needle & thREAD (and Giveaway Winner)

It all began with this skirt. Karoline loves this skirt. It's a Hanna Andersson, circa 2002. Mary Beth wore it for years (the beauty of a tiered denim skirt with elastic waist), then Katie wore it. Now, it's Karoline's. 

But Sarah wanted it. She really, really wanted it. She said she liked long skirts. She pulled it on. It fell to the floor around her ankles. I tried to explain that the skirt was really old and there was no way to get one in her size. Then, I remembered that Mike had put this shirt in the giveaway pile.

Please excuse the poor picture. It was a denim shirt given to Mike by a cable network back in his freelance days. Since he no longer works for that network, he really can't wear a shirt with its logo. The shirt was still in great shape, but the logo earned it giveaway status.

I knew I had several spools of jumbo ric-rac stashed in the sewing room.

I told Sarah I had an idea. She was kind of horrified to see me take scissors to Daddy's shirt.

But a few hours later, she had this new skirt to wear. I tried to pesuade her to wear a different shirt, but she has a signature style and this is it.

And it passed the twirl test!

Two twirling girls in ric-rac skirts! I so love ric-rac. And denim. And happy girlies. (Don't look too closely; there are still some basting threads in Sarah's skirt. She was rather eager to wear it.)

No picture of my book this week. I'm reading a PDF advance copy of Vinny Flynn's new book. It's a good read; I'm sure I'll share it with you more completely later.

The winner of Joanna Figueroa's With Fabric and Thread is Leah, who said:

I'm sorry you're not feeling well. Prayers for a speedy recovery. Definitely a good idea to wait until you're feeling better to continue your project. I've messed up many projects in the past not heeding that advice. The buttons are so cheery; I'm sure the the girls will love them, and they complement the sundresses beautifully!

I've been following Needle & ThREAD since its beginning and have finally decided to join in. I'm not tech savvy, and I'm new to Flicker, so I hope I did everything right. Here's a link to my current project:http://www.flickr.com/photos/leahsblessings/7559471330/in/pool-1961221@N22

Leah, please email me your mailing address and I'll send it out to you lickety split.

Do be sure to pop over and check out her beautiful quilt topper. And remember, you don't have to blog to join us. Just upload your pictures to Flickr.

What about you? Sewing? Reading? A little of both? What's on your summer reading list? Do you have a summer sewing list?  Or are you embroidering? Pulling a needle with thread through lovely fabric to make life more beautiful somehow? Would you share with us just a single photo (or more) and a brief description of what you're up to? Will you tell us about what you're reading, also? Would you talk sewing and books with us? I'd love that so much.

Make sure the link you submit is to the URL of your blog post or your specific Flickr photo and not your main blog URL or Flickr Photostream. Please be sure and link to your current needle and thREAD post below in the comments, and not a needle and thREAD post from a previous week. If you don't have a blog, please post a photo to the needle & thREAD group at Flickr. 

       Include a link back to this post in your blog post or on your flickr photo page so that others who may want to join the needle and thREAD fun can find us! Feel free to grab a button here (in one of several colors) so that you can use the button to link:-).

with needle and thREAD {and a giveaway}

This was certainly an interesting week! Crazy heat, crazier storms. Power outages. Phone outages. Internet outages. Big holiday in the middle of the week. Talk about rhythm-wreckers.

This week, I tried to sew the same dress in three different sizes, a la the assembly line. I'm not sure yet if it was more efficient. I haven't finished any of them, so it feels unproductive at the moment. Then again, they're all about three steps away from completion. I'm proud of myself because the sewing room is still super tidy (mostly because I was so afraid I would lose track of all those pieces and where I was in the process). I managed to keep all the different fabric pieces organized and orderly. And I can easily finish them before the weekend, which is when I promised Katie she could wear hers. All good, I think. 

My reading is all over the place. I'm still reading several of the books previously mentioned in this space. Maybe I need a "needle & thREAD" sidebar with book links? I have had Joanna Figueroa's With Fabric and Thread on a book rack on my desk lately. It's just such lovely eye candy! Yesterday, I read more carefully the apron pages. Last year, we determined that we'd make a new apron every July in honor of the feasts of St. Martha and St. Anne.  With Fabric and Thread  has the perfect retro reversible apron. Now to choose some fabric...

This book is so lovely that I'd like to share it. Anyone who links up here at needle & thREAD this week or next will be entered to win a copy of  With Fabric and Thread. Winner will be chosen and announced two weeks from today, July 19. 

What about you? Sewing? Reading? A little of both? What's on your summer reading list? Do you have a summer sewing list?  Or are you embroidering? Pulling a needle with thread through lovely fabric to make life more beautiful somehow? Would you share with us just a single photo (or more) and a brief description of what you're up to? Will you tell us about what you're reading, also? Would you talk sewing and books with us? I'd love that so much.

Make sure the link you submit is to the URL of your blog post or your specific Flickr photo and not your main blog URL or Flickr Photostream. Please be sure and link to your current needle and theREAD post below in the comments, and not a needle and theREAD post from a previous week. If you don't have a blog, please post a photo to the needle & thREAD group at Flickr. 

       Include a link back to this post in your blog post or on your flickr photo page so that others who may want to join the needle and thREAD fun can find us! Feel free to grab a button here (in one of several colors) so that you can use the button to link:-).

{oh and the Fat Quarter Shop giveaway winner announcement got lost in the wind and the rain and the internet craziness. I'll announce this afternoon, so go enter if you want to squeak in under the wire;-)}

needle & thREAD

Good morning, sewing friends!

I'm afraid I haven't any sewing at all to report this week. I had grand plans for three completed sundresses. Life had other plans. 

Let's revisit this post for just a moment, as I promised to tell you the rest of the story. I actually can't tell it in full. As I thought about it, I couldn't come up with a responsible way to tell it all. In part, our parish mission is regrouping after what can only be called a crisis and moving from 10,000 square feet to 1500 square feet. I ended up with a great many boxes from that move in my basement. And then, it fell to us, with the help of a friend, to sort and carefully steward those things into the future while we wait and save and build a church. I was constantly reminded of The Miracle of St. Nicholas. That's about all I can say there.

In the process, I discovered messes anew in the basement. Unlike last year, this year, I'm not claiming blame. It's all about the kids. So, I've just begun to read Cleaning House: A Mom's 12-month Experiment to Rid Her Home of Youth Entitlement. So far, I really like this book and I see it as a way to avoid ever having my basement look like Occupy Basement again.

I was going to sew on Monday. My plan was to sew and sew and sew. Instead, I was distracted by the state of my sewing room. Let's talk about nomenclature for a moment, shall we? I know that lots of bloggers call the room where they sew "the studio." They sew there. They write there. They do design work there. I do all that in my room, too. But "studio" just sounds weird around here. My husband is a television producer/director. He works in a studio. There's no fabric involved. But when we say "studio" in this house, that's what we all envision. 

Since last year, I have completely taken over the office on our main floor. His trophies have been relocated to make room for my teacups. I still want to paint and to make curtains, but mostly, I just sigh contentedly in my "sewing room." When it's clean. And it was in need of some TLC this week. So I cleaned the basement and cleaned the sewing room and found myself with no time to sew. 

Incidentally, I can't bring myself to call myself a "sewist," either. It just grates against my editing ear, I think. Instead, I think I'm on my way to becoming a modern seamstress. Maybe a quilter... A creator of quilts. Happy stitcher of mama-made dresses.  "Sewist" just sounds odd to me.

{fabric cut and ready for three sundresses. that fabric was going to be lining for sewing room curtains. sundresses are a much better use, i think. i have a lot of it. more than three dresses worth.}

{books for inspiration. each girl has a sewing box. i have two. basket near the top holds the pieces for a quilt for my room. fabric to the right of that is heather bailey set aside to make a quilt for mary beth. fabric on the shelf below is flurry to be used to finish my christmas quilt and make two or three more.}

{anna maria horner on the entire upper shelf, right beneath baskets full of yarn. i think some of this will be a wedding quilt. stash of pinks is still formidable, rest of the stashes dwindling. on the far right is a big stack of flannels that will be winter pjs in time for the flurry of fall birthdays. at least that's the plan.}

What about you? Sewing? Reading? A little of both? What's on your summer reading list? Do you have a summer sewing list?  Or are you embroidering? Pulling a needle with thread through lovely fabric to make life more beautiful somehow? Would you share with us just a single photo (or more) and a brief description of what you're up to? Will you tell us about what you're reading, also? Would you talk sewing and books with us? I'd love that so much.

Make sure the link you submit is to the URL of your blog post or your specific Flickr photo and not your main blog URL or Flickr Photostream. Please be sure and link to your current needle and theREAD post below in the comments, and not a needle and theREAD post from a previous week. If you don't have a blog, please post a photo to the needle & thREAD group at Flickr. 

       Include a link back to this post in your blog post or on your flickr photo page so that others who may want to join the needle and thREAD fun can find us! Feel free to grab a button here (in one of several colors) so that you can use the button to link:-).

Remember: Fat Quarter Shop Giveaway Here. It's not to late to enter. Winner Announced Tomorrow.

needle & thREAD

Katie has a new sundress. Almost;-). It's pinned where the buttons should be. She said she wants snaps instead of buttons and I don't yet know how to do snaps. So, today, I'll look to YouTube for snap tutorials.

Katie's dress is made of California Girl by Joanna Figuera. I love this line. I originally bought the fabric for myself, but I'm quilting with it, too, and I didn't want to have a blouse that looked like my quilt. On the other hand, Katie did a darling job choosing her fabric combination. And, well, I might just do a blouse yet.

I have taken a page from Charlotte Mason's book these days, or from Karen Andreola's wisdom on Charlotte, "I always keep three books going that are just for me - a stiff book, a moderately easy book, and a novel or one of poetry. I always take up the one I feel fit for. That is the secret: always have something 'going' to grow by." 

I'm still reading The Jane Austen Guide to Happily Ever After and highlighting carefully so I can better share it with my teenaged daughter. I think I may have inadvertantly mislead some of you last week. It's not a guide to Jane Austen books. Rather, it's a guide to finding love, in the style of the best Jane Austen heroines. It's an exceptionally good commentary on current culture. It probably deserves a post all its own.

I've just begun to read What Happened to Sophie Wilder? This one was written by Alice Teti's brother. I'm taking a chance here, because I go into it with the full knowledge that there is cancer in the story. And I don't do cancer. However, this review really drew me in and I think I can do this. Maybe. As Alice reminded me, "Sometimes I am not up for an emotional journey with a book in the midst of the emotional journey that is actual life, but often I am better for it." Here's hoping.

Finally, I'm listening to Reasons to Believe when I sew. I like to have an audio book  in the sewing room; it helps me not to grow restless.

 

What about you? Sewing? Reading? A little of both? What's on your summer reading list? Do you have a summer sewing list?  Or are you embroidering? Pulling a needle with thread through lovely fabric to make life more beautiful somehow? Would you share with us just a single photo (or more) and a brief description of what you're up to? Will you tell us about what you're reading, also? Would you talk sewing and books with us? I'd love that so much.

Make sure the link you submit is to the URL of your blog post or your specific Flickr photo and not your main blog URL or Flickr Photostream. Please be sure and link to your current needle and theREAD post below in the comments, and not a needle and theREAD post from a previous week. If you don't have a blog, please post a photo to the needle & thREAD group at Flickr. 

       Include a link back to this post in your blog post or on your flickr photo page so that others who may want to join the needle and thREAD fun can find us! Feel free to grab a button here (in one of several colors) so that you can use the button to link:-).

needle and thREAD

Hello, sewing friends!

I welcome you to needle and thREAD. 

    Ta-dah! I started and finished a dress for Karoline this week. She loves it. I love it. All happy. It's an Oliver + S Seashore Sundress pattern. She chose fabric from Amy Butler's stash (well, my stash of Amy Butler's stash). This one is Gypgsy Caravan Linen Cutting Garden. I made Karoline a Size 5 because that's what size her Oliver + S Easter dress was. This pattern is designed to be a little short. When I tried it on her before hemming, I was concerned it was going to be too short. So, I opted for a ribbon hem instead. It's still a tad short for my liking, but she'll get a couple of months out of it and she's got a little sister. Alas, Katie's and Sarah's dresses are still gleams in my eye. Life intervened and the only pedal I've pressed since Sunday is the gas pedal.

I downloaded Emma to my Kindle last week and I also began to revisit The Jane Austen Guide to Happily Ever After. I think the big appeal Grace Livingston Hill's books had for me is the civility. The mannerisms are so civil, the language careful. Increasingly, we are a society of careless language and little courtesy. It's really refreshing to read pleasant, thoughful conversation and to see heroines who care about the character of the men they encounter. I can do without the class snobbery in GLH, but the sense of character and careful, thoughtful relationships? Yes, please.

It occurred to me that this attention to character is also a trait in Jane Austen books. Austen isn't quite as quick and light as GLH and not quite so formulaic either. A bit more complex reading, but I think she suits me. In The Jane Austen Guide to Happily Ever After, Elizabeth Kantor teases out all those very rich observations of character. Her guide makes the Austen books ideal for sparking meaningful conversations with the young ladies in my life. 

Old books are treasures not to be overlooked in our fast-paced culture. We have to find ways to help slow children down, and to slow down ourselves. Honestly, I'm so tired of 140 character snippets and a Facebook highlight reel. I really want more for our children! I want every tool I can get to encourage my young ladies and gentlemen to consider deeply those things that are really important. These books do that.

(And, incidentally, so does Joy in the Ordinary. The setting is entirely modern, but the characters rise above superficial techno-communication and faith and character figure prominently.)

What about you? Sewing? Reading? A little of both? What's on your summer reading list? Do you have a summer sewing list?  Or are you embroidering? Pulling a needle with thread through lovely fabric to make life more beautiful somehow? Would you share with us just a single photo (or more) and a brief description of what you're up to? Will you tell us about what you're reading, also? Would you talk sewing and books with us? I'd love that so much.

Make sure the link you submit is to the URL of your blog post or your specific Flickr photo and not your main blog URL or Flickr Photostream. Please be sure and link to your current needle and theREAD post below in the comments, and not a needle and theREAD post from a previous week. If you don't have a blog, please post a photo to the needle & thREAD group at Flickr. 

       Include a link back to this post in your blog post or on your flickr photo page so that others who may want to join the needle and thREAD fun can find us! Feel free to grab a button here (in one of several colors) so that you can use the button to link:-).