Teacups in the Garden

• Jan. 17, 2008 - Portia Costume

14yod wants to be Portia.  We found a great pattern...which uses lots of fabric!   DD selected her key fabrics, which we got on sale.  DD was really taken with the tapestry used in the bodice. Then we supplemented with extra fabrics from my fabric closet.  That was not only a great way to save money, but a terrific way to clean out the closet!

Here are the bum rolls for each of us.  They are worn around the waist to make the hips look bigger (like I really want to do that) and help make the skirt poof out more.

Here is dd's Portia costume.  It doesn't look too good on camera...but it actually it looks better in person. I was really disappointed when I saw this picture.  It's difficult to see the subtle colors and patterns and just looks blah.  DD was delighted when she came home from Awanas to find her dress finished last night!  This morning I started playing around with changing it up somehow, but dd says she likes it just the way it is.  So we'll stick with that. Of course it needs a conical hoop skirt.  I got an idea overnight of how to cheaply incorporate that.  Hopefully that will be done by next week!

Here is a close up of the trim.  Sadly, I didn't even think to lay the pattern carefully to get the stripes symmetrical on each side.  DD picked out the buttons and just loved that pop of red.  For the red and gold trim, I used a roll of Christmas trim I've had sitting around for a few years.  That red and gold trim actually runs down to the bottom of the green skirt.

This dress is so stiff (and it's meant to be) that it has startled me more than once as I see it out of the corner of my eye.  I keep wondering who that Elizabethan woman is!  It can even sit up in a chair...like I had it last night when everyone came home from Awanas...but forgot to take a picture of it.  One reason why it is stiff, is because there is actually boning in the bodice.  That was cool to work with...easy too!

Here are the bodices laid out before I did the boning.  The white fabric is canvas...which makes it even stiffer.  The red lines were made with chalk pencil, so I could sew the channels.

Here is a close up of where I sewed the channels for the boning.  The boning is the round curvy stuff on the table.  This is a nice mesh that was twice as wide as I needed.  I just cut it in half down the middle.  Then I cut it to the length I needed and inserted it in the channel.  The pink lines on the white canvas are the drawings I made to sew the channels evenly.  When you flip it over, you see the green lining.  After all that, I sewed the tapestry you barely see in the middle on top of the canvas, wrong sides together.  So you never see the channel stitching on the tapestry.

 

Here is a close up of the boning.  I can sew through it and not hurt the needle.  Have to be more careful with the steel bonings.

Here are the bodices now with the boning in them.  See, they are already taking shape!  LOL

My dress is similar, yet different.  That caused me no end of mistakes the other night, while I spent more time ripping out than sewing together.  Here is the bodice.  Those crescent moon shapes will be sewn to the shoulders.  The sleeves are next to it.  The reddish orange pieces are tabs that will go between the bodice and skirt.

 Here is the skirt!  The reddish orange will be the outer skirt.  The gold will be the underskirt...the part that peaks through the outer skirt, like dd's.  The white will be the rest of the underskirt, which no one will see.  These are practically new queen sized bed sheets dh didn't like.  These are cut from the bottom fitted layer. The top sheets have a gorgeous lace trim that bothered dh's face when he slept. I used the top sheets for Greek costumes for dd and I last year.   

Next week I hope to have the rest of the costumes finished.  Can you guess who I am going to be?  ;)

 

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• Jan. 18, 2008 - Fan-TAS-tic!

Posted by MayTheyBeMightyMen
I have always wanted to be better with sewing than I am. I blame the machine on it, since I know all the little tangled loops on the back side are mechanical and not me.

How wonderful that you are able to do such neat projects with your kids. (It's one of the reasons TOG and Konos tend to strike fear and trembling in my heart.) *lol*

Glad I got to see this whole process! I can't WAIT to see the costumes finished and on you guys!

Congratulations on job well done! (Or mostly done!)
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• Jan. 18, 2008 - Untitled Comment

Posted by Mommaofmany
My, that's complicated! Beautiful, too! Looks like you sew heirloom quality things...wish I could do that! My kids have to suffer with just regular old skirts :)
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• Jan. 18, 2008 - Untitled Comment

Posted by lahbluebonnet
Wow, thank you for the compliment on sewing heirloom quality garments. That is quite humbling to me...because I have never sewn this stuff before. I am learning as I go. I'll try to feature that next week!
Blessings,
Laurie
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• Jan. 18, 2008 - Untitled Comment

Posted by Anonymous
You do beautiful work! You must have such a blast making costumes.
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• Jan. 18, 2008 - How absolutely gorgeous...

Posted by proverbsmomof3
I would so love to be able to make the lovely costumes you make. I wouldn't know where to begin. You are so talented to figure all the fancy work out and have an excellent eye for color (which I sorely lack). I look forward to seeing how wonderfully beautiful you and your daughter will look. Great job is an understatement.
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• Jan. 19, 2008 - Untitled Comment

Posted by BChsMamaof3
What a beautiful costume! You did a fantastic job :)
Blessings to you and your family,
Rosina
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• Jan. 19, 2008 - Untitled Comment

Posted by PosterGirl
My guess: Queen Elizabeth I. The crescent shapes for the shoulders just screamed Elizabeth to me. Or could you be Mary Queen of Scots? The dress looks definitely Elizabethan.
Be sure and tell us... Don't kill us with suspense!
Take care,
Kim
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• Jan. 19, 2008 - Untitled Comment

Posted by kellieann
That dress is breathtakingly beautiful!
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• Jan. 21, 2008 - Beautiful!

Posted by gnjlopez
You are so talented! Your dc are so lucky. What a beautiful dress. I am curious, what do you do with the dresses when you are done?

Blessings,
JEN
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• Jan. 22, 2008 - Untitled Comment

Posted by kellieann
Up for a tag? If so, come check out my latest.

PS-The dress still rocks!
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• Jan. 23, 2008 - Untitled Comment

Posted by Anonymous
Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful as always Laurie!!!

Blessings,
Pam
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About Me

Gardens thrill my soul. My senses awaken, my soul is refreshed, my mood calms down...and if given time for quiet ponder, I've enjoyed the sound of buzzing bees while collecting pollen, the delightful croak of shy Mr. Toad, the exuberant flutter a hummingbird near my face thanking me for scrumptious flowers, and the gentle touch of the butterfly who settles on my shoulder. I've been known to walk into the house with my hair showered in lavender crepe myrtle blossoms and my clothes covered in blue plumbago blooms. Picture a rustic wrought iron bistro set with floral cushions and gingham pillows under a crepe myrtle dripping in blooms. I've set out some tea. Come and sit with me while I catch you up on the latest of the happenings in my family. Welcome to my garden.


Recent Posts

Mount Vernon at Christmas
Home for the Holidays
Colonial Williamsburg Gingerbread Village
Clove Studded Oranges for our Advent Candle Arrangement
Christmas Pictures in the Snow
Got Snow? We Got 20 Inches!
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It's Snowing, It's Snowing, It's Snowing!!!
Your Christmas Decorations Might Have Originated in Colonial Williamsburg
Colonial Williamsburg Electronic Field Trip: "Jamestown Unearthed"
Colonial Williamsburg: Grand Illumination Weekend
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More Accurate Lafayette Coat
Year 4 Unit 1 Celebration: Vaudeville...with "guest appearances" from Lafayette and Napoleon
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Lafayette Hat Part II-Soon Available at CW Historic Stores
Lafayette Hat
Airplanes in the Great War...and Lafayette?
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2009-2010 Curriculum for dd-16

Geometry, Chapter 8
Latin III, chapter 7
Chemistry, Module 5
Tapestry of Grace, Year 4 Dialectic History, Geography, Worldview
Tapestry of Grace, Year 4 Rhetoric Literature
Tapestry of Grace, Year 4 Rhetoric Government
Tapestry of Grace, Year 4 Rhetoric Philosophy
Tapestry of Grace, Year 4 Rhetoric Fine Arts
Institute for Excellence in Writing
Piano


Rhetoric Literature

• The Great Gatsby

Rhetoric Government

• US vs. Butler

Rhetoric Philosophy

• Humanist Manifesto

Writing Assignment

• The New Deal

Art

• Depression Scrap Quilt: Sunbonnet Sue

2009-2010 Curriculum for ds-14

Pre-Algebra, Chapter 8
National Spelling Bee Study
Latin I, chapter 10
Physical Science, Module 6
Tapestry of Grace, Year 4 Dialectic History, Geography, Worldview, Church History
Tapestry of Grace, Year 4 Dialectic Literature
Tapestry of Grace, Year 4 Dialectic Fine Arts
Institute for Excellence in Writing
Piano
Fife


Spelling

• Words of Greek Origin

Dialectic Literature

• Let the Circle be Unbroken

History Theme of the Week

• FDR, New Deal, Dust Bowl

Writing Assignment

• The New Deal

Dialectic Church History

• Gladys Aylward

Dialectic Music History

• Sergei Rachmaninoff

Art and Activities

• Track Stock Market

Current Read Aloud

By England's Aid: Or, The Freeing of the Netherlands AD 1588


2009-2010 Books Read 16yod

• Bully for You, Teddy Roosevelt
• Kids at Work: Lewis Hine and the Crusade Against Child Labor
• The Panama Canal
• Selections from The American Regionalism Reader
• With Daring Faith
• The First World War
• Women's Right to Vote
• The Cherry Orchard
• Billy Sunday: Homerun to Heaven
• Eric Liddell

2009-2010 Books Read 14yos

• The Call of the Wild
• Bully for You, Teddy Roosevelt
• Kids at Work: Lewis Hine and the Crusade Against Child Labor
• The Panama Canal
• White Fang
• O'Henry Short Stories
• With Daring Faith
• The First World War
• Women's Right to Vote
• Billy Sunday: Homerun to Heaven
• Shoeless Joe Jackson
• Homesick: My Own Story
• Eric Liddell
• Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry

Movies of the Era

• Charley and the Angel

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Tapestry of Grace: Map of the Humanities



Map of the Humanities
Ever wish your kids could see the "big picture" of what they're studying?

The "Map of the Humanities" puts it all on one page: history, literature, government, fine arts and philosophy from Creation to right now!



Tapestry of Grace Year 1: Creation to the

Fall of Rome



Tapestry of Grace Year 2: Middle Ages,

Renaissance, Reformation, Exploration,

Colonial America, American Revolution,

The Constitution



Tapestry of Grace Year 3: 19th Century



Tapestry of Grace Year 4: 20th and 21st Centuries



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