Raising a Neckline on a Sewing Pattern

You will need a piece of paper from your printer. Lay the front of the pattern on the fold line of your fabric.

Method #1 - Insert the paper under the pattern so that one edge is on the fold line, and another edge is right at the point of the shoulder seam, as you see in the above photo.

This is one of two ways that I use. Draw an outline tapering down from the shoulder. Two necklines are shown. One follows the v-neck but adds a few inches and then gradually joins the line to the shoulder. Another line, above that, alters the v-neck into a round neck. You can get special rulers and tools to make new necklines, but this is how to do it quickly, freehand.

Cut around the paper on the lines you drew, and and across the top of the pattern on the shoulder, then down around the armhole. Now you can cut your fabric, following this new pattern section you  have underneath the pattern. If you plan on using it the same way again and again, just tape it to the original pattern.  I cut along the freehand drawing of the rounded neck, as you see in the photo. You do have to be careful to draw it very straight at the fold line, or you might end up with a slight dip or slight raised area that you do not want. If this happens, just open up the fabric after you have cut it, and trim it evenly.

Remember to leave the shoulder seam the same. You will not be raising it at all.

Method # 2

I use my knives instead of pins to anchor down the tissue pattern, as they are easier to remove and move around on a pattern.Insert your piece of paper and trace around the edge of  the neckline exactly, with a pencil.

Pull the paper up a few inches so that the drawn outline can be seen, and then angle it (the paper) to the edge of the shoulder, as you see. You can raise it as much as you like, depending on how high you want it. The paper will stick out beyond the fold line, but you'll be folding it back or cutting off the excess so that it is even. Make sure not to move your pattern, when using this method. Just move the paper.

I did not show it here, but you cut around the paper, making it even with the fold line, and then cut around the shoulder and the armhole, as in the first method.

This is the way people used to do it before all the curved rulers were available.  You might want to try this on an old piece of fabric to practice on, first. After cutting the new neckline, open up the fabric and lay the shoulders of the fabric on your own shoulders to see how the neckline turned out. If necessary, trim and straighten out the neckline with scissors.

To make a facing: This will come in handy when you have a pattern that is missing the facing piece, as well as when you have to draw a new facing for a raised neckline.

On a piece of child's construction paper or printer paper, lay your garment piece with the neckline down and draw right up against the cut area of the neckline, down the folded edge, and across the shoulder. I've moved the fabric slightly so that you can see what the drawing should look like.

This is what it looks like at this point. The straight edges should be about two and a half inches across.

Following the inside curved line, draw an outer line and joing the shoulder and fold line, as you see, above. You can always trim it with your sewing scissors if the wider curve is too wide or too straight for the garment. This is the kind of thing that takes a little trial and error, but it works well for most people.

Creating a Homey Feeling

Painting by Klaus Dietrich

 If homemaking consisted only of cleaning house and getting the laundry done, there would be no need for the homemaker. There is a big difference between house cleaning and home making, which will be explained in this post.

Every homemaker will want to be happy in her place at home.  If she can surround herself in a certain amount of beauty and comfort, it adds to her contentment.  No matter what kind of dwelling it is, whether it be a trailer, terraced house, contractor house, or log cabin, it can be made the dearest and brightest place, with a little care and some thoughtful additions.

Wild Rose Manor by Ron Carter

Since the family, and especially the homemaker, will be spending many hours in the house, it is important to have a pleasant place to live.  Here are a few things that show how it takes the whole day, every day, to really keep a home. At the same time, these are activities and touches  which will increase her feeling of well-being and happiness inside her own home:

Cleaning: Although it sounds like only work, cleaning can be creative. As you sweep, wipe or clear clutter, leave every area looking not just cleaner, but more attractive and well-arranged. The task seems more pleasant  when you consider cleaning as a creative endeavor.

 Really thoughtful homemakers do not just clear the dishes from a table. They wipe up all the food crumbs, straighten chairs, change the tablecloth to one of a different color, and add a cheerful and inspiring centerpiece. It is a beautiful way to finish a cleaning job. This habit applies to all areas of the house, including the living room, where things are straightened and the coffee table is cleaned to make way for a pretty display. 

 Keeping the front door area attractive and neat can create a feeling of being in an important and rich place, even in the humblest of homes. These are just a few areas where cleaning can really make a big difference in your mood toward homemaking.  It costs less than painting or remodelling, and often makes a huge difference. It is in a sense: creative arranging and changing, to make the house the best it can be.

Log Cabin Retreat by Kim Sung

Find the most appealing  supplies for the home: This is a lovely time to be a homemaker, because of the myriad of attractive cleaning and storage products available for the home. Check out the product reviews that some of the homemakers are doing on their blogs, and you'll get a sense of how uplifting house keeping can be, with all the attractive soaps, towels, containers, and cleaning supplies available. The natural products are packaged to go with your kitchen or bathroom so that they look like luxuries.

 Wear a fresh, feminine style apron, use pretty rubber gloves when washing dishes, and listen to your favorite music. House cleaning does not have to be a grueling drudgery. It is a good idea to relax and enjoy each moment of the day, whether working or relaxing.  If you live like this, home becomes more like a vacation resort where everyone can be revived.

Create a writing space for yourself:  Get some good office supplies that make you feel that your job is worth it:- a nice pen and a notebook in the style you really prefer. Have a desk of your own or a space somewhere to sit and begin your morning Bible reading and plan out your day. Be flexible with this, but do list some things  you wish to accomplish, plus a list of errands and shopping, future plans, and reminders.

Please do not think you have to spend money for your office area. You can create your own space in many ways. Use one of those old metal typewriter tables that no one wants anymore,  or  your desk can be a folding wood tray scooted over to the couch  or used with a spare chair. You can make your own notebook by choosing the papers you like and putting it together yourself. You can even cover your pen or pencil in a matching paper. Creating your own area and having pretty supplies can make a big difference in your motivation as a homemaker.

 You can find pretty products for the kitchen and the bathroom and everything inbetween, or you can find attractive containers to hide the most mundane objects.

 Emily Barnes wrote in her book, "The Spirit of Loveliness" of peeking into someones pretty bedroom and noticing a little trash can lined with a scented  pink plastic trash bag, in which was placed a piece of paper doily.   It gave the impression of a homemaker who went beyond the mere obligation of cleaning a room, and added a thoughtful decoration to make it all complete.

If you ever have a homemaking class in your home, try having your students make a list of every possible good thing that could go on in a home. List all the things that could be learned in a home, all the work that could be done in a home, all the social things that could occur in the home, and all the possible creative things.

 Decorating, hospitality, care of family members recovering from illness,  benevolence, Bible study, art and crafts, sewing,  caring for those who aren't feeling well,  and many other things can be centered in the home. Once such a list has been made, it becomes clear that it takes a full time homemaker to see that it is all done. There is more to homemaking than cleaning a house. It has to be cared for as if it were your own lodge, or your own bed and breakfast, by putting beauty and cleanliness into it. You simply cannot have an inviting atmosphere if you are not there making sure everything is in place and looking like a dignified home.

Put refinement and elegance in every place of the house : When a woman truly makes her home a beautiful place of comfort and creativity, it is often more desirable to stay in, than to go out. Think of this: every thing "out there" is practically producible in your own place: your favorite foods, a lovely lounge area, a tea room, an art/sewing/crafting studio, your own library which consists of your favorite reading material, a desk for correspondence and accounting, and a favorite spot in which to relax. There is not a part of the home that cannot benefit from cleaning, creating and beautifying. I have seen lovely laundry rooms, though small, which are cheerful and inviting, and some back porches made into works of art, just by keeping them clean and adding a plant or a decorative birdhouse.  If you tend to be discouraged, just try cleaning up a surface and, like a new canvase, creating a scene with what you have, whether it be a climbing ivy plant or a basket of shells.

Arrange and Rearrange Furnishings and Decorations:
With this kind of approach to home living, a woman does not have to wait until she can afford her dream house. She can make restful  areas in the place she already has. I have seen  women create entry ways in small houses where none existed, and porches where none existed. Architectural interests such as fireplace mantels or shelves makes home living appealing.  Many women have become creative out of necessity. When they had to make room for a study area in their house,  a guest room, foyer/entryway or a seating area in the kitchen, they have innovated and created whatever effect they needed.

Merely moving furniture around seasonally changes the look of a house and makes it seem new and fresh--in a sense, a different place. Simply changing the blanket you keep on the back of the couch in the winter to a lighter piece of fabric in the summer, gives an old couch a new look. It is easy on the eyes and it gives the homemaker a sense of newness.

Don't let others discourage you: There will always be those who will suggest that you must be so idle that you have nothing better to do than rearrange furniture or clean sinks and create new center pieces. If she does not have to be outside the home all day, a  homemaker does have the time to add these niceties and extra comforts to the home. She is not just there to do the hard work; she is there to light the home with her ideas and to put her own personality into it.  Besides being a worthwhile work, it becomes a way of life.

 By now, everyone is familiar with the cynic, the critic and the discourager, who is not happy if you are working hard and accomplishing something, and not happy if you are relaxing and enjoying leisure activities. The following poem, written in 1930 expresses it perfectly. These kinds of sour-on-life people have always been around and always will be.

PEOPLE WILL TALK

Yes, people will talk, the saying is true,

They talk about me, they talk about you;

If we go to the opera, someone will say,

We should go to church and learn how to pray.

If we go to church and offer up prayers,

They say we are hypocrites and putting on “airs”;

If we are rich, they call us a thief,

Scoff at our sorrows and laugh at our grief.

If we are poor, they say that we shirk,

We’re always lazy and never would work;

They talk of our prospects, they talk of our past,

And if we are happy, they say it can’t last.

They talk of our loved ones, they talk of our foes,

They talk of our follies, they talk of our woes;

They talk of our joys, they talk of our fears,

They talk of our smiles, they talk of our tears.

They talk if we’re single, they talk if we’re wed,

They talk of us living, they talk of us dead;

Tho’ we live like an angel with circumspect walk,

Our efforts are useless, for people will talk.

Most people are afraid to offend anyone, and afraid to be called conceited or be thought of as a snob. This is one tool that Satan uses against anyone who is trying to do a good job at home and make their homes lovely places. You will be called   a snob if you do not allow anyone to disrespect or destroy your personal property, or to behave badly in the home. People will say you are conceited if you have a tea party for friends. They will say you are putting on airs if you dress up at home or when going out in public. They will say you think you are better than other people if you don't accept the careless way in which the rest of the world lives.  As the poem says, it creates an attitude that all must stop, because people will talk.  You cannot give up on your efforts to be creative and productive. If you do nothing, people will still talk, so it is best to do what you know to do, to the best of your ability. James 4:17 says "Therefore, to him that knoweth to do good, and does not do it, it is a sin."


Do it for God and for yourself: If a wife, mother and homemaker gets too caught up in the appreciation of the people around her, she may lose sight of why she is doing more than absolutely necessary. You have to make your home a place you would most like to be. You are the home keeper and the guide and guard of it. You are the lady of the house. You do most of the work or the supervising, and so it belongs to you. You decide what you like and what you do not like, because you will be in the house probably more than anyone else. The way you set a table, arrange flowers or clean up a room has to have meaning to you. You have to put your own personality into the home by using the things you love and arranging them in a way that cheers you up.  Ultimately, we do what we do for God. Others may not appreciate it but we should continue in well-doing. (Galations 6:9)*


There is nothing wrong with you:  If you are particular about the appearance of your house, inside and out, and prefer to have things in order, things put away in their proper place, and do not like to sit in a mess, there is nothing wrong with you. Today's casual attitudes suggest that anyone who has any standards has a "problem" and needs to "loosen up."

 If you have the habit of cleaning up and putting things away and you like to have a neat and tidy home, you are very blessed. Some people struggle for years trying to develop good habits like that. If you have been trained in your youth, you have an advantage. There is nothing wrong with you if you like your clothes to match your hair bow, or if you enjoy having dishes that match and furniture that goes together.

 Today if you even attempt to have some kind of order in your life, others may accuse you of being too "materialistic."  We are obligated to look after our material possessions, from dishes to furniture, and we should do so, with a sense of personal responsibility and pleasure. It  allows others to enjoy our homes when they are not broken down and ruined. It shows good stewardship. There is nothing wrong with you if you dislike loud music or arguing in your home, and there is nothing wrong with you if you shrink from things that are not good, pure and lovely. (Philippians 4:8)  A homemaker will always pay attention to the atmosphere of her home, by making sure the sights and sounds are in accordance with the loveliness and appropriateness that brings glory to God.

Cling to your homemaking values: Know how to live  when you are prosperous, and know how to live when you are not.  There is a time to be generous, and a time to cut back. It is that way with life, and will always be that way. No one can be completely free from worries and no one can be perfectly secure in this life. Even those who make great plans for the future, saving huge amounts of money, can lose it through the ups and downs of the economy. We cannot put our trust in money, but in the commands of the Lord. If God saw fit to give women a place in life, a place in the home, there will be ways to accomplish it.

*Galations 6:9 And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.



Bible Commentator, Adam Clarke (Irish, 1762-1832) wrote, concerning this verse:

"Let us not be weary - Well-doing is easier in itself than ill-doing; and the danger of growing weary in the former arises only from the opposition to good in our own nature, or the outward hinderances we may meet with from a gainsaying and persecuting world."

Keeping the Home, Whatever the Times

Stedfast* and Secure at Home

Carolina Evening 1 by Betsy Brown

 The home, being the first institution created by God, has always been under attack, for it is the basis of life on earth. Wise women will stay home and guard the family  from the wrong influences, preserving good values  and being good stewards of their personal property and possessions, whether it be a little or a lot.

The home has authority, power and influence, but there are man-made institutions and philosophies which desire to get women out of the home and eliminate its impact on society.  This pressure can come in the form of government,  education, the media, financial institutions,  and even friends and relatives. 

Vintage Comfort, by Betsy Brown

 Women are pressured on all sides to leave their homes and bring in wages. There are people who just do not see any value in women being at home.  I heard a young man say  that he could not figure out what a woman did all day at home. After all, he said, he was a bachelor, and how much time did washing dishes, washing clothes, and vacuuming take?  He claimed that it was so easy to keep house that women ought to be out working and bringing in money.  He misunderstood the difference between house work and home making. 

 Even a child can do the simplest housekeeping chores, but it takes a real woman to develop the knack for homemaking: putting warmth and welcome and sweetness into a house and making it a place where people do not want to leave. The young bachelor failed to discern the spiritual values in a home. He only saw the material things.

  Any fool can rush around at 5 o'clock, minutes before her husband arrives home from work,  putting things away or washing dishes, and make it look like she has been working all day. Just about anyone can do housework. House work can be done by a maid, but it takes more than house work to make a real home.  This requires a woman being in her home so that she can tend to things without being stressed or rushed. If she goes to work outside the home, her time will be limited. She will not be able to relax and enjoy cleaning house, cooking, knitting or decorating. She will always be under stress, having to manage two jobs, and never really being able to be a home maker.

Carolina Evening 2 by Betsy Brown

The world only values  women if they can earn money (a materialistic, unwholesome view of women), but God values them in a greater way, giving them the responsibility of guiding the home.  Read Titus 2 again. It does  not mention money at all. It does not command the women to be keepers IF  they have  enough money.  It simply shows the way women in the Lord's church are supposed to live.  They are supposed to marry, love their husbands,  teach their children, and be keepers at home, workers at home, busy at home,  that the word of God be not blasphemed. This means that they should pay careful attention to these things;  to do these things well, and not bring shame on God's word.  This wonderful place they have in life, at home, gives them a chance to be different that the world. It sets them apart, as God's people, from the way others around them live.

Tit 2:4 That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, Tit 2:5 To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed.

To illustrate this, think of a woman who claims to be religious. She goes around saying Hallelujah all the time and says she "just loves Jesus."  Yet her husband is neglected, his shirts never ironed, she does not sew or make things with her hands, she refuses to cook or clean, and her house smells bad.  Those outside of the faith would naturally conclude that she was a hypocrite: claiming to be religious but not living the principles of the religion, which include the command to be keepers at home.

Some of the pressures against women at home are:

Loneliness:

The eight people aboard the Ark must have had some determination to stay free of the vices of their world, which was very wicked at the time.  Think of Noah and his wife, his three sons and their wives, aboard the ark, all alone in the world at the time of the flood. Imagine how  isolated and terrified they must have felt while the rest of the population still existed, with all their deceit, lying, scheming, and violence. Yet these 8 souls were saved by obediently clinging to the promises of God: that He would save them if they obeyed him. They did not know what life would be like in the new world, but they obeyed God's command.

 Women at home may feel they are all alone, as they see more of their friends going off to work, leaving the neighborhoods echoing with empty houses during the day, but they have to remember that God often uses few people for His purposes. It is one thing to do something worthwhile if many others are doing it, but it takes a very dedicated woman to be a homemaker when no one around them is doing it. Like Noah and his family, we must remember that God has provided a special place for us at home, whether the prevailing culture approves of it, or not. 

This is a wonderful era in which to live, for today we have a network that has never before existed. We don't have to spend days and days feeling isolated or lacking in moral support. The Internet provides the opportunity to connect with those who share our beliefs. All over the web, daily, there are interesting things designed especially for home-lovers, in the form of participant activities with names like Make-Over, or Home Made  Monday, Table-Setting Tuesday, Crafty Wednesday, Decorating Thursday, Cooking Friday, Sewing Saturday and so forth. I've just made up these names to give you an example of some of the things out there on the web that encourage homemakers to do things to enhance their home life.

 Women are motivated to clean their houses and share their house-tour slide shows on blogs, and they make friends through give-a-ways and contests, all which have something to do with home keeping and home making. There is no reason to feel isolated or lacking in purpose, even in a row house or apartment, with such a rich store of information available on the web. Unlike magazines, you can pick exactly what you like and tune in to it, on a blog or a you tube tutorial, and gather up all the information you like to make your home living exciting and fulfilling. It is almost always free, and you can print out things for a notebook and collect everything you like.



 Every single day of the week can be interesting and a homemaker can keep her creative mind exercised, as she finds ways to make her home functional and inviting, and save money at the same time. One reason I have included so many blogs on the left side of this blog, is to show the beautiful things women are doing at home, and give viewers an idea of the potential in home life. Go through some of these blogs and get some ideas for your own home.

Difficulty Seeing Rewards of Our Efforts.

Hebrews 11 gives an account  of the Patriarchs and other men who walked by faith, even though they did not see the result of their faith right away.  Occasionally, women will not stick with homemaking because they go through a difficult period and conclude that it must not "work."  The Patriarchs of old did often did not see the results of their faith, but they followed it anyway, knowing that they were citizens of a heavenly kingdom, and that life on this earth would fade away.  Homemakers have the blessing of seeing little results here and there as they work at home, but ultimately, they must do it for the Lord:  ....with good will, doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men: knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord...Ephesians 6:7-8

note: A patriarch in the Old Testament was a man who was the head of his family whom God spoke to directly, to reveal his will: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and others were these patriarchs.

  If women give  up their place in the home and pursue careers, they will not be able to provide an example for their children and grandchildren in obeying God, no matter what the cost.  If women give up their place in the home as homemakers, and pursue careers, they will be wasting a lot of time  that could be used to develop the skills and knowledge to care for their families. Think of your children and grandchildren, turning the pages of the family album, and pointing to you, their grandmother, and describing the life you lived. Will they say that her life was centered on the home, and that she provided a home life for her husband?

Some of the discouragements to homemaking are:

Intimidation by others who are out working for wages:

Like the miserable comforters of Job, discouragers say,  "Why don't you give up and go to work?"  Some people do not see success unless they see money, so they may conclude that your being a keeper at home full time is not successful unless they see your family thriving financially. They are not thinking about the spiritual foundations that a homemaker is developing in her family. They are thinking only about money, only about financial and social security, and only about material things. They may say they are "concerned" (how often do we hear that?) that you are not being "fulfilled" or "concerned" about your children's "social development."  They push and nag and hint and intimidate and accuse, until they have put enough pressure on the homemaker to make her get a job outside the home.

Edgar A. Guest, a poet who was born in 1881, wrote many inspiring poems, and here is one which many mothers of the past read to their children, and which many children memorized, when faced with discouragement:

There are thousands to tell you it cannot be done,

There are thousands to prophesy failure;

There are thousands to point out to you one by one,

The dangers that wait to assail you.

But just buckle it in with a bit of a grin,

Just take off your coat and go to it;

Just start to sing as you tackle the thing

That "couldn’t be done," and you’ll do it.



Read the rest of the poem.

Sand Candles by Betsy Brown

Another point of pressure towards homemakers is:

Fear of financial failure.

 Women will start worrying about how they are going to survive financially, and then take matters into their own hands, get a job, and start bringing in the cash.  We were warned by older women many years ago that this would make it impossible for women to stay home, as the need for money would only increase, and their expenses only get worse, once they began working outside the home. Not only that, but they would pay a terrible price in the loss of their children's souls, many who would be put out to pasture, wandering from house to house; never experiencing a spiritually rich home life. 

 So-called "experts" came out declaring that this was "normal" and that children actually thrived and did quite well in day cares, and were as intelligent as children brought up by full time mothers. Many people warned that women working outside of the home would cause a rise in divorce, and other warned that it would make it more difficult for men to find employment. Today we see entire towns "manned" by women, at the post office, bank, grocery stores, libraries, and police stations.  This cannot be good for the economy or for the home. Many men cannot find jobs, and feel forced to go on welfare. For every woman who is working, there is .5 man on welfare.

  Whatever the self-appointed experts claim, we know God's word is the final authority for our lives:  ... That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children,  To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed. ...Titus 2:4-5.

As a Titus 2 teacher, I cannot tell you how you will pay your rent, your phone bill, or your grocery bill, but I can tell you that your first priority is to obey God. This lesson is not for the unbeliever. It is for those who really want to do what is right and good and want to be in God's will.  If you seek first the will of God, according to His word, He will provide a way for you to do it.  There are many women who have done it. There are many women who are living the Titus 2 "dream" even now, although they have no "second income," as the so-called experts claim they must have. Do it for the protection of your marriage and your home. Do it as example to other women.  Do it for your own peace of mind and your health. The world wants to make men out of women. Christian men are supposed to "provide for their own..." 1st Timothy 5:8  Christian women are supposed to "marry, bear children, and keep house.." 1st Timothy 5:14 

Pressure from husbands:

 There is a generation of men that have apparently missed out on being real men by accepting the responsibility to provide for their families. They feel that women should carry half the "load" of the financial responsibility. They may be getting this idea from other men who congregate at work and discuss their personal financial problems. They may be comparing their homemaking wives to the career women surrounding them at the work place.  They may lose a sense of the precious value of their own wives at home. They could possibly listening to reports on the radio or television that keep them in a hyped up sense of fear that everything is going to crash financially and we are all going to be living in cardboard boxes if we only have one income.  The media has done this for decades now, to mobilize people in whatever direction they want.



 Many church members, including preachers, elders, deacons, teachers and "leaders" have their wives working. They seem to have cut many scriptures about the responsibility of women in the home, out of the Bible. It is rarely spoken of in churches today, for fear of offending most of the members, whose wives are working outside the home. In a future post, I will address the problem of what to do at home. There are those who do not know what to do at home, and are working because they feel there is nothing for them to do at home,

  The media and government agencies  promoted the feminist movement, to get women out of their homes to make money, from which income taxes would be extracted. This would provide more money  for the federal government to support questionable programs and create an empire not approved of by the American people.  When you cave in to the pressure from your husband or anyone else, to go to work, you are giving the government some of your money to support their unholy programs like Planned Parenthood and government schools which teach thousands of children to hate the free enterprise system and embrace socialism and communism.

 When you go to work, you participate in paying the taxes which provide the way for the government to do more harm to this country.  If you stay out of the work place, and make a wonderful home for your family, you do more for your country than you can possibly do if you were in the military. You also harm your husband by taking over part of his own responsibility to be a provider. Your job is big enough just keeping your husband alive with good nutrition and a happy atmosphere at home, free from the troubles of the work place.

High Rock, by Betsy Brown

A good help meet will not allow her husband to pursue doctrinal error. If women do not warn men when they are going in the wrong direction, they are not being proper help meets.  When wives see husbands putting pressure on them to go to work outside the home, they need to remind them of what God says. Women are not obligated to obey anyone when it comes into conflict with God's commands.  To keep the situation from becoming tense, women should busy themselves about the house, and when pressured to get a job, ask the husband to take over the work at home for awhile and work full time, too.  The men will quickly see that it cannot be done. If a man is truly a leader, he will show the way, not boss the way.  He will live what he teaches. If he thinks his wife should have a second job (her home is is first job), he should get a second job just to show the example. If he is not working, he should not ask his wife to work, and if he is trying to be a house -husband, the wife should certainly not get a job. It will only make him lazier, as he "falls back" on his wife's income. If she goes to work, he will not be as careful with his expenses, and he will fail to feel that all depends upon him. It does not make him a better man if he sends his wife to work. It will rob him of his sense of urgency in solving the income problem.  The wife can, however, cut back on expenses, and be resourceful, learn to make things herself rather than buy ready made or manufactured goods, and live simply.



 One woman I know decided to make her own cloth napkins, and when she had company, the wife so admired these napkins that she paid her to make some for her. Now, she is in the cloth napkin business of her own making, but her husband provides the main income.  You never know when a necessity becomes an invention that will bring financial rewards.

  I believe it is unscriptural and wimpy for a man to ask his wife to get a job, but if a woman wants to earn money, there are many ways to do it from home. In saying that, though, it comes with a warning: it will still be a second job, will use up your stamina, and will cause you to neglect your home and your husband. Jobs, whether online or from the home, will still take over, unless a woman is careful to discipline herself to only work a few hours a day. If a woman develops an online job, it is easy to dedicate whole days to it and allow the housework to pile up, which is no better than working outside the home.

House work, house keeping and home making take a lot of time and energy. It takes thought and concentration to create a meal, set a beautiful table, and make life at home desirable. In her leisure time, a woman should be knitting or pursing an interest that relaxes her. If that is earning money on the web or knitting, so be it, but no one should pressure her to earn money.

Husbands can cut down on expenses and create their own 2nd and 3rd incomes. One man I know who was laid off work after a large company had to fold, began inventing little things he had always been curious about. He got a patent and began to sell his useful inventions, from the home. He had special tools and gadgets that helped the homemaker  and he made wood toys for children.  His wife was patient and frugal and had a lot of faith in him and told everyone she knew about his products. They now have an income to replace the job he had, and he has no overhead to pay, and uses his garage for his production. He employs his home school children in his factory.  This did not happen suddenly, but gradually, step by step. His family encouraged him and cut down on expenses during the time when they had little income.

The term "one income" did not exist, as far as I know, until the early 1970's, when it was created by social economics media, to motivate women to get jobs.  "Studies have shown that a man can no longer support his family on one income," said one report on television news. "A man will not be able to support his family on his income alone," --a local newspaper reported.  Religious women stuck by the good news of Titus 2 and thrived, but the world kept predicting the end of the one income-family. Today, a husband will come home and declare that his wife must "do" something (an expression that means get-a-job) or "help" out (another one like the other one). These are just what I call weasel-word phrases that really mean "money."  Women must not panic. They must show confidence and assure their husbands that they know they will survive. They may have to make adjustments and get rid of some major expenses, but it is better than getting rid of the wife at home.



 Seasoned homemakers will say that they cannot count the number of times their own husbands thought that the economy was so bad that the wife must go to work, and yet they continued faithfully in their homemaking jobs. A family's personal economy will always have its lean times and its prosperous times. It is part of life. Women must remind men that their place is in the home and always will be. They will help where they can but they must not leave their homes. If they do, they may have a very difficult time ever returning to the home full time.

Social Pressure:

There are always those people who feel they are helping the poor little homemaker by showing up at her door with a newspaper full of want-ads and circled jobs available. These types will ask questions like, "How will you ever get retirement?"  "Where will you get your pension?"  "How will you ever buy a house?"   Women at home have to be careful about the influence of girlfriends who are not quite at the same level of faith. Instead of allowing them to influence you to go to work, you need to use your home as teaching place, where you can influence them to be  keepers at home. All you have to do when they drop by is tell them that you are very glad to see them but have to iron a few shirts before your husband gets home. They will then know what an iron and an ironing board looks like, and be able to see how it is used. 

Social pressure from friends can cause women at home to be unhappy and discontent. Instead of viewing themselves as people who have-not because they are homemakers, they need to view themselves as being stedfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord. 1st Corinthians 15:58. Your work at home is the work God has given you. It is the work of the Lord.

Please do not limit yourself to just a few verses in Titus 2. Go ahead and read the rest of the chapter, and see how it connects so well to the verses intended for women and the guiding of the home.

To print articles, go to the sidebar on the left and click, "How to Print Articles."

You are welcome to post portions of this on your blogs if you are on my side, ;-)

*this is the King James Bible translation spelling of the word we know as steadfast. I did not make a spelling error. I used the KJV spelling to go with one of the scriptures within the post.

Still Here, Holding the Fort

Brunette, by Camille Felix Ballenger 1904

 In all things shewing thyself a pattern of good works: in doctrine shewing uncorruptness, gravity, sincerity...

Titus 2:7

I have been very busy this month, so I will share my society news so far and later post a lesson on homemaking and something helpful to those who are having to withstand pressure to leave their homes and seek employment elsewhere.

2011 Calendar of Victorian Roses

Pink Roses in a Basket

by Frans Mortelmans  1865-1936  Belgium

To print your own Victorian Roses Calendar created by Lady Lydia click here.  It is free, but if you do not want to use your own ink, it is possible to send the file to Wal-Mart photo place or your nearest office copy place and have them print it and bind it with a spiral.   After you get to the link, just click on "file" in the upper left corner, and a window will drop that gives you the option of printing or putting on a disc.

Here is what the calendar looks like when it is printed on cardstock and   tied together with wired ribbon. When you are finished with the month, untie the ribbon and stash the page in your clip art file, to use for a post card or something else, and then re-tie the ribbon. You can get the cardstock at Wal-Mart and the wired ribbon for a dollar at Dollar Tree, or use whatever you have on hand.

To make holes, fold a piece of paper the same size as your cardstock, in half, and punch through both layers with a hole punch, and then use the holes as a pattern for the cardstock calendar pages.

The other side of each page is blank, which enables you to use the pictures for postcards or clip-art or recycle it for greeting cards, art cards or whatever you like.

After punching holes in each cardstock page, thread some wired ribbon through the holes and tie a bow in the front.

Use the ribbon in the back for hanging on a hook or nail.

Knowing the disappointment some people have when their birthday month comes up on a calendar (and it is not the prettiest picture), I tried to make each month as pretty as another.



Happy, happy New Year.  I hope to make more calendars with other themes. I like to have them in more than one room of the house, because it is such fun to change the pages of each one when the new month comes. Please leave your comments and let me know how your calendar looked!

A Refuge

Lantern Surprise

by Richard Telford

 Trust in him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before him: God is a refuge for us. Selah.

Psalm 62:8

Fly Away

Heavens Light, by James Lee

 And I said, Oh that I had wings like a dove! for then would I fly away, and be at rest.

Palsm 55:6

How Precious

Heaven's Light by James Lee

How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them!

If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand: when I awake, I am still with thee."

Psalm 139:17-18