needle & thREAD
/Hello, sewing friends! And reading friends! This week, Sarah Annie got a new sundress. But it almost wasn't hers. I chose the fabric from my stash without her input. Big mistake. When I called her to me to try it on before adding buttons or hemming it, she staunchly refused. She said she didn't like it.
Me: You don't like it? But it has pink, lots of pretty pink with the yellow, and I have really pretty pink buttons.
Sarah: I don't like it. I like my old yellow dress that you gave to the Children's Center truck.{{Tears here.}} I don't like this yellow dress.
Me: It's especially for you. It's just your size. It's only meant for a little girl who's three.
Sarah: We can give it to Beatrix.
Me: (thinking: oh no, we can't. because if we did, ginny would see what a poor job i did with the handwork.) Great idea! Bea will love it!
Mary Beth: Yes, and Bea will really love these sparkly pink buttons.
Sarah: Those buttons? (actually, i didn't plan to use the sparkle buttons.)
Mary Beth: Yes. Aren't these the prettiest pink buttons ever?
Sarah: Yes. And we'll save those buttons to put on this dress (pulling a floral fabric off the shelf). Bea can have the other pink buttons.On THAT yellow dress. She'll love them.
In the end, those sparkle buttons went "missing," to be found later in Sarah's pockets. I finished sewing the yellow sundress (and haven't yet pressed it). Mary Beth talked Sarah into trying it on "to see if it will fit Bea." Sarah spent a few minutes in it and we captured her flirting with the sprinkler. She thoroughly soaked herself and the sundress and declared that she loves her yellow dress so much.
Whew.
Now, I really feel like I owe sweet Beatrix a dress.
Details:
Oliver + S Music Box Jumper Size 3 (which might be too small for Beatrix;-)
Heather Bailey Bijou Pop Garden Tiled Primrose in Butter
This pattern is a true beginner's pattern and was so simple. Sarah Annie's has a single inverted box pleat in front. Very clever. The other variation has a fuller skirt with a series of simple pleats. I mastered the buttonhole feature on my sewing machine and confirmed my suspicion that, on its own, it makes the holes too big. since there were so few seams, I decided to try something else new to me and finished Sarah's with French seams. I'm so pleased with the simplicity and timelessness this sweet dress. I'm also really relieved that she'll wear it cheerfully!
Reading is entirely unchanged since last week. I'm making slow progress all the way around:
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. 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.
