Anne of Green Gables Fashion Week

It seems completely odd to be posting twice in one week, much less in one day! Ashley of Bramblewood Fashion is hosting her Anne of Green Gables Fashion Week (it began Sunday 11th & is over on Saturday 17th). I wanted to create an outfit for it, but I haven't had the time, so I am posting a photo of my Anne of Avonlea inspired dress for my friend's Prom in May.

(Left to right: My brother Joshua,his fiancee Shelby, myself, & my friend Adam)

My dress was construct with my Mother's help, as was Shelby's dress, hers being inspired by the Tudor era.

Anne of Green Gables & Anne of Avonlea are two of my favorite movies (books as well) in a rather long list. Since watching the set, I have become engrossed in the Road To Avonlea series, both for the clothing & the characters. I am continuously borrowing them from my library's inter-library loan program. I can relate very well to Anne & to several other characters such as Olivia & Felicity in the RTA series, as I find myself to share similar traits. Would that my imagination were as vivid as Anne's, that would be a dream come true, for I am certain that it would improve my writing immensely. I like Anne & Hettie King am a teacher, but I long, as they, to be a writer, an authoress! That is one of my life's goals. If that is God's will, it shall be.

Below are two of the lovely photos that Ashley has used for her links to the stupendous event. I love both of the ensembles & hope to recreate them someday.



This is a painting of an outfit that I think Anne might have worn & that I would again love to recreate. It is something that I think would work very nicely for every day wear, even in the modern world.


God bless to all on this day,
Sarah Grace

An Old-Fashioned Girl Giveaway!

Johanna of An Old-Fashioned Girl is have a giveaway in honor of her 200th post! I only have a little more than a dozen posts thus far. I can hardly imagine having 200! Back to Johanna's giveaway. She has received donations from several wonderful companies, whose products are quite lovely!

The first item is a sweet little night light donated by Roses & Teacups.


Second is an epattern from Sense & Sensibility Patterns, a fabulous sight, run by a fabulous lady, Mrs. Chancey.


Third is a pattern for a Summer Shade Jumper & the fabric to make it up with from Marie Madeline Studios.


Finally, last but certainly not least is a pair of "Pure for Life" earrings donated by The Joy of Jewelry.


All in all a simply superb giveaway indeed! I hope that the giveaway generates more readers to Johanna's blog & more business to the generous donors for their fantastic donations!

God bless,
Sarah Grace

P.S. I simply adore the layout of her blog, especially the lovely painting of the Edwardian lady at the top. Wouldn't you just love to have her ensemble?

Summer Heat....

Is barely beginning & already I am wishing for the cooler days of fall. I haven't posted in ages. It seems that I never have enough time to post anything new.
I have been very busy with several alterations projects for a fellow church member, which has taken up quite a bit of time & given me many a painful poke from my Mother's glass head pins (OUCH!, lol). I appreciate the business & hope for more to come in the near future.

The heat as I said has been somewhat overwhelming, with temperatures reaching well over 100 & humidity not far behind it. So I have been trying to stay indoors as much as possible during these heat waves. Hopefully it will cool down a little so that I can plant my rather late summer garden(crosses fingers, hoping it will be so).

I am in the process of trying to finish a drop-front early Regency dress for church on Sunday, so my post will have to be rather short.

I found the below photo of El Yunque National Rain Forest in Puerto Rico & thought that it was such a lovely scene, it makes you feel like you are in a cool, comforting embrace.


God bless to all & I hope you enjoy the summer,
Sarah Grace

An Overdue Post....

Hello to all who take the time to read my blog, much forgotten by its authoress for many months. I have been much overdue in my writing & beg your indulgence, as every time I planned to write, some other matter took precedence. I hope over the summer months to be more frequent & post at least once a week, but I am uncertain what will occur, what with graduations for many family & friends taking place over the next two months. I am also in the process of tutoring a fellow homeschooler, a task for which I am both overjoyed & anxious. In the interim of all other things important, I am attempting to create a Civil War wardrobe for summer, for which I have recently purchased five dress lengths of appropriate fabric, at a much lower price than I had hoped (Thank you, God). So, my schedule will hopefully open up for further posts, but I make no promises.







Isn't the above 1860s court dress simply stunning. It would be magnificent as a wedding gown in my opinion. God bless to everyone & have a joyous summer,
Sarah Grace

Wrappers..... Warmth, Function, & Style

For the play that I am costuming for my church I need to make a wrapper for one of the ladies. As I was in search of images, I came across quite a few that really stood out.


I never realized what amazingly loud fabrics they sometimes used for these garments. I love the colors & the fact that even though they provide warm & style, they are also functional & practical. I plan to make one for myself, hopefully soon.



The photos are from both the 1860s & the 1850s, as I found several articles from ladies magazines with simple lovely garments. I hope you all enjoy the photos & are inspired to perhaps make one for yourself.













I am off to do more sewing for the costumes. There is still quite alot to be done & I do have a deadline.

God bless,
Sarah

Thinking of Katharine....

I recently watched one of her movies, "The African Queen" & it got me to thinking about how much I truly admired her as an actress. I know that some people don't like her acting, because they think she is too independent or strong-willed. But I personally can identify with her on some levels, especially the strong-willed (or as my Mom calls it, bull-headedness, LOL)spirit. In my opinion, she was a wonderful actress, a gorgeous woman, intelligent, a very dry, almost satirical sense of humor, someone who knew what she wanted & stuck with it, a woman who cared about others. I have enjoyed every movie I have ever seen her act in, there are few that I don't absolutely love. She was raised in by her parents & her mother was a suffragette, so I am sure her independence stemmed from such. At the age of fourteen she found her brother, whom was to believed have committed suicide in the attic & as a result fell into a state of depression. She eventually came out of her shell. In my opinion, to have overcome such a devastating trama, to be able to have a sense of humor & not let that rule her entire life was something that should be admired. I apologize for the rather long rant. My Grandma was very much like Katharine & I believe that is another reason why I love watching her films. Below are some photos of Katharine.
She even had a pattern in the 1930s designed for her:





"Bringing Up Baby" is one of my absolute favorites, as it also stars Cary Grant & is very comical.


"Stage Door Canteen"


"The African Queen"


This brings a close to my rather long, slightly random post.

God bless,
Sarah Grace

In Search of Warmth

Where I live the weather has decided to become very cold. We are experiencing temperatures that are barely reaching the mid-teens during the day & dropping below 0 at night. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love the snow, but I also like the temperature to stay around 20-25 degrees. While thinking about such cold (although for some, I know it probably sounds very mild), I decided to search for photos of firesides that would at least help me imagine that I was warm. I found somely lovely images. The one below caught my eye as it looked like such a loving family.


I just love this one. It reminds me of my German shepherd, Majesty & one of my former cat friends, Spitfire, who unfortunately died last year. They always seemed to get along well.


I then found this painting by Henry Salem Hubbell, which I think is beautiful, & along with it I found two others (although not really about firesides, they do look very warm & inviting). I especially love the colors he used.






We are supposed to be having a snowstorm coming in soon, but I am praying against it, as we have our Easter play auditions coming up this Saturday & we don't need another cancellation. I hope everyone is having a wonderful & blessed January. I thank God for giving us what we have that we so often take for granted, our salvation.

God bless,
Sarah