30-Day Challenge, Day 20

A hobby of yours. 

Sewing doll clothes....

 Sewing historical costumes...

and the weird one that gets me some strange looks...

collecting American Girl dolls.

But then, we live in a time and place that prizes individuality, so people really shouldn't have a problem with it anyway. :-)

What are some of your hobbies?

Just Miscellaneous Happy Things :-)

Today I went to JoAnn Fabrics and was able to pick up some fun things for my "Etsy" sewing.

Let me show you some up-close shots of some of the items. I'm pretty happy with them! :-)

Iron-on applique for a doll-sized polo dress that I'll be making:

Decorative fabric roses to trim some Colonial-style doll dresses (I noticed several of Felicity's dresses are trimmed with fabric flowers, especially on the sleeves, so I followed suit :-) ).

Frog closures for a doll-sized Spencer jacket:

An awl for setting eyelets (unfortunately, the JoAnn's we went to doesn't carry eyelets so I may have to order them):

Two white-on-white prints:

They're not so bold as that, but I took the picture with flash so that you could see the difference in the prints. The one on top is for a Georgian/Colonial doll dress, the one on the bottom for a Regency doll dress.

Then I got home and found a lovely package in the mail for my dear sweet friend and sister in Christ, Leah!

And this was what was in the package:

I Come Quietly To Meet You: An Intimate Journey in God's Presence
Devotional Readings by Amy Carmichael, Arranged by David Hazard

That was so sweet of her! I LOVE Amy Carmichael and just devour anything I read of hers. Thank you so much for the book, Leah! I love it!! (((HUGS)))

Another happy thing--

A sneak peak of the dress I drafted some time back and sewed on Saturday. I need to get better color pictures before I list it on Etsy.

Now, one more happy thing:

I ordered a new "model"/"investment" for my Etsy shop! I'm debating whether I should show her to you or not. Shall it be a surprise when I get her, or should I tell you now? Hm...........

No, I won't tell you. You'll have to wait til she arrives! :-D

Thanks for letting me share! Remember to rejoice in the Lord today and thank Him for all His blessings-- "forget not all His benefits", not only the material benefits, but the amazing spiritual benefits as well.

New Blog

Amanda and I have started a new blog to share our homemade projects. We didn't want it to be private, because we want it to be an opening for eventually selling our projects. For privacy purposes, we've made different accounts that don't link to Day by Day or our other blogs, or tell much about us. I am "Elinor Dashwood" and Amanda is "Marianne Dashwood".

Enjoy! :-)

http://hooks-and-needles.blogspot.com

New Regency Gown!! :-D

First of all, I'd like to give praise to the Lord for the beautiful day He has given us. Not only was the weather beautiful-- rain in the morning, sun in the afternoon, now a thunderstorm approaching-- but also He has given me His presence and His promises, His love and His faithfulness. Just to know Jesus is enough to make any day-- even the darkest day-- beautiful.

One of the things I am grateful for is that He allowed me to finish my second Regency gown! I love it, even better than my blue one! Because....

It's all white! I LOVE white and have always wanted an all-white dress. In the pictures below I am wearing the blue sash that goes with my blue Regency gown, but technically it is all-white. I am planning on making sashes in a variety of colours to wear according to my mood. ;-)

I made this dress a little bit differently than the last one. One of my alterations was that I lengthened the bodice one inch. I didn't like how the last one had such a high waistline. The one inch made a nice difference and it gives the appearance of the late 1790's, early 1800's style more than the very high empire waistlines of the teens. Another feature that I altered started as an idea that I got watching "Sense and Sensibility" (Emma Thompson) the other day with the Ring girls. The costumes in that film were designed to reflect the late 90's, which is when Jane Austen would have written it. I noticed that many of the sleeves were 3/4 (the long sleeves that come down almost past the wrist are a feature of the early teens). Here is a screen still from the film. Note the 3/4 sleeves.

For my dress I cut down the sleeve-length to make them 3/4. Still a little longer than I'd like, but it was hard to judge by holding the pattern piece up to my arm.

One more alteration-- actually, it wasn't much of an alteration, really. With my blue dress (and this one) I had a hard time with the lacing. It's supposed to lace at the top and at the bottom, but then it gapes terribly. For my blue dress I used hook-and-eyes, and for this one I was going to, but only had one hook-and-eye left. :-/ So I decided to try lacing it! All I did was sewing the string through at intervals. What do you think? It doesn't gape, but do you think it might pucker too much?

Well, now you know all about my white regency gown! Next projects in mind?

• Spencer jacket or pelisse
• Mid-1800's chemise and corset
• Wives and Daughters/Romantic era dress
• Bleak House/1850's dress
• 1950's jumper
• some jumpers and pantaloons for some little girls
• complete Anne of Green Gables ensemble for Amanda (when she has the money to buy the material herself... :-P )

Now, question for my friends from church:

Should I wear this to church on Sunday? I would like to wear it places, and since it's white, it will be cooler, but do you think it might draw to much attention... being all white, and of an "exotic" style? Please give me your honest opinion! I don't want to make a fool of myself. ;-)

To God be the glory! :-)

My Regency Dress

Last week I was able to finish my Regency gown. I am having a little trouble closing it up in the back, but that should be solved by adding just a few more hooks-and-eyes. It's so much fun to wear; I wore it to Miranda's graduation party on Saturday and all day at home on Monday. I love it!

This is the pattern I used: Simplicty, 4055.


Here are some pictures of me in the dress:

Front View:

Back View:
(see how it gapes a teeny in the back?)

Look! I'm Elinor Dashwood! Or perhaps I am Catherine Morland, daydreaming about breathtaking adventures in ancient castles...

Right now I am working on sewing some jumpers for some special little girls that I am going to visit next week. :-)

After I come home, I plan on making a white regency gown out of the same pattern as the dress above (I already have the fabric-- it's beautiful!! :-D ) And I plan on trying this authentic vintage pattern which I ordered off of Best Vintage Patterns.

I am also willing to make a Regency gown for anyone (local) who is willing to pay for fabric, notions, and labor. :-)

Regency

Regency Era: the years from the 1790s to the 1820s, mainly in Europe. To me, "Regency" means beautiful dresses and hairstyles, social classes, Pemberly, Hartfield, Norland, and, well, in short, Jane Austen! :-)

I love everything Regency! Mainly my love for it is inspired by the excellent books by Jane Austen, and some of the delightful movie renditions of them...

Lately I have taken up sewing (or attempting to sew) my own Regency wardrobe. :-) But you kind of have to work from the inside out, so I started with the chemise, which is like a slip, and is also called a shift... I learned so many new skills while sewing it, such as sewing gussets in sleeves, making a bias, and sewing flat felled seams! (Thank you, Mrs. Smith! :-) )

Then the short stays... which are a mild form of a corset, basically-- softer and shorter. It was a big project, and lots of fun, especially applying the boning. :-) I finished that on Monday, but haven't gotten a picture of them. Unfortunately, they were a little big on me, but fit Amanda, so either I am going to have to make a new pair or try some other option. At least, it only took me a week to make, but still... that was all afternoon every day but Sunday! :-P

Below is the basic look of the stays, only these aren't the ones I made. The pattern is from Sense and Sensibility.

Well, once I find a solution to the stays problem, I will, Lord willing, make the dress. The pattern I have is from Simplicity, but the same pattern can be gotten from Sense and Sensibility (link above.) In cutting out the pattern pieces for this dress, I have decided I like working with the Sensibility much better than Simplicity-- I say that in case you decide to buy the pattern yourself. Of course, your taste in may vary from mine. :-)

I've also tried a hairstyle inspired from the films, particularly Elinor in the new "Sense and Sensibility" (BBC). Here's Elinor:

And here's me:

Hmm... needs some improvement in the back where it wraps around. How do some people manage to make their hair (or others') so nice?

Well, I don't know whether or not to say this post was totally pointless... but it's fun for me and thought you might like to know what's going on over here in between Sundays. :-)

I hope you are all enjoying the beauty of God's creation and the joy of a blooming spring, inside and out. May the Lord "grant you to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in your inner being..."

Note to Seamstresses and Historical Costume Lovers!

Jennie Chancey, from Sense and Sensibility patterns is now offering e-patterns at low prices, for several of her patterns, including her whole Regency collection! Please check out her site here!

For those of you who aren't familiar with Sense and Sensibility patterns: they are reproductions of costumes from bygone eras (Regency, Victorian, Swing, etc.) Many are very modest, beautiful, and feminine. If you always wanted to look like the Dashwood and Bennett sisters, or Miss Anne Elliott, you will love Sense and Sensibility patterns!

I have never made any dresses from Mrs. Chancey's patterns but a friend made the 1914 Afternoon Dress pattern for Amanda (Rosebud), which turned out beautiful! Now I am collecting materials to make a complete Regency costume!

Here are some pictures of Amanda in her Sensibility dress. :-)