Lord of the Rings Elven Gown

I know I am long over due with posting. So sorry I have been absent for so long! Life has been flying by and I have not taken the time to blog much. But aside from that here is my elven gown I finished up Wednesday. I wore the gown today to see the Hobbit the Desolation if Smaug and the movie was epic. Being a Hobbit and LOTR fan I had to dress the part.

 Upon cutting out the gown I thought I had enough for the sleeves, but it ended up I only had enough fabric for one sleeve. So I got some polyester burgundy fabric from the stash that matched sort of to use. That was the only disappointing thing about making this dress.

 Here is a picture I took while I was still sewing the gown before I put the sleeves on.

 I had planned to make this dress for the first Hobbit movie last year but it did not happen. So I made it for the second movie instead. The whole dress is made out of wool crepe except for the sleeves. I ran out of fabric so the sleeves are made of polyester. I trimmed the dress with lace that my sister dyed for me black.

I received many stares and compliments upon getting out of the car and going to the theater. I still cannot believe this dress actually turned out. Being a civil war reenator I am used to gowns taking ages to make and lots of tears, blood, and sweat involved. Making this dress that was not the case. Praise God! It was easy and effortless. So I watched all three Lord of the Rings movies and 3 other movies while sewing up my gown. I used the Simplicity pattern 4940.

So all in all I am extremely happy with how the gown turned out except for not having enough wool for the whole dress. I would have loved for the sleeves to make the same color as the rest of the gown. Oh well! I am a poor elf I guess. ;) I also misplaced my elf ears, so I did not get to wear them. But someday I will! I am determined.

God bless and I will try and post more but I am making no promises.
Rebecca Ann

Hollywood vintage pattern 407 cut out!

Hello everyone!

I have sucessfully finished a 40's slip from the pattern I talked about in my previous post and I have cut out a dress from this vintage hollywood pattern 407 tonight. I can't wait to get it sewn up in time for a christmas dance, a christmas party, and christmas. I am sewing it up in a navy blue with a silver stripe, which I cut out on the bias to make chevrons with the gored panels in the skirt. I can't wait to get it done!

God bless!
Rebecca

1940s wardrobe planning

So I am getting ready to go to my first World War 2 reenactment in January and I have been planning my winter wardrobe for it. I will be there 5 whole days for this immersion event so I need two dresses,   2 skirts, 2 blouses, a few cardigans, and a coat and shoes. Here is the website for the battle of the bulge if you are interested. 

Here are my two dream dresses for the evening dinner/swing dance Saturday night. 

You can see both of these patterns on pinterest on my board if you re interested. My user name is SingingDaily91. 

I love the dress above because of the sweet heart neckline and the twisted side detail. I wish I could drape patterns to make the dress on the left above. 

The dress pattern below is also pretty similar, but not exactly. 

The dress below is another I found via pinterest and I am in love! If only I could make this and have a place to wear it! I just have to find the pattern somewhere.

Now the practical things I am actually sewing. I am cutting out my bullet bra and red dress today. 

I definitely need a warm robe for those chilly evening in the barracks after the days events. 

I have been wanting to sew up the below pattern for some time and I am glad I have this pattern in my stash. I will sew it up in a navy polyester with a silver pin stripe. 

I plan to start on my under garments today. I might also cut out a slip. I will post pictures of the pattern later.

You can buy this pattern via etsy. 

I hope this post was fun to read and I will definitely post updates when I have items to show and share.

God bless!

Rebecca

Finished Cotton Swing Dress and update

 So I know I have not been doing any proper blog posts for the past 2 months really, but I had a great excuse! ;) I had been studying really hard for my piano playing exam which was today and I feel like I did really well! I also played a worship concert with my mom for a friends womens ministry event, and we had another reenactment and I have been getting ready for another exam friday which is my vocal examination. I also had a music theory exam 2 weeks ago and I am getting ready to do the Sue Gregg Cookbook booth at the local homeschool again. I have also been sewing a lot and crocheting granny squares for a friends project to send afgans to the needy in Romania. But I must admit I have also been fretting, I have been worrying, I have been giving into Satans temptation to wallow in self pity and sin.

 The past few weeks I have gone from joyful in the Lord one day to the next day fretting like it says not to do in Psalm 37, because fretting tends only to evil! But the Lord has helped me through this and I have felt closer to him the past two months through the feelings of lonliness and pain. Praise the Lord He can use trials for our good right?! I say yes Amen! He has drawn me even closer to Him and in this time I have been memorizing the WORD and loving Him more and more through the not so great days. Praise the Lord!

 For my 21st birthday last month I went to see my sister while she was studying with the midwife she assists and there is a picture above of the two of us that day. She also took my two friends and I to see October Baby the movie for my birthday and made a great feast and a cake. She is so good to me! The movie was so amazing we all were balling in our seats one minute and laughing the next!  I would highly recommend it to anyone male or female, single or married who is over 13 years old with their parents permission. If you have not seen it yet go support this great christian film!

 For my 21st birthday my parents blessed me with a new yamaha arius keyboard from the guitar center! I still cannot believe I am so blessed with this great instrument in my room. I can practice when I need to and when I have song inspiration I can go pick it on the keyboard even in the middle of the night since it has headphones. In the picture above we were putting those great plastic stilts I guess you would call them under my bedframe legs to raise it up for more storage under my bed. It was a funny experience. ;) I thought the picture was too funny not to put up. :) I sort of got stuck and had to wriggle out of behind there very gracefully. lol

 At the end of April I was able to finish my second 1940s style swing dress which I have made before using Jennie Chancey's Swing dress pattern. You can see the two posts I posted last summer of my experience making my first black with pink flowers swing dress here and here.

 This dress was not a breeze to make either, my first swing dress took forever it seemed as my sewing skills were very basic, but this time around it took less time once I got the notion to pursue the end product. We had a "sewing weekend" as we call it in April where a whole bunch of our friends came over and sewed projects for the weekend and helped each other with sewing projects for reenacting and daily life. I was the 2nd person making a "modern" garment, the rest were making civil war garments. It was a lot of fun and helped me to get it done as I was motivated by all the help and inspired by everyone else working on projects as well.

 I used cotton fabric as opposed to polyester, rayon, or wool which the pattern called for as I wanted a cool summer frock. It turned out well even though cotton was not recommended and I know was not used much in the 40's, I needed a practical dress for the summer in 2012; so this lavender small dot printed cotton worked well. Believe it or not I bought this fabric over 4 years ago and it sat for a while and finally this past fall I cut it out and finally got around to finishing it in April. I wore it today for the 3rd time for my piano exam and going out to lunch with my dear mother to celebrate finishing my exam well. It was a lot of fun and nice to go out with just my mom and I. We had not done that in what seemed forever!

 I felt like while wearing it I was not happy with the fit of the bodice, but looking in pictures the small flaws make it unique and show that I can improve in the 3rd dress I am currently making using this pattern. You all probably don't notice the mistakes right?! ;) I think the fabric only cost me around $12.00 for the 3 years at the most, probably way less even. It was from walmart in West VA when we went for vacation. Our walmart unfortunately does not have fabric anymore. Wish they would bring it back! I also got the lace from our stash in the sewing room and thought hey I like it although I think it gives it more of a prarie feel, but I like it a lot. I think my hair and the lace makes it seem more 30s, but hey I love it!

 In this last photo I am holding my new favorite pair of shoes. I had not gotten a new pair of shoes in a long time and decided 2 weeks ago to take the plunge in looking for a pair of dressy summer shoes. These are from the website called TOMS and their shoes are so cute and comfy and you give a new pair of shoes to a child in need when you buy a pair of shoes. To see more about what they do go here. This pair of shoes is really cute and comfy! I have another pair of jean slate grey toms on the way too. Can't wait till they arrive!

Are any of you buying new summer sandals/shoes or contemplating doing so? What styles do you like? I also bought a new pair of sandals and will have to post pictures soon from my local shoe store. I will try and post pictures of my progress on the 3rd swing dress I am currently sewing tomorrow. I plan to have it done by Saturday for a friends wedding to wear to. I am helping with the gift and guest book table, so hopefully I can get this new dress done for the occasion!

Oh and do check out the video I posted in the previous post to see how I did my hair. I love this style and its stayed in all day! I will be putting my hair up more often I think! Its so nice and cool compared to having it down especially since summer is almost here. Thank you Casey over at
Elegant Musings for the great tutorial! It was a breeze! So easy!!
God bless,
Rebecca

Inspiration

I know I have been pretty absent from this blog for a while. I have said I wanted this blog to be centered on what the Lord is doing in my life. But I think these pictures are too pretty not to share. Some friends and I want to go to the Renaissance Fair in the fall and I want to sew up a medieval gown for it. I have been watching the TV series called Merlin on netflix and have gotten quite a lot of inspiration from the character Morgana in the series. Here are some of her lovely gowns! They are so beautiful and I want mine to look similar in some ways.

pictures source

Of course my favorite gown Morgana wears is the blue and purple one above! I love the sheer sleeves and gold trim.

I think what I love a lot about her gowns is all the trims! I want to find some braided or beaded trim to put on my gown or maybe embroider with some shimmery thread some sort of pattern on the sleeves, hem, and neck line of my gown. This is all ideas and I really have not even thought it through that much. I do have fabric, it is wool cranberry red crepe that I got on a great sale from fabric.com. Hopefully it will be nice and cool/warm for september/october weather.

Yeah I know she looks sort of scary in the picture above, but we are looking at the dress not her expression. ;)

I think the cream gown above is so pretty! The bodice is so neat with the v shaped tucks!

My first inspiration for the embroidery on my gown came from the website Medieval Clothier and this dress from the  below.

So I have been doing a lot of music practicing for my vocal and piano exams coming up in May as well as a theory examination. So prayers are appreciated and that is one reason I have not been blogging much. No song writing or sewing has been happening lately. Lots of crocheting, music practicing, and planning for a music gig I have coming up. I am so excited as its my first time playing at an outdoor event. I now have a Yamaha Arius I got for my birthday to bring to the event to play on, so thats exciting. I will post pictures of my new room make over and the keyboard soon.

In Christ,

Rebecca

Starting a braided rug and contentment and joy in suffering

 Hello ladies, I know I have been remiss of late not telling you all whats going on in my life. Lots has happened since I did a proper update! The Lord is good and His faithfulness stilll reaches the clouds, its never ending and I am thankful for that! What a comfort. I have been pondering contentment and joy lately. They have been two things I have struggled with my whole life as a born again christian. I always heard the sermons as I grew up that were filled with fluff and really did not tell me that there would be times of suffering in my life as a follower of Christ. I did not start realizing and reading, and hearing that this was not the reality until I was a teenager. I came to realize that life was filled with tough times and joy and contentment started to become a difficult character trait for me to instill in myself. I came to realize that joy and contentment come only from Christ and when we are leaning on Him and His truth instead of our false perspectives.

I have read 3 blog posts today about contentment and I received the book called  Contentment A Godly Woman's Adornment by Lydia Brownbackand have really been challenged and encouraged by her devotionals in there. She said in the devotional today why are we always focusing on the negative, (which is what I tend to do! ) instead of focusing on the little blessing and wonderful things God has in our life right now? Why are we reaching for something we do not have when we should be contentment and joyful for what we do have right now?!

 The verse for the devotional I read today was, "Now the rabble that was among them had a strong craving. And the people of Israel also wept again and said," Oh that we had meat to eat! We remember the fish we ate in Egypt thaat cost nothing, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic. But now our strength is dried up, and there is nothing at all but this manna to look at." Numbers 11:4-6

WOW! The people of God were so content weren't they?! They had food and the Lord was promising them a land just for them where they would not have to be in slavery anymore and it would be filled with milk and honey! But they were not content with the mana he had provided and the promise of a land filled with even more were they?! I think I am like the Israelites so many times! I say God oh I have to eat crackers and cheese and an apple again today for my lunch, that is boring and I have had to eat this every day this week. Is that being content?! No! God has provided nourishment for me that is good for my body and I am scoffing at it. These verses really made me think about am I content? I  in America, the" land of plenty" and I am not content with all that God has provided for me. This made me get a reality check big time!

I have also come to realize that joy is needed even in suffering these past years. I will admit to you all that I struggle with lonliness and depression. Its not chronic or a big state of depression and no I am not taking meds for it, because I have the best meds on the earth! I have Christ my Lord! Every time I feel lonely and I give into my depression of feeling alone and like if I had more friends I would be content and joyful I have to say, " Rebecca you have the best friend you could ever have! A friend that will never leave you nor forsake you! He is the best lover you could ever have, He will never leave you when hes fed up with you or throw you in the ditch when hes tired of you! He gave up his life by being tortured and killed on a cross for you! Look at the cross and remember that your best friend died for you and He's right here with you always!" Then I read my Bible and pray and ask God to help me not give into the temptation from the evil one to give into my self pity or depression. With Christ I can be joyful even when I feel like I have hardly anyone who understands me or also loves my Lord that is in my life. Even when I feel discouraged or not joyful, I can turn around and be joyful because Christ has conquired my sin and conquired death! So I praise God that these past months even though sometimes I have sinned by giving into my fear of lonliness and given up sometimes and just cried. God has triumphed even when I failed Ladies!!! He has conquired my sin when I could not, He has thrown it as far as the east is from the west. So I would encourage you if you are experiencing lonliness or depression or discontentment or lack of joy go to the Father who in the same room as you and embrace Him in prayer and reading His WORD! This always points me to the truth that I have a best friend right there with me that will always love me and He will be there for me when I am down.

Some verses that have comforted me I was at breaking point are
," God is our refuge and strength,
  a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way,
  though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea,
 though its waters roar and foam,
  though the mountains tremble at its swelling. Selah
 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
  the holy habitation of the Most High.
 God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved;  God will help her when morning dawns. The nations rage, the kingdoms totter;
  he utters his voice, the earth melts.
 The LORD of hosts is with us;
  the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah
 Come, behold the works of the LORD,
  how he has brought desolations on the earth.
 He makes wars cease to the end of the earth;
  he breaks the bow and shatters the spear;
  he burns the chariots with fire.
 “Be still, and know that I am God.
  I will be exalted among the nations,
  I will be exalted in the earth!”
 The LORD of hosts is with us;
  the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah

(Psalm 46 ESV)

So remember that He is our refuge and our strength!!!! We have no refuge in computer time, texting a friend, crying our eyes out, or yelling at others when we have given into the temptation of depression because of lonliness! There is no excuse for this because Christ is our refuge. If we just go to Him He there and He able to take our burden and take away that sin of giving into depression!

"Bless the Lord , O my soul, and forget not his benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, who redeems my life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's." Psalm 103: 2-5

I was reminded by these verses above yesterday that we should bless the Lord all the time and forget not his benefits! Do not forget that He forgives our iniquities and crowns us with steadfast love and mercy! How beautiful and encouraging is that! That gives me joy! :)

Please email me if you need someone to talk to or if you enjoyed this post please comment or email! I just thought I should not keep my struggles under the table. I am not a perfect person and I struggle daily with the sin of lonliness and discontentment and lack of joy. But praise God He is able to give us joy even in suffering and pain!

I have been working on a rag rug the past few days in my spare time when I just have to do something with my hands. I love how its turning out and will post more pictures when I get more progress. I think its going to take quite a while to do! I hope to finish it by spring and put it in my room. Well may God bless you this lovely weekend! Its 50 degrees farenheit here! I cannot believe it! Its like fall and my sister and father and I enjoyed it by walking around the neighborhood while we still can without the bitter cold weather.

What has been under my fingers?

 The start of a penny rug has been under my fingers these past 2 days. A friend of mine told me about this frugal and useful thing that you can do with old wool scraps and peices of old wool coats and pants and dresses. During the Civil War and even before the civil war women made these penny rugs out of scraps as useful items for their families. They recieved their name Penny rug because they would use pennies as templates to cut out the wool circles. They also were penny penching projects that took little money and were useful.

 They used these rugs as decorative table runners and cloths as well as cushions for chairs and also as floor rugs. I read one account online of a women making a new rug usually once a year to go in front of the front door in their home. This way they could wipe their feet before entering the home. They were also used as mats to put on the table underneath your candle stick holder or lantern so that wax would drip onto the penny rug instead of your lovely table. Mine will be decorative as well as useful at civil war events and at home to put hot dishes on top of, or a lantern, or just look pretty.

 My penny rug is made out of circles of old wool from many garments we have made over the 3 years we have done reenacting and also from modern wool projects. I barely even dented the wool scrap bag and I have a wool penny table runner. :)

 I am currently doing a blanket stitch around each circle on each penny. This will take a few more evenings and then I will attach them to an old peice of canvas for the backing. Its been documented they used old feed sacks or canvas or any other old peice of material for the back. They did not waste precious wool for the backing because it was precious and would only be used for things to be seen on the penny rugs.

I got all my documentation and information from the following sources.Early Style Penny Rugs and   Penny Rug crafts history of the penny rug and A Story book life blog and  few other places I could not remember. There were no actual pictures of antique penny rugs, just pictures of reproductions that I could find. But I am sure that many ladies would have done any design they had enough wool for or fit there fancy. So I cannot say my design is 100% accurate for the 1860s time period.

Well I am off to do more blanket stitching on my penny rug to finish it in time for saturdays reenactment as a sample of what these would look like while I demonstrate how to make one. Thanks to Mrs. Wilcox for sharing with me this wonderful craft!

In Christ,
rebecca

My Colonial outfitt

 Now that I finally have access to all my pictures since they have been transfered to my new laptop I thought I would do a proper post about my colonial(1771-1776) outfit. I have worn it many times for french and indian and american revolutionary war reenactments as well as volunteering at a historical 1771 farm. Last time I wore it was in August volunteering at the local farm which has reenactors live like a family would have in 1771. I made this outfit I guess in august and september of 2010, but never got around to doing a proper photo shoot of the garments. So here you go! :)

I used white linen for the gown which I dyed lavendar for the gown using the J. P. Ryan Pattern.  I could not find any linen online that was the color I wanted, so I dyed it myself. They would have done this anyway, so I did. But yes its not a period dye, its rit dye, but hey it works. :)

I sewed the whole dress by hand except for the indside seems, so all those pleats in the skirt are by hand. The neck kerchief is cotton, but I plan to make a linen one soon when I volunteer again or have another event to attend. The grey petticoat is also linen and I did not use a pattern for it, I just pleated the skirt into the waist band. A good book about this can be found here, it has diagrams and drawings of all kinds of garments form the period. When my sister and I and are friends and family went to Williamsburg for our graduation in 2010 we were also able to study many garments. We found the book on that trip as well.

My cap was made by the lovely Sarah Jane over at Romantic History. She was having a sale of many of her own garments she had made for living history and I jumped on the cap because I was running out of time before an even to make one actually. In the future I will probably make a second one to have one hand if I volunteer more at the farm.

The apron is also linen and I just made it up. :) I saw pictures and drawings and just cut out a rectangle and sewed it into a waist band. Its pretty easy. I am not wearing shoes as I do not have period shoes yet. I have been using my civil war boots to tell you the truth. I don't do much colonial reenacting so I was not willing to invest the money in a nice pair yet. I got a thrift store pair for the farm since we do a lot of messy work.

I will be posting photos of my new regency gown as well soon once I can do a photo shoot. I finished it in September in time for us to do the Defenders day reenactment at Fort McHenry. So pictures coming soon! You will see lots of stripes and lots of blue! Blue is my favorite color. :)

In Christ,

Rebecca

1940s Swing dress done!

Hey everyone! I was inspired to finish the swing dress this morning and now its finished!  I adore it and wanted to wear it all day today, but thought I should save it for my grandparents 50th wedding anniversary celebration that my family is going to on Tuesday. We will be gone to see them and the rest of my mom's side of the family for 2 weeks! I can't believe it. Its going to go by so fast too.

I never thought when I was a little girl I would learn how to sew. To tell you the truth I guess I thought naturally all clothing came from the store already made.  Then my sister had an interest in sewing clothing herself and I was interested, but after many attempts to sew a garment, it usually ended in frustration. Then about 3 years ago this October, I decided to try my hand at it again when we dove into civil war reenacting. That was my introduction to sewing again and after sewing the underpinnings and a civil war dress, I can sew modern garments pretty easily with a little fiddling. :)

No this dress is not perfect and you would see that with up close photos, but its a great church/everyday dress style for me. I am going to sew some more of these in the future. I would highly recommend Jennie's pattern to intermediate seamstresses. It was a little difficult on those shoulder seams and getting the bodice to fit right. But I did this dress all by myself! The first modern dress I have ever done! Its exciting! 

I decided not to put in a zipper as Jennie says in her pattern. I used the Sense and Sensibility swing dress pattern. You can see her website here.

I also omitted the ties in the back. I was really wanting to get this done and could not find the tie pattern piece and did not feel as though I wanted to figure it out myself. :) I used a polyester semi sheer fabric I scored at Joann fabrics in March for about $8.00 for all three yards. It was on the red tag clearance table and I was so excited to sew up a dress out of it. I started seeing what patterns we had available in our stash and always wanting a 1940's swing dress, the journey of sewing this dress began in May.

You can see my pictures of starting it here.

I also changed the bodice somewhat. I wanted the waist band to not be over my tummy and to be at my natural waist, so I made the bodice shorter and put the waist band higher. I am very satisfied with that! Its much more flattering. :) I did have to change the bodice as it was too big in the bust for me. I did not change the skirt a bit, except I did find it was a little too big when I was putting it to the bodice, so I added a pleat in the front. This was probably because of the seam allowance in the skirt for the side zipper that I omitted. I am not going to lie, its a little hard to get the dress over my head, but with a little wiggle and being pretty careful it can be done. :)

Oh and the belt I added last minute when Bethany, my sister, did the photos and I love it! It was one dollar at the thrift store and the shoes were $3.00 as well, from the thrift store. I love the overall finished outfit!

Have a lovely day and one more post coming Saturday before we leave for my grandparents home!

In Christ,
Rebecca

Outfit of the day and a thrift find

 Hey everyone! I have been blessed to find an abundance of items at thrift stores in my short life. I don't even go to department stores anymore or the mall. I either sew it up or get it from a friend or the thrift store. Its much better for my budget and clothing needs. I love vintage clothing and styles and I can usually sew that or find it used and actually I guess its sort of becoming a trend. But I have always loved vintage/old clothing styles before they were "in". :)

 I found this vintage navy blue belt on wednesday when we went to a local charity thrift store in my town I had not visited in years. I was suprised to find this beauty for 75 cents, yes thats right $.75! I have seen the same type of belt for much more online on etsy, so I was excited to find this one for a very frugal price. It goes well with my navy blue jean 40's/50's inspired skirt I made this past fall. This skirt has become my spring/summer favorite! It goes with just about every top I own and is light weight, but at the same heavy enough for rainy days.Its become my go to item in my closet. I made it from Simplicity pattern 2758, which was super easy to sew up, I posted about another one I made from the same pattern here-http://singinginhisname.blogspot.com/2010/11/finished-sewing-project-black-skirt.html

The t-shirt was a gift from my parents as a souvenir when we went to visit my Grandparents years ago. I realized that with a belt I can dress up a t-shirt pretty easy and still have a nice outfit. Casual, but feminine! Love it! Tomorrow I am posting pictures of more thrift store finds.

 

Have a lovely day! It was the first really humid day here yesterday, so summer clothing ideas are being put together my yours truly. I will post some of my ideas tomorrow. 

In Christ,

Rebecca

Sewing A Swing dress

vintage singer sewing machine is up and going finally! We had it serviced and now my sister and I are loving it for heavy duty sewing, such as slat bonnets we are putting up for sale on our website soon. Sewing through cardboard would not go well on my Janome modern machine. :)

 Hello everyone! I have been sewing up a storm today and since Monday. I decided to sew myself up a 1940's swing dress. I watched this movie here-http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0036160/ and this movie-http://www.amazon.co.uk/Two-Thousand-Women-Phyllis-Calvert/dp/B000MOUA3G and that was dangerous! Now I just really badly want a swing dress. :) Both very fun movies by the way! I would recommend them to older viewers though, both have romance scenes in them that are a little intimate. And of course in the era drinking and smoking were both very prevalent, of course its that way today too. Basically if you are under 18 ask your parents permission before watching. :) They were pretty enjoyable though and gave me a lot more insight into what it was like during world war 2 in Britain that is. Wonderful dresses in both movies! great inspiration!

My yellow roses have been doing so so well! I will post a tutorial for doing rose water later. It smells wonderful!

I have the bodice finished now, except for the waist band. In these photos I was in the middle of hemming the sleeves with some lace an older woman just gifted us with! I was so excited as its so much easier to hem with flat lace and its so much prettier. :)

I studied for psychology while hand sewing the inside seams with french seams and hemming the sleeves with lace as well as pinning the sleeves into the bodice and then sewing them up. I am trying to finish the dress so I can wear it on Sunday morning for church, but we will see if that works out because I am not the most timely seamstress. So many other things to do besides sewing. :) Also it may just be hideous and I might not want you all to see the finished result. :) But I believe that will not happen Lord willing! :)

I have not sewn a dress in about a year because every time I tried to sew a modern dress by myself or any dress by myself it turned out unwearable. Civil war gowns I have usually had help to sew them. But I have never sewn a 40's dress before. But it seems to be going well so far. I love love love my fabric! I bought it off the red tag table at our Joann's in April and its a polyester/rayon blend I believe. Its gotten humid these past few days in the high 90 degrees Fahrenheit, so I hope to get it done for Sunday before we get 100 degree Fahrenheit weather!

The lovely lace above! I just loved using it for hemming! It was so much easier. I also received these vintage scissors from the nice older lady who gave us some sewing supplies. They are nice and sharp and great for seam ripping. I hate seam rippers because they are never sharp! So small scissors are much better for me. 

The pattern I am using is from Sense and Sensibility patterns and you can find their website in the side bar under my favorite web sites list. The bodice above as well, its hard to see with the busy print the details, but I love that because you can't see my mistakes as well. :)

The fabric up close and personal above. I thought it was funny because some of the flowers seem to resemble spider webs, but you did not notice that right?? I will just look as if its a bit of lace in between the roses. :)
I hope your day has gone well! Its been lovely here. I will be sharing some outfit posts soon and progress on the swing dress as well as a tutorial on how to make rose water Lord willing soon. I tried it Tuesday and its wonderful! Also some thrift store finds as well will be shared soon. :) Do head over to Casey's Elegant Musings to see her finished swing dress in the mean time. Its so cute! :) http://elegantmusings.com/tag/swing-dress-sew-along/

In Christ,
Rebecca

Way to help our sisters in Christ and their families

Hey everyone!

When I heard about some sisters in Christ and their families in Alabama lost everything in the tornado, I wanted to help and LAF has a great way to do that. If you love to sew and have some extra sewing notions, fabrics, or any other things that are useful for sewing such as patterns you can send them to them! Read about it here-http://www.ladiesagainstfeminism.com/what-can-we-do/sewing-love-for-the-lee-and-crawford-ladies/#more-2995

They are also raising money for a sewing machine for each of the two families. So you can also help them out in that way! they are almost to the goal of money they need for each machine. Apparently they sewed a lot of their families clothing, so sewing supplies are needed. Just wanted to let ladies that read my blog that also sew see somewhere they can send their sewing notions they are not longer needing. :) My sister and I actually have quite a few things. :)

In Christ,
Rebecca