A Bit of Music

I recently discovered Chelsea Moon through Alyssa's Blog, and fell madly in love with the sound!

I've listened to all her songs over and over, and hopefully will buy the CD soon.

Have a listen for yourself! She's got that great Country twang, a hint of blue grass, but also a crisp clear voice and great harmony! Not to mention, the fact that she's singing my favourite hymns. :D ("I need thee every hour", and "What a friend" are really good too!)



Secondly, things are really crazy here right now, a gargantuan effort of spring cleaning is underway.

I'm completely astonished at what God is doing in our lives right now. People that we have had huge troubles with for the past few years have quite suddenly thrown fits and walked away! I can't say it's been easy, but just knowing that it's God's doing has made us all just sit back with our mouths open.

And then it's good riddance to bad rubbish, and replace it with the good. In a few weeks our lives are going to change decidedly (and hopefully) for the better, but until then, it will be a rather large effort to get to that point.

So, you'll have to excuse me if I don't post as much, sewing and such have been on the back burner. But once all of this is over, I hope to be back in full swing and maybe double time. :D

So until then!
Meggie

A Daily Dose of Rediculousness

The past few days I have been watching "The 1900's House" (One of the ones where they drop Idiots  in) Episode 1 starts above.

So the first thing they did upon finishing the house was to call in the "Saftey experts" I was expecting the usual was going to be a problem, the "ancient" gass lines, the coal fires, washing ringer, but no. You wanna know what they had a problem with? The (Dun, dun DUN) "Cut throat" razor!! And! The Rag rugs posed a TRIPPING HAZARD!!!

I was astonished! So... you fall... Just don't do it with the razor in your hand...

But today's episode (I'm in part 13-14 maybe. I'm not sure what episode) Was all about "Lets complain about corsets"

The woman of the house seems to be a nice lady, but I guess she couldn't find enough to complain about, having just hired a maid-of-all-work to do the chores... So  we had a "Devilry of Corsets" Lesson.

Here's my take on the matter, Having delved into the world of  Historical costuming, I was, and probably for the same reasons, a bit nervous about corsetry. But as you may know, recently I took the plunge.

Though my corset is about 10-15 years later, it's still a corset. My personal experience was that, yes, it does take some getting used to, just like a new Bra would. But after that, I found it to be quite comfortable!

So, no, I haven't tried any of the truly "Cinching" Corsets, but any costumer will tell you the same thing.

IF FITTED PROPERLY, you will be FINE!



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 One thing they showed was a diagram of how tight fitting corsets could re-align the ribs and internal organs. And I imagine they could!

The above picture is what scares people to death about corsetry, so lets take a closer look.

In my opinion, just like today, there were women who did all kinds of unhealthy things in search of "Beauty."

But I also imagine that there were a lot more women who were sensible  and to compare times This:

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Would be looked upon much like This is today:

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So here we are, Yes, the Edwardians had some very strange ideas, but so do we. Are they that much different?

Here we have an example of what I think is a true, every day, Corseted Edwardian.

She doesn't look uncomfortable, or out of breath, or ill.



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 She just looks normal, modest, and comfortable.

So in essence, there is no need to be afraid of Corsetry as an uncomfortable, unhealthy item.

Well, in my opinion. :D

Polka Dot Splendour, Beginnings

Well, I'm ready to set out on a new project. As summer approaches, I've realized I need some cooler dresses.

I began surfing etsy for 1930's and 40's patterns and finally landed on this one at Mrs. Hudson's Sewing Room.

I just couldn't pass it up! 

I then began surfing fabric sites. No matter how many times I try, sometimes I just can't get good fabric in local stores... They specialize in Quilting fabrics, and I just can't ever get it right.

Well this time I think I got it. A Red and white polka dot seersucker from Joann.com .

It matched the pattern so beautifully, but I was scared of the 100% poly... Well it was on sale for $3 a yard, I thought , 'Hey, what's the harm'

Well it's perfect! Soft and flowy, and I just think it'll be a joy to work with.

I'll udate soon!

Meggie

Ps, Do pop over to Sahd, We're back up and running, and have some delightful new contributors, not to mention a new website and FB page! Ta! 

Hope Chest Buys

I thought I would  introduce you to the newest member of my hope chest collection!

The English Tea Store has a lovely selection of... well everything, from pots, to sets, to Tea-for-ones, and not to mention all kinds of tea, and cakes and, British brand foods and candies. :D

I recently decided that my hope chest was in need of a complete tea set. So I set to browsing. This is the one I have ordered what do you think?

I wanted to brag on this store a little bit. They were extremely kind in calling to let me know that the sugar and creamer were on back order.

Upon the arrival of the majority of the set, I was extremely distressed to find that one of the cups was in pieces.

Mom called them immediately. The person she talked to was SO sweet! No unkind or curt words, and even took the time to make small talk while she waited for information.

Now, I don't care what kind of system they had, but one broken cup, and they sent me a whole new set of six cup and saucers! So now I have 11! What a blessing to someone who hopes for a houseful of children someday!

All in all, it wasn't to expensive, especially since I got a second set of cups! I'm thinking of buying a second pot, to go with it. :D

As a question to my Titus 2s, what should I start looking for household wise now? I have two sets of  (Serves 6?) dishes, so I should be good there . But what was something you wished you had bought before hand?

Thanks for reading!

Meggie

Miss Million's Maid~ A review

So I finally broke down and done it... I bought a kindle... I have found myself lacking in the liturature department, simply because, either my library didn't have it, or my bookstore didn't.

I love buying online, but I don't like to make it a habit. So when I discovered through This Post from Edwardian Promenade, that there was a Site that offered these books for FREE! I knew I had to check it out.

I tried reading them on my computer, but I found the eye strain to be too much... So I set them on hold... until yesterday.

a friend of ours loaned  us his while he went out of town, and while trying to download a book I realized we needed our own.... sooo

Enter Kindle!!

(yes that IS "Jo's Boys" one of the books my library didn't have)

But that's another story. I'm here to talk about a book I found in the above post. Miss Million's Maid.

This book is one of the best reads I've had in a while. It gives a true glimpse into 1910's London life.

Anyhoo, a brief synopsis,

Beatrice Lovlace is an orphan who lives with her aunt. Decended from a long line of well to do "Lovelaces" Aunt Anastasia cant get used to the fact that they haven't a penny, and does her best to make sure that Betrice does the same, and doesn't forget where she came from.

But that's about to change, when Betrice's only friend, the household maid Nellie Million Recevies a letter. Nellie has inherited a million dollars from her estranged uncle, who moved to America and struck it rich.

Nellie imeditely leaves her position, which is when Beatrice has an idea. She would become Miss Million's maid, and get out of her aunt's stuffy, stuck-in-the-past world.

But can she keep little "Million" out of trouble?

I HIGHLY reccomend this book! It's so sweet, and reading about the era from someone who lived in it is extremely refreshing. :D

So go read! (you can download it to your computer, my eyes just couldn't  take it..)

Enjoy!

Meggie

Just in Time, Personal Tea Service

Look what arrived in the mail from the English Tea Store Today! And just in time for my Annual bout with Larangitis... (boo.. but at least it wasn't on Easter like it usually is...)

Look how pretty my favourite tea (Twinnings Lady Grey) looks without the tea bag!

Ahhh! To sit down with a nice hot cuppa on an unseasonally cold day, to soothe a sore throat.

(notice my quilt in the background? I have one strip nearly all quilted! Woot!) Until Next time!
Meggie
Ps, my Stay at Home Daughters Blog is now up and running again! go check it out!

Oh I Could Write a Sonnet - A Downton Inspired Hat.

Well, the best part about Easter this year was getting the chance to delve a bit deeper into  some millinery.

I fell in love with this hat of Lady Mary's the moment I saw it, and after a peep through my hat collection realized I had a hat that I could remake to work.

Sadly I didn't get a before picture. It's been in my family for as long as I've been alive. It was my sister's first, then Marmee's.

The hat had a squared top to it, a straight band, and a plain piece of wide lace hot glued to it.

So first thing was first, I removed the band and wet it to reshape it.

Then, I  made my band of some... well some "I don't know" material... It's not quite a satin or silk, it doesn't shine so much, it's thicker and rougher. I just always called it "Wedding Dress fabric" I had them cut an 1/8 of a yard, then simply left it flodec in half and sewed down each side.  I then made a hand gathering seam crosswise at intervals that were supposed to be at each quarter round... I got close..

After gluing it on, I laid out the flowers and glued them. Finally I glued some satin ribbon round the brim to hide the seam on the hat.

And here you have it!

(These pictures were photoshopped into vintage frames, I'm not sure what the french says on the one, I just thought it looked pretty)

I love taking pictures on my grandparent's farm! Isn't this view lovely? I swear I'm going to paint it sometime!

And I'll just end this with this picture.

This is me and Grandmother. She tells me all about the flowers in her garden every time we come over. She's 86 now,and a member of the greatest generation.

PS. I will be holding a  giveaway here soon. I won't reveal what it's for yet. But I should like to have 60 followers first. :D (That's just two more!) So, tell you're friends!