A Historical Alteration. ;)

Hello! How are you all this afternoon? The project for Rachel and I was to alter a few Regency style dresses for a historical reenactment our family is visiting this weekend. :) Our good friends lent us all costumes and their sewing machine (since the *3* we own don't work) so we were all set.
The dress I was going to wear was way too long, so we decided to put 2 French tucks in it. Rachel worked on pinning those, while I measured and pinned another dress.

Here is the first dress....it was 7 1/2" inches too long

Here's the first step all pinned and ready to be sewn. :)

Rachel trying to figure out how to thread this borrowed machine. ;)

And you can't get any project done without musical accompaniment, of course. =D

So, this is an odd angle, but here's the "french tuck" or "grow pleat" all done on one of the dresses.

Rachel sewing the 2nd tuck in my dress.

Here's the finished product on your's truly. ;) (funny angle, wot? :P)

It's hard to see the tucks in this one, but the final length was perfect! :)

So, it was a successful project, and we both felt good to be sewing after way too long. :) Now, we both are planning other sewing projects and hopefully we'll have a good machine in the near future.
~Sarah

I LOVE This Site! :)

(Click here to view a simply marvelous blog!!!!)
Ahh....I'm in 7th heaven....need I say more? :)

A Little Sewing Circle

I was gone with Mama and Anna yesterday from 8 in the morning till 8 at night, going thrift-store shopping. Dear Sarah held down the fort, and made a delicious dinner for the whole time. After being out all day long, we were prepared to come in and find a house...needing its Mama. :) But I must commend Sarah's efforts as "homemaker for the day", because upon entering the house, we saw something like this:

Okay, so they weren't dressed up in period clothing, but they were all sitting round the table, so cozily, with bits of fabric and lace all scattered around, sewing diligently away. I am sure they were unconcious of what a pretty picture they made! I almost hated to spoil the quaintness of it all! :) It was such a sweet little scene for me as a sister to see after I had anticipated something perhaps a bit less genteel! :) I won't tell you what they were working on, because that would spoil the post I can't wait to do! :) But I felt as if I had stepped into a scene from Little Women: "We were in the Slough of Despond to-night, and mother came and pulled us out as Help did in the book. We ought to have our roll of directions lie Christian. What shall we do about that?" asked Jo, delgihted with teh fancy which lent a little romance to the very dull task of doing her duty. "Look under your pillows, Christmas morning, and you will find your guide book," replied Mrs. March. They talked over the new plan while old Hannah celared the table; then out came the four little work-baskets,and the needles flew as the girs made sheets for Aunt March..."

Ah..."my girls" have learned well the pretty things that make the home a pleasant place to be! :) This little vignette may not interest everyone, but I noticed and appreciated it, and so I thought I'd "tell a tale" on the girlies at home who kept an eye on things and succeeded well! :) Thanks Sarah! :) -Rachel

The Latest Escapade With Daniel

I am my father's daughter, so naturally, he has instilled in me an inherent sense of a good and bad price for something. As you heard, my sewing machine broke down in the depths of an important (to me) project, so I was quite intrigued by a call from Mrs. T. that she was at an estate sale, and had seen a machine. Somewhat assured that it was in good condition, Mama persuaded Daniel to take me down to the sale, and inspect it. Before we left, her parting admonition was: "Offer 30 dollars!" (they asked for 50 originally)
Those of you who know me, will realize that I am quite shy around strangers. We first stopped at a house with a "garage sale" sign in the yard. After knocking on the front and side doors, we determined that it was, indeed, the wrong house! *blush* This unnerved me a bit. We drove further down the road, and found the estate sale. After getting out of the van, we were met at the door by a meek, pale, elderly man with a small moustache. He held the door open, and his wife met us indoors. Daniel, thankfully, did the talking for me: "My sister was looking for a sewing machine?" The woman ushered us into a cluttered room, where a vintage sewing machine sat upon a table amongst a motley array of other items. She was not a seamstress herself, but I sat down, and tried the machine. It sewed in a strange fashion, so I checked, and discovered it to be threaded entirely incorrectly. That being remedied, we soon determined it was a suitable machine for my needs. The only thing now was to offer the thirty dollars. My bashfulness was heightened by the sensibility of this being the pale, meek, elderly man's late mother's sewing machine. I did not want to haggle with them! A desperate plan entered my head. "Daniel!" I hissed, beckoning to him. He returned to my side. "You pay for this! Offer thirty dollars! I'll be out in the car!" and with that, I prepared to flee. But Sarah hemmed me in while my good brother, who will not allow me to slip out of things said, "You must pay."
"But how?!? Please Daniel!" (Obviously my face was neither endearing nor pitiful enough to sway him) "No Rachel, you must just ask them if they are firm on the price!"
I gathered my courage. On the way over, I had played the whole scene out in my head, being a shrewd enough haggler: I would offer 30 dollars, but expect to pay 40, and haggle up to that.
The woman came back into the room. "Well?" she said with a tiny hint of impatience.
"Are...are you all firm on the price?" I asked, sounding to my ears dreadfully cold. She glanced at the machine. "I could maybe give it to you for 40."
Rejoicing, I snapped up the price without haggling. There is where I left behind Dad's teaching. I followed the woman out of the room, trying not to squirm as she whispered the diminished price to the meek, pale, elderly gentleman with the very small moustache. I felt, somewhere behind me, the rolling over of the dearly departed in her grave. ;) I blushingly paid the price, and fled to the car with a polite, "Thank you!"
When I got home, I announced the price to Dad, and told him the story. He merely smiled. "If they offered to decrease it to 40 right off the bat, you surely could have gotten it for 25 dollars!" and he shook his head sagely. But all's well that ends well! I still have much to learn from Dad, but I've now got a working machine! :D -Rachel

A Threat! ;)

It didn't have to be that:

I would have been content with something like this:

But all I wanted was to be able to do this:

So I could finish that:

But my machine has designs against its owner, and went nutty. (And I only had the green vest to finish! So close to being through!!!! ) So now I am threatening to do the only other option:

Oh well! :) -Rachel

In Which I am a Seamstress :)

`Ello Gov'na'! :) I don't know...that was just as sort of English sounding opening for a post on a very English day! :) I have had a perfectly lovely afternoon! One of my friends called me up this morning and asked me to come over and pick their cherry-trees with her! I was so excited, but then it began raining in earnest, and her Mama didn't want us to be out in the rain and catch cold. We are all walking on tip-toe till Saturday when we have our voice recital. No colds till then please! :) But then her older sister invited me to come work on my Scottish dress, and so I did. This dress has been trying to be made since....January? I bought the material and cut everything out and then...our machine quit. I shall not go into gorey details because they would bore you and irritate me! :) The Walkers were just about to move in, and so I felt that the Lord was just telling me that now was not the time to do it. So I packed it all away in my sewing box, and laid it aside. I knew that if I persisted in trying to make it my agenda, I would be constantly snarled because I knew my agenda was not the one I needed to focus on in this season. So I had almost forgotten about my Scottish finery laid away in the sewing box. Then The King's Daughter and I talked about it again. She offered to make it for me, since she had made her's and numerous other sewing projects since my burial of my hopes! ;) So with a very willing heart I gave her the project, and today I went over there and worked away at it with a good will! We were all three out in the room over their barn: a perfectly lovely apartment. The walls are painted the sweetest forgetmenot color, with white trim, and the floor is wood. At one end is a quaint little double-wide window looking out upon the prettiest garden this side of the Mississippi River! (Mr. T. keeps a Mr. MacGregor garden with not A SINGLE WEED!!!) Anyway, the rain was pouring down in torrents upon the tin roof as we sewed and sang together! I have little recollection of a wet afternoon more pleasantly spent! :) I worked on the blouse on Maryanna's machine, and The King's Daughter nearly finished the skirt on another! All that is left to do can probably be accomplished in another good afternoon's time. We must finish the blouse and make the vest. I am so excited! The Lord is rewarding my waiting with a most lovely chance to be with my sweet "sisters" in that pretty room! :) Yay! Three cheers for Scotland's traditional costume! (The King's Daughter and I plan to wear our outfits together one Sunday! :)
-Rachel

Can I Turn Him Into A Mr. Knightley? I Wonder.....

Yesterday my lovely grandmother saved my hide by lending me a sewing machine! Yay! *great big sigh of relief*! Now I can finally start sewing for real on my Scottish dress. Grandmama is a seamstress, and sews for local theatres, ballet studios, etc. She used to own the ballet studio that she sews at, and I took lessons there as a really little girl! Anyway, it is undoubtedly a handy thing to have a grandmother who can make wedding dresses, chinese dragon costumes, and reenacting clothes! ;) We were over her house for lunch yesterday. Nobody makes meatloaf like Grandmama! Here is a tradition that is in it's second generation at least: whenever the grandkids come over, you serve them vanilla bean icecream with chocolate syrup. That has been going on for so long (With Mama, Uncle Lon, and Uncle David, and now us) that I can remember the chocolate syrup coming out of a can! :)
All this to say, thank you Grandmama for lending me the machine! I have it up my sleeve, (if Daniel pays for the materials) to make him a period costume. I'm thinking one like Mr. Darcy's or Mr. Knightleys, because we already have the pattern for his size in that. I can just see him in a navy-blue or brown coat. Then he'd only need high-top boots and a top-hat to make the ideal "Gentleman From Virginia". Or change it to be "The Gentleman from The Colonies" to sound more British! ;) So I'm thinking I'll make him either that, or, if he insists, I think we may have one that is rather Pirate-y. I'm not sure.
I'm slightly frightened at the idea of one of those tailored coats.....hmmmm....well, we'll see how far my creative-streak takes me, and whether I get my nerve up!
We girls are comissioned by Mama to make our swim-suits from a pattern The King's Daughter made her's from this spring! It is really neat, because while very modest, it is also stylish! I'm excited, but wondering about the slippery material.....? Anyway, just some sewing ideas!

Waltzing With The Clothes Line and The Patience of Job

Hey guys! (this is Rachel) Okay. So I'm having a time judging this contest: Abigail got all but two correct, but didn't finish the quotes, and Leanna only got 3 right, but she did finish the quotes. Blast! Why can't this be easy? I guess, Leanna wins since she did do it all. So tell us something to post about and we will!
Here are the answers for those of you who couldn't figure it out:

1. "Knights and ladies, monks and pages...." (Little women. Jo is reading her story aloud, "...elves and flowergirls all mingled gaily in the dance. Pauline cried out in horror as her bridegroom's mask fell, disclosing not her lover Ferdinand, but the face of his sworn enemy: Count Antonio. `Revenge is mine,' quoth he! Continued in the following edition!"
2. "You're my brother from..." (Fireproof....another mother, but now we got the same father!")
3. "What's that?" "This, my friend is a pint!" ( The Fellowship of the Ring."They come in pints? I'm gettin' one!")
4. "I can out talk, out chaw, out drink, out fight, out dance, Yeah, out fight!...." (Davy Crockett and the River Pirates. "Anyone on the whole Missisip!"
5. "I think I'd like to be a nun. Wouldn't it be wonderful to...." (Anne of Avonlea. "be the bride of Heaven? But then, I'm not Catholic, so I'd hardly qualify for that position!")
6. "I'll settle your hash as soon as I get this premises.." (The Music Man, ".. off of my oldest girl!")

Okay. Now for the remainder of this post. Have any of you all ever witnessed "The Clothesline Waltz"? It is a peculiar dance done by homemakers on a windy day. I participated in one today, and had a very handsome red and white checkered tablecloth as my partner! ;)
Here is how it works: You stand beside the clothesline, and gracefully lift an item from the basket. Despite being heavy, the item flaps around- this is the beginning of the dance. You side-step a bit to keep your skirt out of the way of the wet fabric. Then, gently lifting the item onto the line, you let go with one hand to grab a clothespin- this is where it gets difficult. The line blows forward, and you must lightly step backwards to avoid being slapped. Just as soon as you renew you grip after a quick spin around, (picking up the end that fell during the stiff breeze) the clothesline snaps backward. Then you must do three tip-toes steps forward, and jab the remaining pins onto the item. Voila! The waltz is complete. Now repeat 2 dozen more times. :)
So. The other half comes in here, though on a different subject.
For days now I have for some reason had a very, very trying time of things. Often I have thought that everything happening would test the patience of a Job. You know when something that you've done a million times won't work? For instance, on Wed. (I think?) I had cut out all the pieces to my Scottish attire I am attempting to make. Then my machine went rather haywire. That plan busted, I decided to still be productive, and make bread. Guess what? We terribly badly needed to go shopping, and had no sugar to put in the bread.
Then today, I have spent probably 2 hours total ripping out stitches I had put into the sewing project, because after fixing the machine, I had begun to sew, and between one thing and another, (including a relapse in the same problem) I had to take out the stitches I'd say.....7 or 8 times?) And then, to top it off, I was trying to print off my book for the test families, and had had Mama buy paper and notebooks, and the printer runs out of ink on only the second copy.
Now, there is a point to all this: Whenever I find things going crazily "wrong", I stop and realize that maybe the Lord doesn't want me doing that thing right then. I have no idea why He wouldn't wish me to be sewing today, but He does! And I have found ample opportunities this week to give up my plans, and a chance have a good attitude about it.
I think it is important to remember that each trial we fall into we should count all joy. Really, aren't you glad that Jesus gives us so many tests? It certainly is a good chance to look closer at our spiritual health: Are we really wanting His plan, even in the little things? Are we going to be donkeys and insist on doing things our way?
Anyway, just something to think about! Congratulations Leanna! :) -Rachel