Tunic for Audrie

Spiritual - "Mildness is the flower of charily, a participation in that infinite sweetness with which God guides and governs all things.  There is no one who has a greater desire for our good, for  our sanctification, than God; yet He ever uses harshness, severity, or violence.  With a sovereignly gentle power He sustains our efforts, always respecting our liberty, always waiting for our acceptance of grace with infinite patience and mildness."  Divine Intimacy      How I wish I could imitate that mildness!


Sewing - This top for Audrie is a tunic length tucked blouse made using a floral lawn. The pattern I used is the "Tucked Linen Blouse" by Lezette Thomason of Children's Corner. She taught it this summer at the School of Art Fashion in Huntsville. I don't think this will be published.  The tucks are made using the bobbin thread thus eliminating the need to tie the threads on the inside of the garment in order to secure them ... great technique and worth the entire price of the four day school!  I added lace tape at the bottom  and used vintage buttons from my stash.  I have the tunic on "my" dress form which is really too large for Audrie's size, so the tunic "pulls" a little.

Front

Font tucks

Back tucks

Tucks on each sleeve

Side shoulder opening with vintage buttons

"Little Prince"

Spiritual -  "Oh, Jesus, You make me understand that I should strive for perfection, correcting my faults, and overcoming my evil tendencies; this is the first field for my zeal.  Then You teach me to give myself generously for the good of souls. You offer me the same arms that You Yourself used; prayer and sacrifice.  You wish me first of all to do good in a concrete way to those who are near me.  Give me the strength to renounce my own tastes in order to adapt myself to the tastes of others and place myself at their disposal and service.  O Jesus, meek and humble of heart, make my heart like Yours, for I can do no true apostolic work unless I am meek, humble, and patient"  Divine Intimacy

 










 Sewing - Australian Smocking & Embroidery Magazine Issue 76 has this darling outfit called "Little Prince" and is a must for the little gentleman in your life!  The pattern for the beret, shoes, and romper is in the magazine in size newborn, 3 and 6 months.  The fabric used for this ensemble is a crisp blue dot pique which is trimmed with pale blue piping.  The smocking design is very simple and quick to do.  After August, 2012, AS&E will no longer be published:(

Primrose Lane has a pattern very similar to the AS&E that can be used for this romper.  It is Michaela that has two views, one for girls and one for boys.  Of course, SewHealing has it!

What is felt? How is wool blend felt different from craft felt?

Spiritual -  "And the third day, there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee; and the Mother of Jesus was there.  And Jesus also was invited...to the marriage" (Gos: Jn 2,1-11).  For the first time, we see the Blessed Virgin in her maternal function as Mediatrix of all graces.  The Cana miracle, Jesus'  first was worked precisely because of her intercession which was so powerful that it made Jesus anticipate His hour.  "My hour is not yet come," the Savior had answered His Mother, and Mary was neither dismayed by this apparent refusal nor did she insist on her request.  Secure in the knowledge of her Son and full of loving confidence in him, she says to the servants, "Whatsoever he shall say to you, do ye."  her humility, consideration for others, faith, and trustful abandonment win Jesus, and to show us the greatness of her power over His divine heart, he grants her wish; the miracle takes place.  Divine Intimacy

Sewing - SewHealing sells a variety of colors of  felt produced by a company called National NonWovens. WoolFelt comes in two blends, 20% wool/80% rayon ( 71 colors) or 35% wool/65% rayon (56 colors). Felt can be purchased in squares: 9" x12" or 12" x 18" and ranges from $.70 -  $1.80 a square.  Hair accessories, hand-made dolls, pin cushions, needle books, and baby booties are just a few projects that work so well using wool blend felt.

 







  
FYI,  Felt is a non-woven cloth."Non-woven fabrics are sheet or web structures bonded together by entangling fiber or filaments, mechanically, thermally or chemically.  They are not made by weaving or knitting and do not require converting the fibers to yarn."  Using wool and other blends of fibers, such as nylon or rayon, felt is made by the process of matting, or pressing fibers together often using heat and steam.  The exact origin of felting is not known.  In Turkey, the remains of felt have been found dating back at least to 6,5000 B.C.  A couple of legends from different cultures describing how the technique was developed include:
    a.  Saint Clement and Saint Christopher, fleeing from persecution, packed their sandals with wool to prevent blisters.  At the end of their journey, they noticed that the movement and sweat had turned the wool into felt socks.
    b.  Sheep, goats, camels and other animals herded together in Noah's Ark shed their fleece, trampling it
underfoot during the voyage.  Noah was surprised to find that the floor was carpeted in felt.

Why buy a wool blend rather than pure wool or acrylic (craft) felt?

1.  no "itch" factor and much softer than pure wool felt or acrylic felt
2.  less dense that pure wool felt, easier to work with
3.  wool blend holds up to wear and stress as pure wool does; will pill only if subjected to lots of stress
4.  nominal amount of elasticity and will not be pulled out of shape as easily as pure wool
5.  unlike 100% wool, rayon does not build up a static charge
6.  blends generally resist insect damage and retain the mildew resistant qualities of wool 
7.  generally, blends wash well and spots can be easily removed.
8.  acrylic felts are made of plastic and will not fade with normal usage
9.  acrylic felts will pill and fuzz A LOT, are stiffer, and have a "see-through" factor
10. seams are easily prone to tearing when using acrylic felt compared to stable seams of wool or wool blend

Gigi's New Car Coat

Spiritual - "If God had not decreed that the Incarnation of His Son should take place in the womb of a virgin, we should never have had that masterpiece of grace and loveliness, the Most Blessed Virgin; we should never have had her smile or her maternal caresses.  Therefore, we love and honor Mary because she is the Mother of God, the Mother of Jesus;  and loving her in her relations to God, our devotion to her only makes our love for God, for Jesus, deeper and more tender."  Divine Intimacy


Sewing -  Gigi has a new car coat.  I got this fabric from Heirloom Creations last year.  I am smocking a bishop in a coordinating fabric and will be posting about that soon.  This fabric is a two sided quilted fabric. During construction of the coat, I carefully separated the two fabrics to the seam lines, sewed the right sides together (choosing the animal print as right side).  Then I turned under the seam allowance under on the geometric side and hand stitched it closed.  I did this with all internal seams, including the hood.  This made the entire coat reversible.  I added a bias trim on the outside edges to complete the little coat.  I used Children's Corner pattern "Casey".  I first saw this coat in Heirloom Creations as a sample made by Babs Martin.  It was so cute I knew Gigi had to have one. I couldn't remember the technique Babs used in constructing the seams, but I like what I did.  Thanks, Babs for the idea!

Spiritual - During prayer this morning I read from Divine Intimacy this sentence, " O Lord, why should I confine myself to crawling on the ground among the thorny roots of my passions, when You have created me to soar in the heavens?"  Wow.  Was that written just for me? I'm always in a stew about my attachments to comfort, honor, pride, hobbies, point of view, etc. God has so much more to offer me and I wallow in the thorns.  This preoccupation with myself distracts me from union with God, deprives me of interior peace, and causes me to fail in  charity.  For me, prayer is the only answer.  It is only through prayer that I  have half a chance of staying focused on God and the abundance of graces He has just for me.  I want desperately to tap into those graces to be attuned to the inspirations of His Holy Spirit.  Any advance made through His gift and my cooperation overwhelms me and encourages me.  Thank you, Lord.  I will continue to try.  When I fail, please give me the grace to get up again. 

Sewing -  Onsies with a flair!  I saw this one morning going through sewing blogs and had to copy it.  The blogger had gotten the inspiration from a t-shirt from Anthropology.  The "semi-circles" are attached with Lite Steam a Seam II, pressed to the knit and sewed down using a machine blanket stitch slightly lengthened.  I thought the onsie needed matching booties and a pacifier clip to complete the ensemble.  One pair of booties is a ballet type slipper with a strap that closes with Velcro.  Those are "felt" buttons tacked to the strap.  I found them at Hancock's in the button section.  The other pair is a slip-on with an elastic back.  The embellishment is a layered felt flower with tiny beads in the center.  I got the blank onsie at a local store.  This will make a cute gift.  When Jennie was born a friend of mine gave her a onsie with beautiful hand embroidery and had made hand embroidered booties to match. Jennie wore it often and I loved her in it.  I'll have to look for that. 

An Antique Glass Showcase

Spiritual - I had time to read from my favorite daily meditation book, Divine Intimacy, this morning.  I often beat myself up because of my failures, my lack of attention to the development of virtues, the amount of time I spend on my hobbies, etc.  - you know what I'm talking about.  Today I was reminded that no matter how much I try to be better, I may find my hands empty, just like Peter's nets.  I must not be discouraged due to lack of success, but humbly acknowledge my failure, and have firm confidence that the Lord will fill my nets. too. 

Sewing - My daughter's mother-in-law had this beautiful case in her recent garage sale.  I picked it up, cleaned it up, and filled it up!  I put my favorite things in it - American Girl dolls, wonderful fabrics, old wooden thread spools, yarn from my travels, old sewing need cards, antique candle sticks made into bonnet stands, etc.  I really like it.  It also gave me loads of surface to put more of my treasures. 

First Communion

Spiritual - "Our union with Christ by faith and grace is a real union, but in Holy Communion we have, in addition, physical union with Christ.  Then, as least for a few moments, we have Him within us, as the Blessed Virgin had Him in her pure womb for nine months.  And if, to this physical union is joined moral union, consisting in the full conformity of our will and our aspirations to God's will and good pleasure, Holy Communion actually becomes the moment of closest union with God that we can reach on earth. "  Divine Intimacy

 Sewing -  This is a replica of the "Flower Garden Cotton Organdy Irish Crocheted Dress, French, circa 1910", page 136-137 of Vintage Baby  by Sue Hausmann, Elizabeth Rhodes, and Martha Pullen.  I fell in love with this dress when I saw it in this book and had to make it for my granddaughter, Audrie, for her first communion this year.  It was made with white ulster linen and crocheted lace and buttons I inherited from a great aunt-in-law.  I used 80-weight thread to do the machine embroidery.  The medallion's were made as free standing lace, then appliqued in place.  Audrie wore a fresh floral wreath in her hair and was such a lovely bride for our Lord.