Of snowy days and other things...

Today, is a "snow day"...which means schools are canceled... which means I get to stay home and play.  We have about 3 inches of snow (which, I'm sure doesn't seem like a lot to those of you who live a little further north than me, but...) In 3 inches of snow...where I live...that means roads are nearly impassible, and certainly people don't know how to drive on them!  So, I thought I would take this rare opportunity for play time, and catch you up on what's been going on around my neck-of-the-woods.

We've enjoyed playing in the snow.  Daddy helped Jane build a snow man.

Jane found the snow man's eyes, nose, mouth and scarf (one of Momma's scarves, of course.)

And Momma tought Jane how to make a Snow Angel.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In other news, Jane had her first Christmas program at school.  It was the cutest stinkin' thing I've seen in a long time.  I got the singing on video, but for the life of me, I can't figure out how to upload it to blogger.  My husband tells me that I have to wait until the DVD is full before we can "finalize" the videos and upload them to anything.  Boooo....where's the fun in that!?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

News on the sewing-front:

My very lovely, and generous, Theater Club students rewarded me recently for directing their play by giving me a gift card to a local book store.  AND, well....I've had my eye on a certain sewing pattern book for a very long time...so, of course, I ran straight to the store and snatched it up.  It's a modern garment sort of book, which is unusual for me, I know (my "modern" wardrobe is in desperate need of updating)...but I love the styles of the designer, Wenlan Chia. 

Her designs are simple and slightly structured, or sculptural, but very feminine as well.  The fabrics she recommends are luxurious, soft and natural....and I like the neutral color pallet.  Some of her desings have hints of vintage or antique elements in them.  Almost everything I've seen in her line, is actually "wearable" by the general public...not just made for the runway.

All that being said, the book has a cd full of Adobe uploadable and printable patterns, and the book itself has lovely illustrations and clear directions for sewing up the garments.  It's available on Amazon, of course.

  This is the first garment I have tried in the book.  It calls for silk-velvet, and silk chiffon.  I had neither, and didn't want to spend any money on the shirt, so I used what I had in my stash.  I don't think I went too far from the mark though. 

 I used cotton velvet and silk. 

The silk I used didn't drape the same as the chiffon, but I still like the look.  I did have to hand sew most of the neck-line, which took a lot longer than I thought it would...silk is a slippery little beast!

It's a very comfortable garment...almost tunic-like. 

This garment is next on my list...I have some linen stashed away that will be perfect for this top.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Last but not least, an update on the Regency Stays and on the long ago thought of "Marianne" Pelisse. 

I have my stays completely cut out for all three layers.  I've decided I am NOT going to hand sew the entire thing...I just don't have the mental energy or the time to do that, and besides...seriously now...who's going to see it to know, right?  I am going to hand stitch the gussets and the eyelets.  I'm just working myself up to that since there are eight gussets per layer, times three layers...twenty four gussets!...yikes!...and probably just as many, if not more, eyelets.

As for the Pelisse...well...um...I know I haven't posted photos of the finished product.  Just call me a slacker.  But with the holiday season, it's been tough finding time to get all dolled up to do the deed.  Also, even though it is finished, I'm not completely satisfied with it.  I feel that the sleeves are too short, and that the collar is "messy" looking.  I hate to show stuff I've made that doesn't look like the way I envisioned it.  I really do think I need to add cuffs to lengthen the sleeves, and I desperately need to re-work the collar.  At this point though, I'm just burnt out on the whole thing, and a little bummed over the way it turned out.  So, for now, it is hanging in the back of my closet.  When I get over the mental stump that is keeping me from working on it, I will pull it back out and fix the problems.  No need to torture myself, right?

This might be my last post before the new year.  It's a busy Season, and we will soon be taking a familly trip to California to visit my in-laws.  In case I don't get the chance to say it again....

Mosaic from the PARISH OF BISHOPSTROW AND BOREHAM, England

Merry Christmas! 

May God bless you all!