High Summer Sewing

I was so busy this spring and summer getting the yard and house in order that I did not get my summer sewing done. We are now in "high summer" and I have made a mad scramble to get the summer sewing done. There is still time, as even autumn yields very high temperatures and there is need for cool cotton clothing.

These mother-daughter dresses look a lot better on the models and not near as floppy as the photos. The pictures just do not do them justice. They look very elegant, slimming and sweet on the wearers! I have found that the bolts of fabric do not have quite as much yardage on them as used to be common, so I have not been able to buy enough for the other ladies in the family, but am working on using leftover scraps of the fabric combined with coordinating solid colors.

This is a Fabric Traditions brand that is thick and high quality. Walmart also sells some Fabric Traditions but it is thinner, and Hobby Lobby sells Fabric Traditions.  

This is an old pattern I had never used, and the dress looks very good on the wearer, as in the pattern picture.   I did raise the neckline and cut out a new facing to match, which I explain on the sewing section of my sidebar here, on how to raise a neckline.

  Someone asked how to lower a neckline and it can be done the same way, cutting the fabric lower than the pattern, and a new facing has to be made.I am taking an unused pattern each week, if possible, and trying it out.  

What I like about the older patterns I have used so far, is they can be sewn exactly as-is with no tweaking or fitting.  Sometimes I cut the outside seam a little wider for comfort, but generally they fit well.

I have made three sets of mother/daughter garments and when I get them pinned up on the line, I will portray them on my blog as my summer fashion "line".

I am going to put some water on the flowers now and then stop for tea and some crunchy fresh cucumber slices from the vegetable patch.  The teapot and teacup rubber stamps, above, came from Dolllar Tree a few years ago. They look pretty in the shelf.  I am becoming more fond of the clear acrylic stamps, as they are easier to center on paper.

Please have a wonderful day no matter what the circumstances and remember that contentment is the practice of expressing thankfulness for every good thing, no matter how trivial.  Life is too short to not care about the little touches of beauty. We can go through life thinking it is an ugly world we live in, or we can replace every disappointment by thinking about and doing something delightful.  

The media is our own brand of terrorism that enters the home.  It terrifies because it can never allow us to be peaceful and happy for very long, but we who are in Christ Jesus need not live in fear. We are in a different kingdom and we follow a higher king. 

I have posted this statement on several occasions but today I would like to emphasize the importance of living as proper citizens of that kingdom. It is the kingdom of light, as explained in the New Testament, and we are commanded by our great King to rejoice and to think on things that are lovely. 

Perhaps we are afraid to be happy for fear it will seem we are not sympathetic about the terror and tragedy in the world, or unconcerned about the great causes of the world.  The Bible says we can be happy because when we have obeyed the gospel and are "in Christ" we have internal peace because of our confidence in Him and our own compliance to His Will through obedience and faith.

Here are some statements I have posted before:

Do what you can do, and what you cannot do, leave to The Lord.

Take care of your family and you are keeping them from being a burden on any other system outside the home.

Seek after that which is good and true, within a Biblical definition. The world turns that around sometimes and causes confusion.

When my children were being homeschooled in the 1980's I had a quiet time where they went somewhere by themselves and tried to be quiet for awhile. They could read or write or create, draw, listen to music, but they could not talk. At first it was difficult, but years later they found it to be among their most pleasant memories.

Some kinds of noises can affect the mind adversely and bring on negative, fearful thoughts. Sometimes having a quiet time to retreat to one's room can help. I listen to a CD called Breakfast in Bed, which features music from around the world by the classic composers.  I found that listening to it made my mind relax and could sometimes ease a headache. It also was a good accompaniment to the tedious cutting out of patterns on fabric, the most time consuming part of sewing. It is available on Amazon, or here: http://lovelywhatevers.blogspot.com/2014/08/breakfast-in-bed-soothing-music.html

Although this verse is published over and over on many blogs, it is one of the verses that our family has benefitted from the most.

Philippians 4:8    Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things arejust, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

Php 4:9    Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you.

While verse 8 is very familiar, not many people pay attention to verse 9, which has a promise.

A hymn we often sing has the most reassuring words, written by John Greenleaf Whittier (known as the children's poet) c.1872:

1 Dear Lord and Father of mankind,
forgive our foolish ways;
reclothe us in our rightful mind,
in purer lives thy service find,
in deeper reverence, praise.

2 In simple trust like theirs who heard
beside the Syrian sea
the gracious calling of the Lord,
let us, like them, without a word
rise up and follow thee.

3 O Sabbath rest by Galilee,
O calm of hills above,
where Jesus knelt to share with thee
the silence of eternity,
interpreted by love!

4 Drop thy still dews of quietness,
till all our strivings cease;
take from our souls the strain and stress,
and let our ordered lives confess
the beauty of thy peace.

The original poem had other verses that were not included when it was put to music in the hymn:

With that deep hush subduing all

Our words and works that drown

The tender whisper of Thy call,

As noiseless let Thy blessing fall

As fell Thy manna down.

Breathe through the hearts of our desire

Thy coolness and Thy balm;

Let sense be dumb, let flesh retire;

Speak through the earthquake, wind, and fire,

O still, small voice of calm.