"The Gentle Art of Domesticity" Jane Brocket

I usually read a book rather quickly. But with this one, I took it a little slower, finishing it three weeks after beginning it. In the previous post I tried explaining it and didn't do a good job so here I am taking another shot at it.

First in Jane's Words:
" I was wondering how to explain what I believe is the key to the gentle art of domesticity. For me it is recognition - recognition of the worth of homemaking, of overlooked skills, of ordinary things. Above all it is the recognition of the small but significant moments that all too often go unnoticed in the general speed and melee of daily life. In order to enjoy domesticity, we need to cultivate a habit of stepping back every so often to pause and observe and enjoy, and allow these moments to crystalize .... " pg. 274

Just one example of recognizing Domesticity:
While reading Jane's book, I realized why I love Grace Livingston Hill's books so much. After all these years, they still draw me in but not for the same reason. They are packed with the "gentle art of domesticity". This last month I was in the middle of one, when I looked up and told my mother and grandmother (who was visiting at the time) that I needed a "workbasket". My mother looked at me like I had lost it and said "Workbasket? what are you talking about?" I then explained how in the book, the characters were moving into a house and were "setting up housekeeping"(making me envious). GLH described everything about what they were shopping for and how they were arranging everything, even down to the maid's room ... which included a workbasket. Now this made me realize it wasn't the first time GLH mentioned workbaskets. Now workbaskets don't play any role in the story but act more as background kind of like the furniture and set for plays. The mother figure will pick up her knitting that's sitting by chair (in her workbasket) and patiently work on it while entertaining a rather irritating visitor. And since I'm learning to knit ... I need a workbasket!!! They are also handy for holding sewing, mending ...

Mom's response: "Well then, you've already got plenty of workbaskets"

Mine: "No, I've got work plastic bags, and work filing boxes, and even work piles but no real "work basket". Then for backup and to prove that I wasn't completely making this up, I asked my grandmother if she knew what I was talking about, "Oh, ya, growing up we had our workbasket". Of course she didn't go into further description, which I wish she had; but my point was made.

Long example I know, but being able to recognize and even define "the gentle art of domesticity" for yourself adds so much richness to your life as it has done for mine (such as the value as something as ordinary as a basket). After every chapter, I would just sit and savor the thoughts and images she presented and what I could add from my own experience. I highly recommend reading this book, maybe then you're be able to do a better job of describing it's merits then I have.

PS: Hey I just notice my picture illustrates my example perfectly, see the box, plastic bag and pile. Oh how I need a basket!!! The funny thing is as I've been in different stores with my mom, we have begun looking at baskets and discussing the different aspects that need to make up the proper "work basket". Haven't found the right one yet. ;)

Skirts, Books, Socks, and Secrets, Oh My!

As usual I've been busy since last I posted.

Skirt

Step 6 is complete!!!! The skirt has been attached to the bodice and it really looks cool. And if the camera would work, you could see how cool. Oh well. So now Zipper, Hem, Lace, Zipper Hem Lace, ... That's all that's left .... I hope!

Books

"The Gentle Art of Domesticity - Stitching, Baking, Nature, Art & the Comforts of Home"
by Jane Brocket

I have a number of sewing/craft blogs I like to read and had created quite a list of books that were recommended. Well at the first of November, I treated myself one night to a trip to Borders. After a 1/2 hour of browsing, picking up, wondering and placing backing down ,I had pretty much decided there wasn't anything I really wanted to buy. Then I happened to remember a couple of the books on that list and went looking. I found two and that's when the deliberation began. You see this one was $10 more then the other one which was still $10 more then I "budgeted". And it looked more like a coffee table type of book. You know the ones, great to look out but no one actually reads all the way through. The second choice looked shorter and was specifically about sewing. Well with time short, I handed the second choice to my mom to browse through while I looked this one over. What can I say I'm very particular about 1) money I spend on books, 2) time I spend reading books and 3) whether they are worth it. I have a thing about books collecting dust especially brand new books. After flipping through and reading in several different locations I was hooked. She wrote how I felt but never knew how to put into words. Even now as I try to explain I can't seem to say it the way I want to. Except in Jane Brocket, I found someone who shares similar views of baking, sewing, crocheting, that I've always felt. This isn't a book about sewing or crocheting or baking bread but more the joy and satisfaction that comes discovering a part of you that so many put down as beneath you, or a waste of your intellectual faculties or ..... (Do you ever come across something that feels you so full of thoughts and feelings and ideas that you just can't express it in words. Well that is how I feel about the "gentle art of domesticity". So I will stop right here and save the rest for a later post.)

Socks

My mother taught me how to crochet when I was 8/9/ or 10 years old. I don't remember the age, but I do remember the place. And I have loved crocheting all these years. Even now when the leaves start turning colors and the weather gets nippy, and fall is felt and smelled and breathed, I want to pull out my crochet hooks, look over my yarn stash and start creating a blanket that grows warm as the days grow cold. But in all those years I have never had any desire to learn to knit, ... that is until now. In anticipation for my 31st birthday coming up in a few months and the official entry into "old maid-em", I felt now was the time to learn. Just kidding. Actually, Stripy socks are the real culprit. I want to make stripy socks! Not buy them, but make them. So one Friday during my lunch hour, I went into an awesome yarn shop we have here and asked for a sock pattern. Of course I did mention I had no idea how to knit, so I was shown the most basic pattern, bought it, and that evening I went to Jo Ann's (a little less expensive then the yarn shop) and bought me a "teach yourself how to knit" kit and two skeins of green wool. Then I went to my mom and asked her to teach me. (Yes I'm the type who over prepares rather then under prepares.) The first week was filled with several attempts and unraveling of those attempts. My grandmother who was visiting at the time kept asking me if I had made it to an inch yet. Not exactly, but it was interesting week of dropped stitches, too tight stitches and the patience and laughter of my instructor. (Hey if you're going to tax the patience of someone, you do it in such a way that they laugh at you rather then growl. At least that's my philosophy.) By the first of the second week I finally had an inch of the scarf I am trying to make. It's straight knit stitches, so I only need to know how to cast on, knit, and cast off (I'm not sure that is the right term but hey it works for me.)

Now I'm making good progress at learning to knit but how long before I can take on socks? It doesn't bode well when your "instructor" who has been knitting for years doesn't quite understand the "basic" sock pattern you bought. But I still hope, and to add to that, I bought a set of 4 different size sock needles. Now I've got the needles, and the pattern, I just need the skill and the yarn. And I do love knitting now that I've got the hang of it. It's really quite fun, and relaxing.

Secrets

Christmas is coming fast and I've been planning all kinds of surprises. So I can't tell you particulars, only my theme seems to be "homemade". Which may not be anything new, except with my reading, and learning to knit, and sewing, I think I want to put all my little "skills" to work and make it a diverse "homemade" Christmas. So crocheting, cross-stitching, sewing, maybe some embroidery. Knitting, I'm not so sure of because I've just begun to learn and I'm not so keen on giving away my very first project. We shall see. Most of my ideas get narrowed down drastically by the time Christmas comes, but I'm showing some good progress. Along with getting that dress completed, I hope to finish one batch of gifts or at least 2/3 of it before December even starts.

Here's hoping!

Hey Look at ME! I've got Sleeves

So what ever happened with the dress?

Well two weeks ago, (the Saturday before Halloween), I had a 5 hour sewing session and felt really good with the progress I made. These were the steps in my head when I started Saturday Morning:

1. Sew together bodice
2. Sew together lining
3. Sew lining and bodice together
   
4. Put together sleeves with flounces
5. Sew sleeves to bodice
6. Gather and sew skirt to bodice
7. Attach zipper (Mom's department - I don't know how to sew hidden zippers, not yet at least)
   
8. Sew/Attach ribbon decoration to dress
   
9. Measure and sew hem.
   

My aim was to get to step five, hey it would be really great to have the skirt attached by the end of Saturday. That would only leave steps 7-9, which could so be done by Thursday, Saturday at the very latest. I even figured one hour for the bodice, one hour for the lining, and 2 hours for the sleeves, leaving about 2 hours for the skirt. Well that sounds good in theory. And it did work out that way, sort of.

I got the bodice sewn together. The lace on the center panel was my idea. The pattern calls for ribbons, to make bows. In the original discussion of this, we decided .... well I'm not entirely sure what we decided, because as I looked at it further and further, the ribbon step needed to be done before the bodice was shown together, and we were thinking it would be done at the end with the other ribbon decoration.

Honestly I didn't want to a) make ribbon from the fabric or b) go to the store and try to decide which ribbon to choose. When I'm at this kind of a crossroads, I usually do a lot of staring at the fabric and the pattern and whatever supplies I might have on had and then back to the fabric. Yes, sometimes this involves chewing nails, and running fingers through my hair. Which makes this a good spot to make sewing confession number 2:

When I sew I play music. And the music of choice is classical, preferably opera. I've tried county/rock/ etc, but it doesn't work for me. That type of music actually makes me more irritated and shuts the brain down. So it's classical and what's really great is if there are lyrics involved, (yes I sing). So most of the time I have The Marriage of Figaro playing loudly, but for some reason I couldn't find it so I had to settle for Julia Andrews and her singing of some famous musicals and the Messiah. Both were good, although after a week of the musicals, I had such phrases like "just you wait Henry Higgins, just you wait" repeating over and over in my head. I really need to find Figaro.

The music really helps me focus and ignore everything but the task at hand while opening me up to creative inspiration. And honestly it worked, cause I'm really liking how the lace looks and think it will really pull together the dress. I believe when the skirt is gathered and attached to the dress, the panels will line up and look so awesome.

So here is the finished bodice.

And the finished skirt with the lining on top to the side.

At this point I determined step 3 - sew lining to the bodice was dumb. I understand the pattern's reasoning but I think I know better. Of course I won't really know if I know better until the end. I just think the lining should not be done until the sleeves are attached, skirt attached and zipper is in. This way, the lining will hid all the unfinished seams (including zipper, sleeves, and skirt) and make it really nice and finished. The pattern figures you can just hold the lining out of the way when you sew the zipper or skirt on. And of course I beg to differ.

Now sleeves - that's where my nice little time schedule got off. The sleeves took about three hours and that was just to get them assembled. It was the lace flounces that ate up the time, of course here again was where I ignored the pattern's instructions and I was right to. For the lace hem, I sewed a thin white ribbon along the edge, then I used French seams instead of regular seams. French seams look so awesome, and with the transparency of lace, they hide the raw edges really well. Now there are two flounces per sleeve and the instructions say to gather them separately. I don't think so! Can you image the swearing that would have come from such a task? I put the two together and treated it as one. Three rows of gathering stitches (instead of 6), gathering once (instead of twice) and sewing once (instead of twice). Repeat for second sleeve.
Oh so nice and so much better. Don't they look awesome?

Six hours sewing, with three hours on those sleeves and I still had to attach them to the bodice, I was beat. So I called it quits for the day.

Well it seems it was quits for the next two weeks, cause that's where those sleeves sat till last night. I do have good reasons, at least for not doing anything last week, it was a headache week, meaning headaches everyday. So a rest was needed.

But last night I finally sat down and attached those sleeves to the bodice.
Now .... doesn't the bodice look awesome?

I can't wait to see how the skirt looks when it's finally attached. I can't say how soon, cause the skirt has 5 seams that need to be finished. If they aren't finished, the fabric will ravel like crazy. I don't have to worry about the seams on the bodice, cause it's lined, but the skirt isn't. I would love to serge them, but the serger is at the repair shop. So I either wait for the serger or I use another method. Makes me wish I had thought of French seams before I had sewn the skirt together. Oh well I'll figure something out.

Now you're up-to-date on where I'm at with the dress. Sorry for the long post, but what can I say, I love this stuff!!!

Thoughts from some people I've come to Admire

Last night I was looking through some boxes and came across a notebook where I had written some quotes I really liked. When I'm reading I like to take note of passages that speak to me and then I write them down, usually on any piece of paper I come across. So in this little notebook I found the following:

Madame Curie by Eve Curie (Marie Curie's daughter)
Marie Curie stated:
"Life is not easy for any of us. But what of that? We must have perseverance and above all confidence in ourselves. We must believe that we are gifted for something, and that this thing at whatever cost, must be attained"

On the same page I have written: 1 Corin. 2:9
"Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him."

Exploring with Byrd (Admiral Richard E. Byrd - I've read a few things on and written by him)
(While in the academy, he was seriously injured and finished his courses from the hospital bed)
"The struggle I had made to graduate taught me a great lesson - that it is by struggle that we progress. I learned concentration during that time I never thought I possessed"

Washington Irving said:
"For my part, I endeavor to take things as they come: with cheerfulness, and when I cannot get a dinner to suit my taste, I endeavor to get a taste to suit my dinner."

Hope you guys are having a good day.

Tagged

For what it's worth:

8 Things I am looking forward to:
- Finishing the Marie Antoinette Dress
- Finishing Rachel's quilt
- The return of a more cheerful attitude (I've been such a grouch this weekend)
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8 Things on my wish list
- See item #3 on last list, if I could get that back, I could answer this.
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8 T.V shows I like to watch
- Exteme Makeover - Home Edition
- The Biggest Loser
- MacGyver
- A-Team
- Mission Impossible
Have I aged myself yet?
- 30 Minute Meals
Honestly, the first two are the only ones I watch consistently, I'm more of a movie watcher then a T.V. Show watcher

8 Things that happened yesterday
- Woke-up
- 30 - 45 minute tangent on a subject that I am highly allergic to and why I should see someone about that
- Read
- Showered and got dressed for church
- Reviewed the Sunday School lesson (just in case the teacher who's suppose to teach today doesn't show)
- Convinced my anxiety ridden personality to leave the SS lesson manual home. "Give me a break sister, he's always shown up to teach his lesson. Will you just chill out!!!!!"
- Went to church and enjoyed it immensely
- Chill pill wore off and ended the day on another tirade (shaking head, some people!!! - ie:ME)

Now I'm suppose to "tag" 8 additional people, but having forced you to read such a bad attitude tag post, I will just end with a sincerely apologize that I didn't just erase my entries and say Hi.

(Sheesh, this is what happens when some people don't stay in their room where they grounded themselves)