Regency Roses

Before the month slips away from me, I'll share about this Regency gown that I made for a friend this past month. She and her husband were invited to an English Country Dance, so she wanted a pretty Regency gown to wear to the event. Julie chose the fabric and the style, and I did the stitching!

I used the Elegant Ladies' Closet pattern from Sense & Sensibility Patterns, with a few modifications. I raised the neckline 1.5" and added a total of 4" of extra width to the front of the dress for potential maternity/nursing wear. I custom-fitted the length of the bodice on Julie so that she could wear the dress without needing period undergarments. Julie wanted a little extra something to add interest and definition, so she requested that I use a coordinating bias binding on the outside of the dress for the drawstring casing. I also added detachable long sleeves, from the same fabric, which I basted in after this photo was taken. I also made a chemise from cotton muslin for her to wear under the dress (no pictures of that, as it is pretty basic, but the interesting challenges of that pattern are flat-felled seams and inserting gussets under the arms).

Sewing this dress in the middle of winter was like getting a whiff of summertime and roses!

Handmade Christmas

Here's a review of some of the handmade items I crafted as Christmas gifts. I went a little more homemade than usual this year, and considering I didn't get started on any of them until December was well underway, I'm pleased that I managed anything at all!

Here we have a counted cross-stitch ornament given to my friend, Susan. I lifted the design from a early 1990s library book. Most of the designs looked fairly out of date, but this classic folk pattern caught my eye. All materials came from my stash.

The recipient of this crayon roll was my little one-year-old niece. I used this excellent tutorial from The Pleated Poppy, adjusting the size to fit jumbo crayons. (If you want to do something similar, my fabric pieces were 5-3/4" x 24-1/2" for the outside and inside, and 6-1/2" x 24-1/2" for the pocket. The crayon pockets end up being 1-1/2" wide.)

Finally, this toile makeup bag went to my Mom. She had requested a smaller-sized makeup bag so this one ended up about 6" x 7." I used a tutorial from Flossie Teacakes, adjusting the sizing slightly and adding box corners. I am not totally happy with the way it turned out because the zipper corners look a little wonky (see photo). Perhaps my upholstery-weight cotton was simply too thick. For the lining, I used polyester lining and lightweight fusible interfacing. Other than the shape, I'm very happy with the neat finishing touches and the pretty fabrics.

I'm a little late, but I'll wish you all a happy (second day of) Christmas! :-)

Poor man's holiday room fragrance

Now that citrus fruits are in season, we've been going through boxes of clementines like there's no tomorrow. Here's a little room freshener idea that makes good use of all those peels sitting around.

• orange peels from 2-3 clementines
  
• cinnamon stick
  
• whole cloves (maybe a teaspoonful?)
  
• a sprinkling of grated nutmeg
  
• (optional) a few drops of sweet orange essential oil (I have it on hand, so I add it)

Place everything in a small saucepan and add some water (not necessarily to cover, but enough that it won't boil down right away). Bring mixture to a boil over medium heat, then reduce heat to maintain a gentle simmer. Your kitchen will begin to smell wonderfully fragrant. Top off the water as needed. You can reuse the same mixture for several days -- just toss it when it starts to look like a nauseous mess. ;-)

A Fond Farewell (sort of!)

I've been procrastinating writing this post -- I'm sure you've noticed the neglect my blog has suffered of late! Douglas and I decided to get rid of our home Internet connection for a season, which went into effect at the beginning of this month. This is partly to cut out an unnecessary financial expenditure, and partly because we both felt we were too addicted to the Internet. It's been a few weeks now, and I'm truly surprised at how little I miss it -- mostly the convenience of looking up a recipe, checking the weather forecast, or things like that.

I initially thought that if we got rid of our Internet connection, I would give up blogging altogether -- but when push came to shove, I'm having a hard time severing something I've enjoyed so much over the past five years. So, I decided to semi-retire instead. My posts will be much more infrequent, since my Internet time is so limited, but I hope to continue posting from time to time, especially my sewing projects.

I will also be changing the comments so that all comments need to be approved by me before they show up. I've been blessed not to have to deal with much spam or unkindness through the comments feature, but this will just give me an extra measure of peace about the content of my blog when I'm not around to check on it every day.

Thanks for hanging in there with me! It's a blessing to be able to share the small beauties with which God has enriched my life at home. I'm always glad to hear from you, either in the comments or by e-mail (my address is in my blogger profile). God bless you, dear friends!

Pink or blue?

I haven't been up to much sewing lately, but I did manage to make these two swaddling blankets from lengths of flannel I had in my stash. It's just a single layer of flannel, with the edges folded under 1/2" twice and stitched down. I made mitred corners for neatness. They ended up being about 38" square. I had several like these that I used with Edmund, and I really liked them for their versatility -- swaddling, nursing cover, floor mat, etc.!

Lord willing, one of these blankets will be put to good use in our family next May! ;-)

"Back to School" shirtdress

As autumn rolled around this year, I realized I have a gap in my wardrobe of casual cool-weather dresses. I'd been wanting to try Simplicity 2246, so I ordered an autumn-hued plaid shirting from Mood Fabrics and got to work.


I used view C, but switched out the sleeves from views A and B. I also used the collar from view B, but added a ruffle of my own. I lengthened the skirt by two inches so that it would hit me below the knee. I also cut the button plackets on the bias to take advantage of the extra interest that the bias plaid would create. Oh, and I cut out the pattern a size smaller than I normally would choose, based on the finished garment measurements (included in the pattern) and other pattern reviews floating around the Internet. The fit turned out fine!


By the way, I've needed corrective lenses since I was 10 years old, but I usually wear contact lenses. The last time I got new glasses was about 13 years ago, so my frames were a little out-of-date. I recently got this new pair for free, courtesy of my ophthalmologist uncle, so I've been wearing my glasses a lot more frequently. I think they fit the academic look of this dress, don't you? ;-)

Another off-topic note. The first time I wore this dress I managed to get French fry grease on two separate spots on the skirt. I have tried rubbing the spots with Dawn dish detergent and then laundering as usual, which I think helped fade them, but they are still there (probably only noticeable to me, but still!). If you have any great methods for removing grease stains, lay them on me!

Banbury Cross cardigan, revisited

I have a backlog of sewing projects to share, one of which is this new version of the Banbury Cross cardigan I designed last fall. The old one still fits Edmund, but there are a few "issues" that I was able to fix with this new one. The biggest thing I learned was that I needed to stabilize the button plackets, which I did with strips of interfacing.

This one was made from a thrifted, oatmeal-colored men's sweater. I used leftover herringbone wool for the elbow patches, and cute little leather-look buttons. I'm quite pleased with the way it turned out!