Have You Missed Me?

I've been missing in action(MIA for those of you who like to abbreviate!!) the last couple of days. The little slipcover that I made for the rocker took longer than I had anticipated, usually the case, so that put me way behind on my gown for the zoo ball. I actually thought about wearing a dress that I have rather than pushing myself to get my dress finished. But, I really wanted to get the dress finished, so I decided to give it a try, and in the worst case scenario, I had a backup in case I just couldn't get it finished. So the little mouse began working on Wednesday afternoon.

Last week I showed you this fabric. A nice chiffon, perfect for a summer evening.

I started with the idea of a drape around the neck,

and then some draping around the the bodice.

For the actual dress, I needed a foundation under the draping.

I used a piece of fine cotton and a layer of the chiffon that I basted together. The cotton gave stability to the chiffon and it also gave me a layer that I could do my markings on without doing the markings to the fabric. All the pieces were basted, by hand, together. In the above picture you can see that the darts are also basted.

The back bodice darts are sewn in. A little basting before sewing makes life so much easier.

I only had Wednesday afternoon and Thursday to work on the dress as I had to help with set up on Friday and then of course there is the set up of myself, hair and nails!!

The theme of this year's ball was The Great Catsy, I'm sure you get the pun.

I did it! The dress was finished on Thursday night at 11:30! Yea! The only thing that I was not happy about was my hair. My normal hairdresser was sick and unable to do my hair. Oh well, a bad hairdo is not the end of the world. 

You can see that the final dress is different than the original idea. As I draped, I changed my mind.

 I had a blast draping the bodice though.

In order to keep the drapes in place, I had to do small tacks in the folds. The white dot in the center of the picture is a tack.

There is an interior corset.

The skirt has two layers of silk chiffon under the fashion fabric. The  skirt floated like a dream.

One of our tigers decided to make an appearance.

He is so magnificent.

I need to work on standing up straight!!!

The ball was in honor of our lion Adelor who sadly died earlier this year. Nothing was wrong other than just being very old. I guess it's a good thing to die of old age. A few years ago he came out and roared and roared during dinner. I think he was trying to tell us that it was time for him to go to bed. He finally gave up, curled up on a rock and went to sleep.  

Our new lion is just a youngster.

So that's what I've been doing the last few days. I learned a lesson about giving myself a little push. If you want something badly enough, you can do it. And another lesson, whether I got the dress finished or not, like a bad hairdo, it would not have been the end of the world.
I'll return next week with Fabulous Free Pattern Friday and Sleeves On Saturdays. I'm taking just a bit of a break today. And by the way, a very warm welcome to all the new followers. Thanks so much for joining the blog!! It's great to have you.

Monday Morning Inspiration

A friend of mine sent this little nostalgic, "History of Aprons" piece to me this past weekend. It brought back so many memories of my grandmother. Before she cooked breakfast, her apron was put on and stayed on until the dinner dishes were washed and put away. At that point, we would all go out and sit on the front porch and talk until it was time for bed. 

The History of 'APRONS'

The principal use of an apron was to protect the dress underneath because she only had a few. It was also because it was easier to wash aprons than dresses and aprons used less material. But along with that, it served as a potholder for removing hot pans from the oven.

It was wonderful for drying children's tears, and on occasion was even used for cleaning out dirty ears.

From the chicken coop, the apron was used for carrying eggs, fussy chicks, and sometimes half-hatched eggs to be finished in the warming oven.

When company came, those aprons were ideal hiding places for shy kids..

And when the weather was cold Grandma wrapped it around her arms.

Those big old aprons wiped many a perspiring brow, bent over the hot wood stove.

Chips and kindling wood were brought into the kitchen in that apron.

From the garden, it carried all sorts of vegetables. After the peas had been shelled, it carried out the hulls.

In the fall, the apron was used to bring in apples that had fallen from the trees.

When unexpected company drove up the road, it was surprising how much furniture that old apron could dust in a matter of seconds.

When dinner was ready, Grandma walked out onto the porch, waved her apron, and the men folk knew it was time to come in from the fields to dinner.

It will be a long time before someone invents something that will replace that 'old-time apron' that served so many purposes.

In recent years there has been a renewed interest in aprons. They are no longer the utilitarian object of the past, but

cute and frilly.

Even men wear aprons, but there is usually some reference to the fact that they are still "men."

There are companies who have been successful at building an entire business around an apron, like Ice Milk Aprons.

Their concept is really cute and very nostalgic. Each apron arrives in a mason jar along with a Heritage Tag, the Apron Story, and Recipe Cards.
There is a question that puzzles me though, why do we look so fondly back to the days when we wore aprons like a uniform? We are blessed with so many conveniences that would boggle the minds of our ancestors. I ran into a distant relative recently while I was on my morning walk, she was on her way to work. She made a statement that I think sums it all up, "Our families so rarely get together anymore. Everyone is just so busy." I think that it is not the apron that we long for, but the sense of connection to those we love. Just a thought.
Wishing you all a wonderful week.
Rhonda

Sunday Night Reflections

I have finally found the version of The Lord's Prayer that we sing at our mass service every Sunday night. Not only did I find the version that we sing, I found the man who composed this rendition. Steven Warner is the composer and director of the choir in this video. I invite you to listen and offer up whatever may be on your heart tonight.

Sunday Brunch

It has finally cooled. In fact, we were able to turn off the air conditioner and sleep with the windows open last night. Isn't it amazing how we take such small things for granted and then once they are taken away, even for just a bit, we miss them so much and are so grateful once they are restored? So, on that note, I was able to once again turn on my oven and not heat up the house and prepare something special for breakfast this morning.

Bonney Berry Bread 

This is more of a coffee cake than a bread.

1/2 cup butter 1 egg

3/4 cup sugar

1/3 cup milk

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons baking powder

2 cups flour

2 1/2 cups of Blueberry Pie Filling

(I made my own pie filling and omitted the sugar. Cook one tablespoon of corn starch in one cup of water until it has thickened. Add Blueberries.)

Cream butter and sugar.

Beat in egg and then blend in milk.

Sift together all dry ingredients and add to creamed mixture.

Spread half of the mixture in a greased pan(note that the batter will be rather stiff) and then cover with 3/4 of your blueberry pie filling.

Spread other half of batter over filling

and then top with remaining pie filling.

Mix together;

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup flour

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Cut in 2 tablespoons of butter.

Sprinkle crumb mixture over cake mixture. If you like, you can sprinkle chopped walnuts over topping.

Bake at 375 degrees for 40 minutes. 

Remove from oven and enjoy!

Breakfast outside. How nice!

Hope you are having a lovely Sunday.

Rhonda

Sleeves On Saturdays

 The Cowl Sleeve

I am in love with this sleeve. It is so pretty and so graceful, just a perfect accent for anything from a t-shirt to an evening gown.  

 In this picture you can see how the side seam has a curve which allows for the cowl draping.

The shoulder seam extends for the arm opening.

The sleeve is very easy to draft. 

 Begin by drawing a guide line on your paper.

Place the center grainline of your sleeve on the guide line. Don't worry about the entire sleeve being on the guide line as you will not be using the entire sleeve.

 Now take your front and back bodice pattern pieces and place the edge of the shoulder on the guide line and the edge of the armhole should touch the edge of the sleeve.

Draw in the slash lines. This is a little different from other slash lines that we have drawn in the past. These slash lines have curves. Don't let this intimidate you. It's much easier than you might think. The first slash line is approximately 2" over from the edge of the shoulder on the bodice. It comes straight down and curves into the bodice side seam about 4" from the bottom of the armhole.  

The second slash line begins right at the edge of the shoulder and curves down to the side of the sleeve as you see above. 

The final line is not a slash line, but the line that will be the extension of your shoulder seam and where your arm opening will be. This line starts on the guide line and curves down to approximately 2" down on the sleeve seam. 

 To cut the pattern, begin by cutting on the guide line and then follow all the way around the pattern piece.

 Now the pattern piece is cut out.

I always like to number my pieces before I begin slashing.

Cut on the slash lines to the shoulder line and spread them equally. I spread mine approximately 3" between each slash line.

The red line shows how you will connect your slashed areas. This will become your side seam. Also note that I straightened out the shoulder line.

The final pattern. The sides of your front and back should be exactly the same.

The shoulder and the armhole opening will need seam allowance of course as will the rest of your garment. I added 1 1/2" to my pattern for the shoulder line seam allowance.

I did this because I wanted a clean finish to show when my arm moved.

And finally, me in the top with my crazy lemon pants. A hippy never dies!

The back of my top is cut out. Finally, we have a breeze and the temperatures are supposed to drop tonight. Hallelujah!!!!!

Fabulous Free Pattern Friday, Pictures

I promised a few pictures of me in the Scarf Skirt. First, I couldn't find the top I wanted to wear with the skirt. I can't imagine that I gave it away, but knowing me, who knows? Okay on to another top. I couldn't find the bra I needed for that top. Somebody needs to do a little more cleaning I think. So after all the searching, I'm down to a basic white t-shirt.

Then I tried to find a breeze to show you the movement of the outer skirt. No such luck. It's 103 degrees in Chicago and there is no breeze to be had.

Oh well. I wore my new skirt to see my hairdresser and with no prompting from me, the fist thing she said was how much she likes my skirt. This is a huge compliment coming from a young woman covered in tattoos and piercings.

Thanks for coming by!!!