A Bit of Jane Austen to Close Out the Year

Here's something a bit different for the shop -- a mini Jane Austen box, measuring a diminutive four inches tall and swathed in snippets of Emma. Two more tinies coming soon!



See it in the shop!

And have a Happy New Year!

Vintage Heaven

I frequently hear of seamstresses who are laden with vintage patterns and notions by generous benefactors, and I must admit that I have sighed longingly over those stories! When, I wondered, would such a windfall come to me? Well, on Christmas day it happened! We shared Christmas day with some friends, and at the end of our visit our hostess asked if we would be interested in a box of vintage patterns that had been given to her. Can you imagine how my sister and I responded?

Above are just a few of my favorites, selected from over fifty almost-pristine vintage patterns -- most from the forties and fifties. I'm pretty picky about the vintage patterns that I like. Sometimes I'll scroll through pages of pattern websites without finding a pattern that I really like. But amazingly, I liked almost every single pattern in that box. And, also amazingly, most of them are just a size too small -- easy to size up for my dimensions!

Oh, the contrasting yoke!

Oh, the ruffles!


Oh, the ric-rac!

Oh, the peasant blouses!


Oh, the ruched bodice!



Oh, the quirky jerkin!



Oh, the pockets!



I have a feeling that last one will be appearing in my shop -- notice the detachable bodice? That's pure 50's delightfulness!

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

... and I can't believe it's already "over!" Christmas really crept up on me this year, but we still had a lovely and restful holiday. The morning was relaxed and peaceful, as we opened gifts and puttered about. Friends from church invited us over for lunch, and we had a perfectly lovely time! We ended up staying well into the afternoon over a spirited game of Balderdash.

Decorating for Christmas is always one of my favorite annual traditions, although we completed our task scandalously late (as in, the day before Christmas Eve!). But we've had our tree up for several weeks, complete with a bow topper and curly ribbons:

It's always such a delight to put our ornaments on the tree. Memories of Christmases past seem to waft out of the ornament box as soon as we open it. Some have specific memories attached to them, while others evoke a sense of tradition and stability.



Of course, the hardest part is deciding which ornaments deserve the honor of a place on the tree. And then there are those ornaments (like the one below, purchased at Williamsburg a few years ago) that are so unbelievably heavy that they practically pull the tree over. I am still trying to figure out if they really did make the base of this ornament out of cast iron...



I can't deny that one of my favorite things about Christmas is wrapping presents for the tree! I'm a magpie when it comes to wrapping paper and beautiful ribbons. While the rest of my family procrastinates until Christmas Eve, any gifts that I am giving (or that I have been assigned to wrap!) are under the tree as soon as possible.



And while the weather was positively balmy outside, the Christmas cheer within more than made up for it!



But as much as I love all the trappings and pageantry of the Christmas season, it would seem empty without the One who makes every day worth celebrating.

"The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light; they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined.... For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon His shoulder: and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon His kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this." ~ Isaiah 9:1,6-7 KJV

The glory and mystery of the Incarnation, Crucifixion, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ is truly unsurpassed beauty, which never goes out of season and never fades. Praise be to God for His unspeakable gift!

A Bit of Winter Sewing

Finding myself in desperate need of jackets, I decided to make one using some lovely black corduroy that I purchased last year. The corduroy doesn't have a wale, so it has the look and feel of velvet combined with the stretch and easy sewing of corduroy.



I'm absolutely terrified of jackets because I'm not comfortable with that kind of tailored sewing -- I don't mind fitted garments, but I'm not fond of fitted outerwear! Fortunately, the jacket turned out well enough to wear (and in time for a friend's graduation, too!), although I (of course) know all the little mistakes or "not-quite-perfect" places.

I used McCall's 5194 as a base for the jacket, but I made a few changes. I combined the pattern with another jacket pattern so that I could have a shawl collar, which I usually prefer to notched collars. I also wanted a bit more of a Victorian feel, so I added a gathered peplum. That took quite a bit of doing...and redoing...and more redoing! First it was not gathered enough, then it was too gathered! But the Lord blessed me by keeping me from frustration long enough to finish it. I liked the idea of a bound edge, so I used a black satin all the way 'round the jacket, as well as a band at the waist. And I couldn't resist a tab-and-button detail in the back!

Black clothes are so wretched to photograph! I've converted these photos to
black and white so you can (hopefully) see the details a little more clearly)

I absolutely love this fabric! It was a dream to sew, and I didn't even have to replace my basting stitches while tinkering with the peplum! And this jacket has already come in handy again for our church Christmas program (I always joke that my "musician's wardrobe" could be mistaken for a Goth wardrobe because of all the black!). Plus, I was able to do some stash-busting, which is always a good thing!

I can't believe Christmas is coming up this week! We're finishing our decorations (at last!), and I'm starting to feel prepared for a pleasant and relaxed Christmas holiday! And the icicles on our neighbor's trees this morning also helped boost my spirits -- even if they were just caused by the sprinkler!

The Pincushion

My sister blogged recently about a new arrival in our family -- a not-quite-seven-ounce bundle of prickles that she has donned "Mrs. Tiggy Winkle." Of course. Really, what else could any self-respecting Beatrix Potter fan name her pet hedgehog? Since Miss Tiggy Winkle has always been my favorite Potter character, I highly approve of Tiffany's choice! Tiffany's had her for almost a week now, and she's already endeared herself to us. She's just now warming up to the family, but fortunately she was already quite social when Tiffany purchased her. Tonight she spent the evening crawling all over us, the sofa, and anything else we let her get into. Who knew that hedgehogs could climb so quickly up nearly vertical surfaces? I certainly didn't!

 

Over the past few days, we've been coming up with pet names for her -- my new one today was "Miss Grumpy Pins," since she is decidedly unfriendly when roused during the day (hedgehogs are nocturnal). She curls herself up into a tight ball of prickles and gets huffy by shivering and sniffing ominously. Speaking of sniffing, she's got the cutest little nose imaginable. It's going almost all the time, and it's the first thing you see when she decides to retract her prickly armor. That and four little pink feet. Adorable! I think I'm in love...

English Toffee Balls

When I mentioned the cookie exchange at our church, several readers asked for the recipe for English Toffee Balls -- and here it is!

Ingredients:
~ 1/2 cup powdered sugar
~ 1 cup margarine or butter, softened
~ 1 (3 1/2 oz.) package instant vanilla pudding/pie filling mix
~ 2 cups all purpose or unbleached flour
~ 1 tablespoon milk
~ 1 teaspoon vanilla
~ 3 (3/4 oz.) chocolate-coated English toffee bars, crushed
~ Powdered sugar

Instructions:

1. Heat oven to 325 degrees

2. In large bowl, beat powdered sugar, margarine, and pudding mix until light and fluffy. Lightly spoon flour into measuring cup; level off. Add flour, milk, vanilla, and crushed toffee bars; mix well.

3. Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Place on ungreased cookie sheets. Bake at 325 for 13 to 18 minutes, or until edges are light golden brown.

4. Remove from cookie sheets; cool completely. Dip top of each cookie into powdered sugar.

Yield: 4 dozen cookies

Note: If you don't have chocolate-coated English toffee bars on hand (and who does?), you can find toffee and chocolate bits sold in bags in the baking section. I just weighed out 2 1/4 oz. into a Ziploc bag and wielded my meat tenderizer until it was thoroughly crushed!

Persuasion: A Listener's Guide

I have no idea why we taped the 1995 Sony Classic Persuasion off the TV a few years ago, because it was long before I had any interest in Jane Austen, or even knew of the existence of the novel! But when I finally watched the movie at age 13, I fell in love with it -- and have only grown to love it more over the past seven years. I could rave endlessly about the beautiful filmography, stunning (and correct!) costumes, the use of "real" people as actors, the incredible music, and the top-notch acting. While I am very picky about adaptations, this is one film that I can watch without a qualm about any of the deviations they made from the plot (not that there are many!). Amanda Root can express more with her face in five seconds than many actors express in an entire film. Every time I watch the film, I catch some new nuance of expression -- not just from Anne, but from any of the perfectly-cast characters.

So the point of this post is to offer some consolation to all of the 1995 Sony Classic Persuasion fans out there who were devastated to find that there is no soundtrack! The reason that there is no soundtrack, as far as I can tell, is that Jeremy Sams only wrote three songs for the movie and used classical pieces for the rest. I first discovered this when listening to a CD of Chopin pieces, and recognized two from Persuasion!

So, several months ago I set out on a journey to find the pieces used in the film. Fortunately, I didn't have to travel far, since IMDB.com had all the information I needed! And, after far too much rambling on my part, here it is:

(all of these links go to Amazon.com, and are available as downloads)

Bach's French Suite No. 1 in D minor, BWV 812 -- No. 3, Sarabande

Bach's French Suite No. 3 in B minor, BWV 814 -- No. 3, Sarabande

Chopin's Nocturne No. 3 in B, Op. 9

Chopin's Prelude No. 3 in G Major, Op. 28 -- "Thou art so like a flower"

Chopin's Prelude No. 21 in B flat major, Op. 28 -- "Sunday"

I marvel at the compatability of Bach and Chopin for this movie -- who could have guessed that the essence of Baroque could blend so beautifully with the essence of Romanticism? And ironically, though neither style would have been in vogue in 1818 (Bach was out of fashion and Chopin was still a child), both styles fit the film perfectly. Every piece except the Chopin Prelude No. 3 are moody and poignant; every piece expresses a sense of loss and regret and beauty. And the few pieces that Jeremy Sams did compose blend in perfectly with the rest of the film, too, forming a beautiful musical soundtrack for a beautiful film. Not that I like this movie, or anything like that...

At any rate, I hope this will be a bit of a musical panacea for fellow Persuasion fans!

Historic Meteorology

At the end of a long day of violin lessons, I was waiting with my final student for her mom to return. She's a talented little ten-year-old, with pink Adidas glasses and two ponytails of thick, black hair. We fell to talking about the weather, since the clouds outside were particularly dark and ominous.

"Yeah," she said, "those are some big Columbus clouds."

Who knew that Columbus was a meteorologist?

Fortunately, I was able to stifle my laugh...

The Blessings of Abundance

We talk a lot about gratitude at Thanskgiving, but somehow I always find myself at a loss for what to say. Not because I'm ungrateful -- although I do take far too many blessings for granted. On the contrary, how can I pick just a few things for which I am grateful? How can I put them into simple phrases?

How can I express gratitude for a Savior Who was willing to die so that I might live eternally with Him? Impossible.

How can I express gratitude for shelter -- not only protection from the elements, but a beautiful home that I can share with my family? Impossible.

How can I express gratitude for my family, for the love and tenderness they have always shown to me? Impossible.

How can I express gratitude for humor and laughter, two "unessential" blessings that God has graciously given to us? Impossible.

 

How can I express gratitude for the beauties of nature, the glorious palette of colors and textures that so often takes my breath away? Impossible.\

How can I express gratitude for human companionship, for dear friends who understand and love me? Impossible.

How can I express gratitude for the blessings of freedom and security in a deeply troubled world? Impossible.

How can I express gratitude for food, and an abundance of it, when so many others have so little? Impossible.

How can I express gratitude for being made in God's image and for bearing His likeness, however imperfectly? Impossible

.

When I say that I'm thankful for family, or friends, or any of the multitude of other blessings that I have, it seems so inadequate to just use one word. It's impossible for me to put into words how I feel without sounding glib and trite. And that's why, above all, I'm grateful for a Lord who can understand my heart when my words are insufficient. Thank you, Lord!