From Vintage Knits by Sarah Dallas. I lowered the neckline about an inch and a half, and made 3/4 sleeves. Dad gum, this sweater is short-waisted! Bella is petite and it's still on the short side.
In fact, because it's ribbed, it knits up rather small all over. But very nice, with that cotton drape.
Clara will provide her with a matching beret.
My mother is here for a few days for a little sewing festival--we designed a simple dress pattern for her to use again and again, and we're sewing up three dresses. She has had so many spine and hip problems since she last sewed for herself that she has literally lost three inches of torso height. That throws things off, but we're righting them in the pattern department.
Knowing that we would need a break from sewing, and that she shares my love for the Big Bird, I scheduled Frederick's wing-clipping trip to the vet for today.
He watches suspiciously from his travel caddy as we settle in to wait in the veterinarian's lobby. There is a loud (so loud) sound of large parrot.
It's this brilliant blue and gold macaw. I say "brilliant", referring only to his feather colors. He's a bit of a dim bulb.
Thinking that Bella is going to tickle his neck just because he puts his head down and looks at her winsomely. Not with that bill, fellow.
But this cat got it right. Clara got the message loud and clear.
Frederick's spirits were much depressed by the trim. In spite of much cooing and loving admiration and corn on the cob, he wasn't quite ready to forgive me until bedtime.
Green planters from the thrift store, and then the ferns come from my outside plants. I dig up the babies emerging around the perimeter of a larger plant, and settle them in with a little potting soil.
About five seconds after she saw this, Daisy asked for her own lounge dress. Of course. I have to say, she looks like an angel floating around in it.
Most fortunately, my king-size floral sheet was able to cough out one more small dress, and I even had leftover embroidered voile. Rather than do anything complicated, I just took a plain bodice that was loose enough to slip over the head, and instead of making the usual facings, I cut the facings out of my accent fabric and stitched them to the outside--a style variation good for grown-up dresses too!
I gathered two plain rectangles for the skirt, then sewed on as much gathered ruffle as I could muster. No zipper, no buttons, no ties.
Now we lounge together.
"Five good children are an immense luxury, and to deny one's self other luxuries in order to raise them is not self-denial at all, but merely an intelligent choice of investment."
Most of the bits and pieces are put back into Clara's upstairs, under-the-eaves little room.
Baubles hanging from one of those thrift-store mug stands.
A visit from Lucy Gray--she had her eye on all the painting.
Clara's vintage suitcases hold her yarn stash, except when she's using them as, you guessed it, suitcases.
The button-frame mirror still needs a hang-up on the wall. The vintage metronome was a find this summer--made in Germany, in a great butter yellow plastic housing.
This road is so much easier to go down the second time around. Is it the fact that he's already been living in a dorm for two years? That if we want, Daisy and I can hop over for the afternoon? That he's 18 instead of 17? That he's always happy? Or just that he's the second one to go?
Felix, Felix . . . you will do so well!
And I'll see you in a week, college boy!
Clara whipped these out as a baby gift for Bella's voice teacher, who just had her first, a tiny girl. I've never made booties, but Clara made it look easy! They are so soft and fuzzy, and I love that pearly button.
I get the news I need on the weather report;
I can gather all the news I need on the weather report.
Hey, I've got nothing to do today but smile.
Here I am, the only living boy in New York.
Hey, let your honesty shine now
(like it shines on me)
The only living boys in New York . . . .
(Paul Simon, thanks for today's captions)
This is the cake of my first months of marriage--the one I took to potlucks and cooked for dinner parties. Clara made it for us this weekend.
She popped the cherries on afterwards, when I told her we had some in the refrigerator door. Even so, I don't know how it came out so tidy!
Now just the baseboards are left to do, and the painting will be finished.
White linen curtains are made and hung . . . . it's dreamy up there.
(Benjamin Moore's Provence Creme in Pearl finish)
"So let us know, let us press on to know the Lord.
His going forth is as certain as the dawn;
And He will come to us like the rain . . . . "
(Hosea 6:3)
Start with the simplest, small tote shape--two rectangles sewn together, lined (tote tutorials are everywhere on the internet). Don't box the corners, just leave them flat. Bridesmaids' dress fabric for at least one side of the tote.
Remember to add a smaller rectangle of matching (or not) fabric laid over one side to form a large pocket, before the tote is completed. Stitching up the middle of the pocket divides it into two, for the ringbearer's hands.
A lightly stuffed pillow in a matching size to plump the tote out into a pillow. I took the easy road and pulled a vintage pillowcase from my stash. It was already edged with tatting. I just cut it down and sewed it closed with some stuffing inside. First I appliqued a little pocket on it--from a scrap of vintage embroidered dresser scarf, also edged with hand-crochet.
Now the pillow is stuffed into the bag, and the top of the bag is hand-stitched closed with big matching stitches. These will come out with a snip or two after the wedding.
Hope this helps!
I'm sure this will be the first of *many* wedding details pictured in the next few weeks as we prepare for a Wedding at the Schoolhouse! Not one of my own chicks, but the daughter of some very, very dear friends.
I was sewing up Daisy's flower girl dress in the cream and navy cotton print, and decided to go on and make a ring pillow. The folded blue velvet was given to me by a church friend a few weeks ago--it's clearly for upholstery.
The pillow covering opens with a snip or two of slipstitching, to reveal these things: the pillow cover is actually a sweet evening bag and the straps are hidden inside. The pockets on the outside, for the ring-bearer to stick his mitts into, will be outside pockets.
The pillow inside is made from a scrap of vintage dresser scarf with hand-tatting, and it's made with a little pocket. This will be used for any future children who lose any future teeth and need to put them under their future pillows.
We are so happy for Helen and Franklin who are a darling couple, and so laid back about their wedding plans (a real plus). More to come!
It's nice to get it for just $5 a load at the recycling center, but I do wish that price included delivery and a team of gardeners to spread it for me.
At least I have Felix and Clara*. And they are happy workers.
*Bella's getting over a cold.
We covered new thrifting territory this weekend, attending a family reunion, and Felix hit the jackpot with this inspirational piece for his dorm room wall!
He thinks it may be an early version of "Jesus Take the Wheel." Or Tiller. I love its innocence.
You know how sometimes it's too early for bed but you really just want to float around in something undemanding? Like yoga pants, only not. Like a lounge dress.
Victoria Jones designs Hawaiian dresses--so not me, but somehow I just wanted to, so I did. This was too much fun to sew, it was an overachieving dressmaker's dream, with tucks and gathers and inset bands and ruffles.
I used a thrifted cotton sheet for the main body of the dress, and purchased voile embroidered with hibiscus blossoms for my contrast. A little nod to Hawaii.
I'm actually wearing it right this second. I'm lounging. And probably will again.
As we finished dinner the Composer spotted a large bird body in the birdbath in the courtyard. We *never* see birds in the bath, though I try to keep it filled, especially in this weather. At first we thought it was a mourning dove. But no!
A complete pair of yellow-billed cuckoos! Reclusive, preferring not to leave the canopy, and singing to us all summer long--I've never seen one in my life! But there they were, bathing away, just like Frederick in his water dish.
Awesome.
Bella, still sleep-deprived from a wild week of vocal camp, models her new apron from the"Marilyn" pattern by Threaded Pear Studios. I was not thrilled with this pattern. It had a premium price ($10) but consisted only of written instructions, not even sufficient diagrams, explaining the size and shapes of pieces I was to cut out. Sorry, that's too much thinking. And I don't believe there was fair warning on the package.
Bella likes it anyway (choosing to ignore the mistaken pocket placement) and it does look cute on her. And little red cherries are always good.
Summer can go on and on and wear us out. Vintage fiction reminds me how good I have it, and provides inspiration for living graciously through the hottest days.
Meals must be appetizing. In a cool, comfortable home, breakfast might be melon set in ice, thin glasses of orange juice, delicate hot biscuit, cereal with real cream, and coffee that is a joy to drink. Never mind anything heavy, smelly, or less than dainty.
If you must be in town, a leafy green park is a good place to rest. Especially if it has a fountain, and a place to buy an ice cream.
Choose your thinnest shirtwaist dress when you get dressed in the morning.
Cleanliness is most important in the heat. A tiled bathroom is a wonderful privilege, and a good place to wash out your stockings. Especially with unlimited hot water.
An electric fan is a blessing. Turn it on while you rest and read.
A private home, a kitchen with refrigeration and beautiful running water, a bed made up smoothly with fresh sheets, and a shady place to swim, are blessings that any homemaker, vintage or modern, can gratefully count.
