Just wishing you all...

a very Merry Christmas!!!! :D

“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”- Isaiah 9:6 (NIV)

Practical Housewifery by: C. F. Picton-Gadsden (1905)

I've been tagged!

Thank you "Elinor" of Hooks and Needles for the tag.

1. Thank the person who gave the award.

2. Copy the award.

3. Post it on your blog.

4. Tell seven things about yourself that your readers don't know.

5. Link seven new bloggers as recipients.

6. Notify the winners with comments on their blogs.

7. Keep being awesome!

 

1. When I was at the Sufficiency of Scripture conference this past weekend, I was able to meet Apphia, Acacia, and Abigail Long of Marie-Madeline Studios. 

 

2. I have always wanted to go discover Noah's Ark. 

 

3. I tend to like Elizabeth Gaskell's books and movie adaptions better then Jane Austen ones.

 

4. My favorite period drama is North & South.

5. I love to ice-skate.

6. One of my new favorite Christmas songs is Tennessee Christmas - Amy Grant.

 

7. Though my all-time favorite Christmas song is between God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen, The Little Drummer Boy, or Carol of the Bells. :D

 

I tag the following:

 

1. The Long Girls at Marie-Madeline Studios.

And who ever wants to do this tag! Just let me know if you do it, as I would like to see it. :D

 

The White House Cook Book by: Mrs. Fanny L. Gillette (1887)

Cooking for Two: A Handbook for Young Housekeepers (1909)

The Boston Cooking-School Cook Book by: Fannie Farmer (1916)

Household Sewing with Home Dressmaking (1898)

Historic Dress in America, 1800 - 1870 (1910)

The Science of Home Making: A Textbook in Home Economics (1915)

1890 (April - September) - The Home-Maker: An illustrated monthly magazine

I found this delightful magazine on Google books, and thought it to be perfect for my post on the 1890s. This magazine covers various subjects, among them are: fashion, cooking, gardening, art, stories, housekeeping, etc.... I think you all will enjoy browsing through the magazine.

Grace Kelly's Wedding Dress

I recently made a remarkable discovery! Vogue patterns has a pattern that is a very close copy to Grace Kelly's Wedding dress. How exciting is that?!? I have loved Grace Kelly's dress ever since I first saw it on a paper doll we have. :D

Another plus about this dress is that it has sleeves! And it is modest. You just need to change the front to be higher like Grace Kelly's. ;)

May I also recommend that you check out, Grace Kelly: Icon of Style to Royal Bride. It has some lovely pictures and diagrams of her wedding dress. Plus, it has quite a few pictures of her other dresses, all of which are lovely!

Side news: If any of my readers will be in London between April 17th and September 26th in 2010, you may be interested in seeing a display at the V&A on Grace Kelly.

Here is what the V&A website has to say about the exhibition.

The spectacular wardrobe of Grace Kelly will be on display at the V&A. Tracing the evolution of her style from her days as one of Hollywood's most popular actresses in the 1950s and as Princess Grace of Monaco, the display will present over 50 of Grace Kelly's outfits together with hats, jewelery and the original Hermès Kelly bag. Dresses from her films, including High Society, will be shown as well as the gown she wore to accept her Oscar award in 1955. These will be accompanied by film clips and posters, photographs and her Oscar statuette. The display will also include the lace ensemble worn by Grace Kelly for her civil marriage ceremony to Prince Rainier in 1956 and 35 haute couture gowns from the 1960s and 70s by her favorite couturiers Dior, Balenciaga, Givenchy, and Yves St Laurent.

   
~Ashley

I just want to wish you all a....

Happy Thanksgiving! I hope you all have a wonderful day! :)

 ^"Come, let us sing to the Lord!
      Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation.
  Let us come to him with thanksgiving.
      Let us sing psalms of praise to him.
  For the Lord is a great God,
      a great King above all gods.
  He holds in his hands the depths of the earth
      and the mightiest mountains.
  The sea belongs to him, for he made it.
      His hands formed the dry land, too.

  Come, let us worship and bow down.
      Let us kneel before the Lord our maker,
     for he is our God.
   We are the people he watches over,
      the flock under his care...." (Psalm 95: 1-7)

 

~Ashley

 Image from: http://www.curtispublishing.com/gallery/categories/thanksgiving.htm

1910s - Some links I forgot... :-)

Ladies' Travelling Ulster (Overcoat), 1910

1912 Frocks for Christmas (Evening Dress) - Part Two

1912 - 14 Custom drafted skirt in 3, 5 and 7 Gores

Two Edwardian Blouses, c.1910

A New Coiffure from 1917 - A 1917 hairstyle.

Gowns for a 1917 Bride and Bridesmaid

Ladies Handkerchief Camisoles 1912 & 1908

Sewing Stitches, From The Dressmaker, Butterick 1911

The Ladies Tailor, Vol. XXVII. No. 3 March 1911, London - shows patterns of assorted hobble skirts, and Titanic era suits.

Anne Shirley's Wedding Dress pattern


~Ashley
Image from: http://www.sensibility.com/vintageimages/index.htm

A Girls Guide to Home Life has been tagged!

Thanks to Elizabeth J. at "Modest Blends", I've been tagged! Yippee! So, I am to say seven things that no ones knows about me. :-) Here we go....

1. We use to have a yellow lab named Braveheart, after William Wallace.
2. My all-time favorite movie is the Sound of Music. At one point I had memorized all the songs in the movie. I have the Broadway version of the scrip for school plays. I have read Marie Von Trapp's books. And have music sheets from both the Broadway and movie versions of the songs. :-)
3. I have over 300 patterns! :O These were collected over a spanned of almost 4 years (in March).
4. I enjoy shopping on Black Friday to find great deals. :P
5.I taught myself to dance tap, ballet, ballroom, and Contra by watching movies.
6. Decoding codes and solving mysteries are one of my favorite things to do! 
7. My favorite book series is probably The Five Little Peppers.

The five people I tag are....

Anna Kristine of "The Art of Clothes" - I love all the inspiration she shares on her blog and upcoming movie news.  

Shannon of "Thoughts and Thimbles" - She is always sewing up lovely projects that inspire me.

Emme of "Songs I Sing" - For her love of old Hollywood movies.

Beth Ann of "Genuine Beauty" - For her fun fashion-y tips and advice.

Rebecca of "icebluechick" - Just because I love reading her blog.

~Ashley

1910s - Patterns and Images

There are quite a few patterns and image sites out there for you to create a 1910s assemble. Here is a list resources that I know of for sewing patterns and images for inspiration. :-)

Marquise - Patterns of the 1910s, 20s and 30s - A marvelous site were you can download patterns for free from original sources.

Sensibility.com - Vintage images 1900-1919  - One of the first sites I discovered in my beginnings of costuming.  This is one of my favorite sites to visit.

Sensibility.com - Titanic Era Patterns 1911-1914 - My favorite pattern company. 

Hint of History - 1910s Collection - Vintage-inspired patterns for today.

Past Patterns - 1900 - 1919s - A wide assortment of patterns for everyone in the family.

Dressmaking Research - 1910s Dress -  You can find original sources here, including Delineator dressmaking lesson 1915 and McCall's dressmaking lesson 1917.

VintageSewing.info - Vintage Sewing Books in the Public Domain - There are two books on this site that are from the 1910s.   Tailored Skirts, Woman's Institute of Domestic Arts & Sciences, by Mary Brooks Picken (1916) and American Dressmaking Step by Step, A complete, simplified method of sewing, dressmaking and tailoring, by Mme. Lydia Trattles Coates (1917).

Out-of-Print Butterick Patterns - 1914 Blouse pattern and 1914 Skirt pattern (I'm in the process of making this skirt right now. So far this is the only 1910s pattern I have used personally.)

Do you know of any sources that are not on my list? If you know of more, just leave a comment to let us all know of that website, pattern, book, etc. Or, have you ever made something from the 1910s, or inspired from the era. I would love to see it!

~Ashley

Image from: http://www.sensibility.com/vintageimages/1900s/pagetwo.htm

Poll Results

I was curious on what all of your favorite eras were for clothing. That way I would know what my dear readers would enjoy seeing. :-) Within the coming weeks you will posts on each winner with 4 or more votes,  may that be on fashion, book reviews, scans of old books or magazines. Sound like fun? Here are your winners:

1. The 1950s with 11 votes

2. 1900s with 9 votes

3. 1940s with 8 votes

4. 17th Century and earlier with 7 votes

5. 1790s with 7 votes

6. 1930s with 7 votes

7. 1800s with 6 votes

8. 1920s with 5 votes

9. 1780s with 4 votes

10. 1810s with 4 votes

11. 1820s with 4 votes

12. 1860s with 4 votes

13. 1890s with 4 votes

14. 1910s with 4 votes

I'll be working backwards through the list, leaving the best for last. :)

Up First: 1910s (one of my favorites).

The Need of the Hour

The Need of the Hour

Ella Wheeler Wilcox

What does our country need? Not armies standing

With sabers gleaming ready for the fight;

Not increased navies, skillful and commanding;

To bound the waters with an iron might;

Not haughty men with glutted purses trying

To purchase souls, and keep the power of the place;

Not jeweled dolls with one another vying

For palms of beauty, elegance, and grace.

But we want women, strong of soul, yet lowly

With that rare meekness, born of gentleness;

Women whose lives are pure and clean and holy,

The women whom all little children bless;

Brave, earnest women, helpful to each other,

With finest scorn for all things low and mean;

Women who hold the names of wife and mother

Far nobler than the title of a queen.

Oh! These are they who mold the men of story,

These mothers, ofttime shorn of grace and youth,

Who, worn and weary, ask no greater glory

Than making some young soul the home of truth;

Who sow in hearts all fallow for the sowing

The seeds of virtue and of scorn for sin,

And, patient, watch the beauteous harvest growing

And weed out tares which crafty hands cast in.

Women who do not hold the gift of beauty

As some rare treasure to be bought and sold,

But guard it as a precious aid to duty—

The outer framing of the inner gold;

Women who, low above their cradles bending,

Let flattery's voice go by, and give no heed,

While their pure prayers like incense are ascending

These are our country's pride, our country's need.

Charles Perugini Painting from Era's of Elegance.

Your High Calling

Mother, who ever you may be,

You may think long and earnestly

Of your high calling. Pondering

The undreamed honor of the thing;

Learning how God, through you, would plan

To be well know to every man.

And through your arms would gather fast

The whole world to His heart at last.

by: Fay Inchfawn

"Motherhood" painting by: Charles Schweninger from Eras of Elegance.

In Such an Hour

     Sometimes, when everything goes wrong:
     When days are short, and nights are long;
     When wash-day brings so dull a sky
     That not a single thing will dry.
     And when the kitchen chimney smokes,
     And when there's naught so "queer" as folks!
     When friends deplore my faded youth,
     And when the baby cuts a tooth.
     While John, the baby last but one,
     Clings round my skirts till day is done;
     When fat, good-tempered Jane is glum,
     And butcher's man forgets to come.

     Sometimes, I say, on days like these,
     I get a sudden gleam of bliss.
     "Not on some sunny day of ease,
     He'll come . . but on a day like this!"
     And, in the twinkling of an eye,
     These tiresome things will all go by!

     And, 'tis a curious thing, but Jane
     Is sure, just then, to smile again;
     Or, out the truant sun will peep,
     And both the babies fall asleep.
     The fire burns up with roar sublime,
     And butcher's man is just in time.
     And oh! My feeble faith grows strong
     Sometimes, when everything goes wrong!

by: Fay Inchfawn

Cocoa Continental

Cocoa Continental

4 servings

Blend in saucepan:

2 tablespoons of cocoa

3 tablespoons of sugar

1/8 teaspoon of salt

Then stir in 1/2 cup of hot water.

Bring to boil over low heat and boil 2 minutes, stirring constantly.

Then add and heat, but do not boil:

2 cups of milk.

Drop a marshmallow into each cup and pour hot cocoa over it.

From: Betty Crocker's Cook Book for Boys and Girls (1957)

Quote of the Day

When I put on longer skirts I shall feel that I have to live up to them and be very dignified. (Anne of Green Gables, XXX)

"It Pays To Be Agreeable"

"It pays to be agreeable. We are all like huge magnets, and we tend to attract those things which we ourselves send out. If we are coarse and unrefined, we attract to our company those people who are also coarse and unrefined. If we are disagreeable and unmindful of the rights of others, they in turn will be disagreeable to us, and unmindful of our rights. And similarly, if we are kind and agreeable, we are bound to meet and attract people of the same kind.

There is a pretty little story of a woman and a child, in which the simple friendliness of a little girl opened the door for a woman whose life had been embittered by much hardship and disappointment. She was strolling one day through a mountain farm-house. she did not know where she was going, and she did not care. She just wanted to forget, forget.

She stopped near a well and gazed angrily about her, wondering how there could be so much peace and quite in a world that held nothing but turmoil and heartache for her. She was an attractive woman, and her smart clothes and haughty bearing was a disappointing contrast to her scowling face and angry eyes.

Suddenly she glanced down. A tiny girl was watching her intently - a little girl who had lived all her seven short years in the untutored expanse of the mountains. The woman was annoyed, and she did not hesitate to show it.

'What are you looking at; what do you want?' she demanded irritably.

Instead of returning the frown, the child smiled and stepped a little closer. 'I was just thinking how pretty you face would be if you smiled instead of frowned,' she answered.

The woman's face relaxed. The bitter look in the eyes vanished and was replaced by a bright new light. The scowl became a greatful smile, and with an impulsive sob of pure joy, she knelt down and hugged the little girl who had been the first in a long time to speak gently to her, the first in a long time to return her frowns with sincere smiles of friendliness. And when she finally left the little child, and returned to the exacting conventionlities of the town, she was a nobler, better and finer woman.

The simple heart of a child who knew no other creedor or law then the sincere love of all mankind triumphed over the bitterness of a woman who had known years of education and worldliness.

Culture is of the heart and spirit rather than of the outward appearance. But it is by what we do and say that we prove that it truly exists within us." 

From: Book of Etiquette Vol. 1 By: Lillian Eichler Copyright: 1921

Christmas Gifts

"Gifts that can be used, or that really give pleasure to the person receiving them, are the proper ones to select. Gifts that cannot be used or enjoyed by those receiving them show either bad taste or else a lack of thought on the part of the donor. A beautiful Christmas card may give more pleasure to some persons than any other gift that could be selected. It is not the cost, but its fitness, that makes the worth-while gift." (Elementary Home Economics)

Hand-made gifts are especially desirable, because they represent time and thought spent for the purpose of giving pleasure to those receiving the gifts. The following are simple gifts that can be made at home.

Potholders
Pillowcase
Doll Dresses
Drawstring Purse
Apron
Decorative Pillow

How To - Prilgrim Mother Costume

Pilgrim Mother - Full, plain skirt, white kerchief, small white cap, and large spectacles. A gentleman's linen handkerchief, put around the neck and crossed over the bosom, answers for a kerchief. The cap, too, can be made of a large handkerchief in this way.

Fold the handkerchief in the manner shown in Fig. 206; lay it flat upon a table, and turn the folded corners over as in Fig. 207; turn up the bottom edge over the other, and roll over about three times (Fig. 208); take the handkerchief up by the ends and the cap (Fig. 209) is made.

From: The American Girls Handy Book by: Lina Beard and Adelia B. Beard
Copyright: 1887

Directions For Working in the Sewing Room

Personal appearance: The hands should be washed before beginning any sewing. With a wool dress or skirt some kind of sewing-apron should be worn, so that the work will not become soiled from rubbing over the dress.

Position: Sit erect with back against chair and with feet on the floor. Hold the work so that there is no need for stooping over. Never pin work to your knee when sewing. Sitting with a table in front of you, when sewing, is the best plan.

Care of work: Needles should never be left in the material when one has finished sewing, because dampness may cause the needle to rust and this injures the material. Thread-ends on all spools should be slipped through the groove made for that purpose. The tape-line should be neatly folded, and all other equipment in the sewing-box placed in order. All materials used should be neatly folded before they are placed in the box, basket, or bag.

From ~ Elementary Home Economics: Cookery, Sewing, and Care of Home by: Mary Lockwood Matthews Copyright: 1921

Welcome!

Welcome my dear readers! Through this blog I'll be sharing with you all various subjects of home life. Mostly the forgotten arts of home life, like sewing, cooking, etiquette, etc....

Ashley