crown of the bonnet.
