Wrap Dress from the January Issue of Sew Beautiful Magazine

This is, as far my memory tells me, the first project I have done from the Sew Beautiful magazine. The gorgeous little girl dresses in that publication always seem beyond my sewing skills. However, this particular pattern said something about "beginners" so I took courage and tried it out. The wrap dress struck me right away as a very unique design.

 The front of the dress

The bodice is one long piece, that wraps and ties in the front. No buttons, zippers, or side seams. I thought that seemed easy enough, however the construction was a bit different than what I was used to-- it was more delicate. It seemed to me that the dress was held together with trim and zig-zag stitching! Not the usual comfort of a 5/8 inch seam allowance that has to be finished-- the seams are right up to the lace and trim. It is an elegant way to sew, even if I wasn't using elegant, delicate material.

 This is the back of the dress-- on the right there is a large "buttonhole" where one end of the bodice is fed through, making the wrap. The dress material is cotton, with a matching grosgrain ribbon trim, and scalloped lace. Because I was using different colored materials, and not all white as the magazine example, I was dissatisfied with the result. I added more lace to the back to cover up the trim, so it looked more consistent.

The "new" back. 

 I would like to make this dress again, maybe even try an "everyday" play dress version, with a bit sturdier construction, maybe lining the bodice. Though I have been surprised at how "sturdy" this dress is-- again, I'm not used to such delicate sewing!

 This dress has a sort of twin-- an adult regency-style dress cobbled together from several patterns.

 The stripe is perfect for a regency gown, in my opinion. The same scalloped lace is used on this dress as the little one.

Here's a bonus for you! How to make your own child-sized dress form. I found the need to have a little form to display the girl's dress on, so I made my own. First I got the "volunteer" and traced around her on a paper bag. I then took that pattern, and folded it in half to trim it so both sides would be the same.

 Then I used it to cut out two piece of muslin, with a seam allowance added.
 Sew around, turn inside out, and stuff. Leave a bit of the bottom un-stuffed, about 3-4 inches, so you can make it so it sits flat.

The bottom is very un-scientific-- I gathered it and pulled it tight, then squashed it so it would be flat. If I was very clever, I could cut a cardboard shape and insert it to make it sturdy. If I was very, very clever, I could fashion a stand to put it on. However, I found that it sits just fine for a few photos being propped up on a stool.

Besides, it's easier to store without all that.

For the dress photo at the top of the post, I put it on top of a lamp for a stand!

How to put a pillowcase on a king-sized pillow without choking yourself

I don't know about you, but the fastest way I know to put a pillow case on a pillow is to hold the pillow under your chin, and tug the pillowcase on, then let gravity drop the rest in. That works well for standard-sized pillows, but it is a pain when you try it on king-sized pillows. Here are a few photos for another way to put those extra-long pillowcases on extra-long pillows-- it isn't terribly fast but it takes out some of the struggle!

 First, lay the pillow down-- no tucking under the chin!

 1. Pull the pillowcase inside-out.

 2. place your hands inside the pillowcase, and grasp each corner from the inside.

 3. You'll end up with the pillowcase up your arms a bit. With your hands in each corner, grasp the corner of the pillow.

 4. Start scooting the pillowcase onto the pillow, pulling the pillow into the case at the same time.

 5. As you pull the pillow in, inch the pillowcase off of your arms and onto the pillow.

 As you see, it gets easier towards the end.

Now you can roll the rest up and get it all in. The more you do it, the faster you will get!

Joining the Homemaking Link-Up at Raising Homemakers.

A little Ancient History for you

We are reading Ancient History for school. The book we read seems to me to be written "in a nutshell" as it gets on with the story without too many explanations or details-- which is why it is great to have the Internet handy! We often go off on "rabbit trails" but that is the fun part of school at home, is it not? It takes the "dryness" out of history to take a little trail now and then!

Here is a recent subject which led us on some interesting trails: In Rome in the 300's BC there was an interesting character named Appius. At the time of history in which he lived, Rome had finally come to equality between the aristocracy and the plebeians in their political system-- the plebeians were "admitted practically to a full moiety of the high government offices."  (We looked up the term "moiety" here, It means 1. A half. 2. A part, portion, or share.)

But there was one class of people left out--those very bottom rung poor people who did not own property and therefore did not have a seat in the senate or a vote.  Sensing the discontent of this lower class, Appius, who was a "censor" at the time, took up their cause.
(A "censor", by the way, was an officer in Rome who was in charge of the census, some government finances, and also in charge of public morality-- from where we get the word "censorship.")

History is unsure whether Appius took up this cause with the motive of representing these poor people, or furthering his own career. He somehow managed to sign these lower people up as voters, and distributed them in different areas, which was enough to sway the votes of those areas in a certain direction. They were able to vote one of their people in for a life-long seat in the senate. Also Appius, who was serving an 18-month term in office (which was the legal length of time for that office) managed to stay in another 5 years. hmm.

Anyway, that extra illegal time in office enabled him to finish up his road system, which he called after himself-- the Appian Way (Via Appia).

Photo from:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Via_appia.jpg

The historian says that what was done by this man was "the inauguration of a real ochlocracy." This interesting turn of events led us to find out what the term "ochlocracy" meant. Basically it means mob rule, but Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ochlocracy had this interesting explanation:

Ochlocracy ("rule of the general populace") is democracy ("rule of the people") spoiled by demagoguery, "tyranny of the majority" and the rule of passion over reason, just like oligocracy ("rule of a few") is aristocracy ("rule of the best") spoiled by corruption. Ochlocracy is synonymous in meaning and usage to the modern, informal term "Mobocracy," which emerged from a much more recent colloquial etymology.

Everyone got that?

Appius was apparently not very fond of the letter Z and did not want it in the Latin alphabet. I am not sure if it was because of him or not, but it did not enter into the alphabet until the AD's. http://penelope.uchicago.edu/~grout/encyclopaedia_romana/miscellanea/zed.html

This interesting site also clued us in to why our G and C look kind of alike, and how the Y and Z came to be included as the last letters of the alphabet. Nothing like a little ancient grammar to round off the history lesson!

I Know That My Redeemer Liveth

But now Christ is risen from the dead, the firstfruits of them that sleep
1 Cor. 15:20