A New Thing: Cottage Living

I officially accepted a strings teacher position at a school (K4 through 12th grade) that was offered to me back in February of this year. That meant a move across the country to the beautiful Midwest. All I could fit in my car was what came with me, and sadly, there was no way that my sewing machines and supplies would fit, so they have to stay put in my parents home until Christmas.

While it isn't a true cottage, my new place of living will be "the cottage" here on the blog, and I'm looking forward to setting up house, figuring out real adulting, and learning the new and very wide gamut of teaching in a private school.

Any tips are welcomed for this newbie! :)

Hmm, what to think...

Every time I go to the closet that holds my historically-inspired clothing, or when I type in "ebay.com" into my browser, I get this awful feeling and then back out on listing something.

I thought that maybe it would help selling one item at a time; you know, sort of ease my way out of these lovelities (is that a word?). The first to go was going to be my Titanic "Swim Dress" (here and here for pictures) but now I can't even bring myself to even list this one!

Who would have thought that one could get to attached to clothing! Is this pathetic?!

Autumn & Winter apparel

I so appreciated Laura's post on feminine winter wear! If you have time, you would probably enjoy it as well, not to mention get a few inspiring ideas of her skirt sketches! I'd like to make myself a tiered skirt like her drawing. Can anybody recommend a good pattern for one?

I thought I'd come over to my sewing blog to ask:

What do you ladies enjoy wearing during the winter while attempting to be feminine and warm at the same time?

Here at our house, we girls will often wear corduroy or denim jumpers/skirts just because of their thickness and ability to keep one warm. We will wear lighter apparel, but then we will usually wear something on underneath such as sweatpants to keep our legs warm. We often wear sweaters too. Speaking of which, I have found some really nice ones at Kohl's and Christopher & Banks (my favorite place to shop for clothes after fabric shopping) this year. Since where we live, we can have up to 6 months of cool weather and having a nice sweater is, well, just nice. =)

Edited to add: You also might have fun seeing Janna's blog for some feminine hairstyles! She has one up, and I think will be putting more up sometime.

I love it, I love it not ....

Ebay is such a great place to find out-of-print, vintage patterns. I have my eye on a couple right now, but there is one in particular that I'm not sure if I want it or not.

It's this one, and while I don't care much the short-sleeve version of it, the long sleeve version is ok (I could even put in my own) and I really like the flowy graceful "air" about it. The only drawback would be the neckline, but I could add an inset.

Hmm, do I get it or let is pass? =) Maybe I'll stick to watching a vintage nightgown pattern...

I can't think of a good title...

Well, I haven't posted much lately just because my time in the sewing room has been slim....

I have however been rummaging through our "attic" (ie, our storage room in the basement) and came across a few historical things that I threw into a plastic bag for good riddence, but Arabella seems like them! =) I didn't take the time to iron prior to taking pictures, so please pardon the wrinkles!

This is my Gibson Girl Blouse along with an altered prairie skirt that is very flared (I could probable wear a hoop skirt with it!). Two different eras, but they seem to suit each other:
And look what I found at an antique/flea market yesterday! For $5, I couldn't pass it up when I usually see them for over $20. I have always admired the the cameo brooches on the Anne movies, Road to Avonlea, and other such films.:

Then I pulled out my unfinished blouse from the Romantic era. The fabric is slippery, silky and ... shall I say ... not fun to work with! But I like the style and collar, so that is on my table now to finish up.

And now for the project that I'm currently working on: a swimsuit! I bought the pattern online, and it looks like it would go together very easy, but I'm having problems with the elastic around the neckline sticking out:
The pattern is from Fashionably Modest Patterns, so would any of you ladies know what I'm doing wrong here, providing that is, you've also made a swimsuit from the pattern? Advice anyone? I keep re-reading the directions and I am 95% sure that I've done it right. You never know with me though ... I learn better by being taught more than I would by reading a pattern or manual. =)

Do all good things come to an end...?

After pulling in this afternoon from a family trip out west, I downloaded pictures (I want to say I took around 1,000), and checked my e-mail, I saw that I received an e-mail from where we purchased our domain site, and our site expires in 90 days.

For the last six months, we've contemplated shutting our business down. I have had visions of it branching into a ministry of some kind, but maybe they are just dreams.

Do I here any thoughts or ideas?

May I prevail upon your good opinon?

I was trying out a fairly new pattern, with a very new sleeve pattern (never tested before in our sewing room) and the dress is for when I perform/play (ie. violin) in public.

However, I would like a bit of your advice, does it look to dressy with the lace? All I have left to sew is the zipper in the back, and so the lace shown below was just pinned on. Does it look to much like a bridemaid's dress? (After I made it up, I realized that I wanted my bridemaid's dresses to look similar to this, should I get married someday...)
A close up of the fabric and lace:

And here is the dress without lace:

Which of the two do you like better?

Wardrobe advice from 1922:

"Always select or make designs that enhance your daintiness, your femininity, your exquisite delicacy and tenderness. Do this with every stitch of clothing you have, from bungalow aprons to bathing suits, from sport costumes to ball gowns. Endeavor to provide yourself with an entire wardrobe of dainty and cuddlesome garments, each piece as bewitching as the wearer herself." --Fascinating Womanhood, St. Louis: Psychology Press