Broken sewing machine

Just when a rainy day came along, with no homework to be done, my sewing machine decided to break.  It's an ancient machine, at least 20 years old, and about every other time I sew on it something goes wrong.  The tension is always getting messed up, or it's timing is off so it's breaking needles left and right, or it chews up the fabric.  Now the feed dog broke, so in order to sew, I have to pull, actually pull not guide, the fabric through.  Not good, especially since I have to work with some stretchy knit fabric.  So now, I either need to fix the machine, or go buy a new one.  And even if I do fix it, a new one is going to be needed soon.  So here's three cheers for sewing machine shopping!

80's Sleeve Makeover

Sorry everybody.  I know I don't post very often, I've been so busy lately.  But I am finally getting around to posting today.  I have a confession to make: I made an impulse buy last month.  I'm not normally that way; when confronted with college expenses, and no job (until last month. Thank you, Lord for providing!), it really makes me think twice before buying anything.  But I saw this dress.  It was white and black.  Normally I don't like white and black, but I liked this dress for some reason.  It had a slight empire waist, princess seaming on the skirt and gathers on the bodice, was floor length and fit perfectly.  Like no-alterations-needed-on-the-fit perfectly.

(Ignore the flower pot above my head!)

The only problem was that this dress had horrid 80's elbow length puffed sleeves (sorry, I don't have any "before" photos).  I fixed the problem by cutting off about 3 inches of fabric and pleating the pouffy-ness into a binding of satin ribbon.  It was so easy, and took maybe a half-hour, even with hand sewing the binding.  Here's the finished product:

Aren't those sleeve cute?

Front view:  I really like the lace at the waistline.

I think I know what I'm wearing to the Vintage Ball this December!  

Pride and Prejudice

You are allowed to be shocked, but I just turned 18 and I had not seen Pride and Prejudice until a couple weeks ago!  And to make matters worse, I just watched Emma and Sense and Sensibility within the past couple of months for the first time and I haven't read any of the Jane Austen books!  *gasp! Homeschooled and not read Jane Austen!*  But anyways.....I have see them now, and they definitely rank among my favorite movies, as well as North and South (even though it's not a Jane Austen, the story line is almost identical to Pride and Prejudice)  So far, I've only seen the newer version of Pride and Prejudice although I would like to see the older one done by the BBC.  I seriously love that movie.  I laugh till my sides ache at Mrs. Bennett, and grin my ears off when when Jane accepts Mr. Bingley's proposal.  But I've got a problem.  I'm so much like Elizabeth Bennett and Margaret Hale (N&S).  And I'm scared that I'm going to have some proud guy fall in love with me and I'm going to hate him at first and that is so terribly unromantic....but at the same time, even though they do have their faults, Mr. Darcy and Mr. Thornton are terribly handsome and have some really good qualities.  Ok, so now I'm wondering where my Mr. Darcy is.

Earthquake???

This post is to personally confirm that Virginia had an earthquake.  By now, y'all have heard it on the news a million times, but I just had to say it anyways.  It is the buzz here right now.  My Facebook news feed is covered with "Was that an earthquake?" and other like posts.  The first words out of my classmates' lips today was "Where were you when the earthquake hit?"  And my friends from California are rightfully laughing at us.  But let me just say that I would have never expected Eagle Rock, Virginia to ever, EVER, have a quake.  I don't think anyone else did either.  And I think that is why it is so scary for us East Coasters.  It's not supposed to happen here!!!  And now we're scared it's going to happen again.  I know God's in control of everything, but I do not want to feel the ground moving under my feet again.

18th Century Cloak

Yesterday my friend Sarah came over, bringing several yards of plaid wool fabric for a cloak.  She didn't have time to help me sew it, so she drew a diagram of the general shape of the pieces.  More or less, it's one panel of fabric however long you want the cloak to be, plus two quarter-circles of a radius the same length sewn on each side of the panel.  The hood is a rectangle with a corner cut off or rounded.  Pleats are on the back of the hood. The back panel is cut in a slight curve (very slight) and then pleated to match the bottom of the hood and then sewn to the hood.

I lined the hood with flannel and hope to eventually line the entire cloak.  For pleats, I did knife pleats.  I am going to get a nice clasp to close the front, but until then, I'm using a straight pin to fasten it, and may just put ties from the same fabric on.  And the best part is that it only took one afternoon to sew the whole thing! Here's a few pictures of the finished product:

The back of the cloak

Showing off the hood and lining.

As you can see, I was wearing jeans in these pictures, and the cloak looks really cute with them!  I think I'm going to wear it proudly to college this fall!

RATTLESNAKE!!!

Ok, so this is a not-so-beautiful side of life, but it sure is old fashioned.  I was posting about something else, but got interrupted by yells of "Get the shotgun, there's a rattlesnake!" from several sibling.  I rush to the closet, pull out my lovely 16 ga. side-by-side, run out the door while slipping a couple shells in breech, run to the pile of rock where it supposedly went.  I have the butt of the gun pressed to my shoulder, ready to shoot any second.  I can't see anything as it is getting dark, so I pause for a second and listen.  A rustle in the leaves, I'm straining my eyes, I see movement.  Quickly, aim and shoot.  I know I hit because the thin form jerks; I fire the second cartridge, it jerks again.  Darn! I forgot more shells!  Siblings come running with more, and I replace the spent ones with shaking fingers.  Now where did that rattler go?  There it is in the blackberry bushes!  I fire both cartridges.  As I pull the shells out, suddenly I realize that one of them was a 20 ga. shell.  Ooops!  Thank God that nothing bad happened, except for having to use my brother's pocket knife to pry it out.  (Sidenote: the larger the gauge number, the smaller the size.  So 20 ga. is smaller than 16, and 10 ga. is practically a cannon, well close to it!)  That crazy snake is STILL moving so I fire one last shot (Yikes, that was FIVE of them!  Ok, I promise, it was not my shooting abilities, I really am a good shot! Usually.....)  Finally, it is still.  Mom pulls the now mangled body from the bushes with a hoe.  I see now why it didn't die quickly.  Although the tail is blown off and it's been hit all over the body, somehow I never hit its head.  With the bad lighting and all the bushes, I just couldn't see its head clearly and had to guess.  After a few minutes of searching, we find the tail and the rattle.  Then as we're standing there, the nerve reflexes cause the very-much-dead snake and its disconnected tail to start twitching. Ewww!  That I cannot stand, so I run screaming into the house, sit down and write this.  The end.  (P.S. This is a completely true story with no exaggeration what-so-ever.)

The rattle

18th Century shoes! (These are really cute!)

See, aren't those beautiful!  They are perfect either for an 18th Century event or even a modern formal occasion!

The Devonshires are a leather 18th century shoe based on museum examples from the 1760s through 1780s.  They're made of top-grade dyable leather (to match any outfit!), with a beautiful, smooth Italian leather sole for dancing, and are hard-wearing, water- and mud-proof, for even the toughest of outdoor re-enactments.

Pre-Order the Devonshires through August 10, and get the special $100 price.  We're only making 200 of these shoes, so don't miss the chance to own one of only a couple hundred pair on the planet!  Visit www.american-duchess.com to order.

They are even paintable!