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.

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