Remembrance

Yesterday -- Memorial Day -- I found out that my elderly friend, Helen Jackson, died on Sunday from heart failure while visiting her family in the Midwest.

From the first time I met Mrs. Jackson, I felt a keen interest in her because of her British background. Having grown up in London during the Second World War and then having moved to the United States with her husband after her marriage, she shared my love of all things English -- for England as it used to be, the England that she knew first-hand and that I dream of. We soon found other things in common -- a love of poetry, a love for music (she played piano and I play violin), and a mutual satisfaction in each other's company. Since we have always lived far away from our extended family, my mother has been very good about finding surrogate grandparents for my sister and me. But Mrs. Jackson wasn't like a grandmother to me; she was my friend.



She gave me little gifts now and then, which I treasure -- a framed copy of the poem "IF" by Rudyard Kipling, one of my favorites; the tiny little china plates with flowers or horses that are common in England; a little gold necklace with a lovely faceted black pendant for my graduation; and, most treasured of all, a tiny little silver coach.



Less than an inch high, my tiny little carriage trundles along pulled by eight horses (which are rather rigidly harnessed together!). Mrs. Jackson had a larger gold version in her home, and I can't help but wonder if they're souvenirs of Queen Elizabeth II's wedding or coronation. I should have asked, but didn't want to appear too nosy about a gift. And now it's too late.

Too late. How those words hurt me now! It's too late to give her one more hug, to spend one more hour with her, to have the tea together that we planned but never had. Every time she would see me, she would say, "I think about you all the time" in the British accent that I love so much. She treasured the thank-you notes I would send after each gift, and kept them to re-read. She signed herself "The Brit" in her cards, and I signed myself "The Violinist."

I wish now -- in vain -- that I had done more, said more. I never expected her to go so quickly. But she knew that I loved her. I am so glad now that I found her after church on her last week before leaving to visit her daughter's family. I did get to give her one last hug, although I had no idea at the time that it would be the last.

I didn't expect to cry as I wrote this. In truth, I am happy for her that she is now with the Lord -- that her last struggle was brief, and that she was with her family when it happened. She fell about a year ago, and since then she has suffered from pain and depression. That pain is now gone forever. I don't cry for Mrs. Jackson; I cry for myself. I mourn her death because she has left a void. It is her loss that I grieve. And loss hurts.

I don't know why I write this here, with people who never knew her. But it helps to write it down, to share it with someone. I will remember her -- not just on Memorial Day, but every time I see her little coach parading endlessly across my bookshelf.

"Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His Saints."
~ Psalm 116:15

"Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection and the life: he that believeth in Me, though he were dead yet shall he live. And whosoever liveth, and believeth in me, shall never die."
~ John 11:25-26a

Scripture taken fromthe 1599 Geneva Bible

Inspired

It seems as though every time I visit the April Cornell website, I end up saving at least half-a-dozen garments to my "Inspiration" folder. Their pages of delicate, feminine garments never fail to send me to the sewing room! I was introducing the website to a friend when I came across the Posy Skirt.

I couldn't resist. Could you?




I had a red-and-white print for a skirt in my stash, so I pulled out an A-line skirt pattern (Butterick 3262 -- a lovely pattern that has now gone out of print). I chose the "mildly flowy" view. Also, I left the length of the pattern alone, as I prefer longer skirts. As the pattern cover promised, it was fast and easy! Well, the actual construction was easy. The embellishment was much more time consuming. It's a bit difficult to see, but you can see it better if you click on the picture:



I ended up sewing roughly 35 yards(!) of basting stitches, counting the lower ruffle and the bias ruffle pieces applied to the front. The original has a double diamond design, with each diamond forming a perfect square. I decided to try a simplified diamond design that would allow me to align my diamonds perfectly. Using the technique that I discovered earlier, I cut bias strips (approx. 3/4" wide), ran two rows of gathering stitches, aligned them, and sewed right down the middle.



It's not difficult to sew them, but the gathering and aligning were tedious (to say the least). Still, I'm very happy with the finished project. The skirt fits beautifully, and the invisible zipper on my left hip makes me very happy -- primarily because it is invisible! I'm waiting for a sale or coupon before buying some Cluny lace to put just above the ruffle -- although I'm not sure it will ever make it on. I'm too happy with it the way it is.

A Journey to Narnia

In celebration of the opening of The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, my sister and I decided to have a Narnian party. One of my dear friends was able to come for a visit and attend the opening with us.



This is our second Narnia party -- our first party was two summers ago, and my friend attended that party, as well. For this party we resurrected our costumes from the first movie and wore them to the cinema. It was an early afternoon showing, so we didn't get too many funny looks.

Since there were just three of us, we didn't have an elaborate party this time -- last year we had Turkish delight, Marmalade roll, Raspberry fools, and many other delicious things mentioned by C.S. Lewis in his books, all divided into "areas," such as The Beaver's Dam, Mr. Tumnus's Cave, and Cair Paravel. But small numbers meant a small party this year. I scoured my copy of Prince Caspian a few weeks before the film debuted, noting down any mentions of food. Most of the food featured in the book is fruit, which meant that party preparation were fairly simple. I couldn't believe how many references there were to apples!



We had a basket of Narnina-looking origin filled with apples.



Pattertwig the squirrel gives Caspian nuts and the Bulgy Bears give him honey -- we pretended they had a collision in the woods, and invented granola:



Fruit and cream are mentioned in the final feast, so we used blackberry crisp and fresh whipping cream.



The centaurs offer Caspian oaten cakes, represented here by oatmeal applesauce muffins (more apples!) -- alas, they didn't release from their molds quite as nicely as they should have. But they were certainly delicious.



In the final feast, C.S. Lewis mentions "pyramids and cataracts of fruit." This was our best attempt!



And lastly, pictures of my costume and my sister's costume. I recreated the dress worn by the adult Lucy in "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe." You can see pictures of the original dress on Narnia Web.



I used Butterick 4571, and had to make surprisingly few alterations! I raised and rounded the neckline, and also changed the oversleeve shape to resemble Lucy's. I was very pleased with the pattern.



My sister modeled her dress after a Pauline Baynes illustration of Susan in "A Horse and His Boy." My Narnia treasury has color illustrations, and Tiffany fell in love with the blue and gold dress that Susan wears while dancing with Mr. Tumnus. This picture is from our first Narnia party two years ago:



Unfortunately, I don't have a picture of my friend's lovely dress, a recreation of Susan's green archery dress from "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe." She and her sister, both incredibly talented, collaborated on the dress. Also, my friend created the crown I am wearing, a copy of Lucy's crown, as a birthday present.

Overall, I am quite pleased with the film. Of course, I can think of a thousand things I would have done differently, but I do not feel incline to quibble (too much) over the director's choices. Lovely cinematography, lovely music, lovely costumes -- I may just have to recreate one of them!

Gathering

Over the past few weeks we've been enjoying the pleasures of free organic fruit. The empty lots in our neighborhood are covered with blackberry vines, which have been particularly productive this Spring.



Deliciously ripe black berries, tender to the touch and bursting with flavor (and very red juice!). Once the various spiders, bugs, and creepy-crawlies have been sorted out, they are ready for use. To date we've had four blackberry crisps and numerous garnishes (that's about seventeen cups of blackberries total).

While they may appear to be free, there is one cost:



This particular vine, which lured me in with its one-inch berries, also sported half-inch thorns. Ouch! But the scratches heal (eventually), and they are hardly enough to keep us from gathering berries. With a crisp in the oven right now, it's just about time to gather more!

Some Western Flair

As I was contemplating my fabric stash recently, I couldn't decide what to do with a piece of red cotton that I bought a few years ago. I had purchased it to make a blouse, and at $1.88 per yard it was quite a bargain. I realized that it would go perfectly with a thrifted red floral rayon skirt that my mom had once purchased and no longer wanted.

"The Pattern," Simplicity 4499, has the option to add some Western styling to the blouse. I opted not to used their methods, but I did use the idea -- with this result:



I used a different sleeve and collar pattern to get the look I wanted.

I made several bias strips, folded them in half, and sewed them to form tubes.
Ironed flat, I could top-stitch them to the blouse with invisible stitches as decoration.



A longer piece served as a tie for the lacing I decided to add to the back. I simply added fabric loops to the darts and fed the ties through. Presto!



For the collar, I simply used a bias strip to sew around the two layers of the collar. After clipping, pressing it under, and slip stitching to the bottom side of the collar, I was done. It was nice to depart from the typical "right-sides-together" collar.

The buttons were new additions to my stash, salvaged from a condemned garment -- they were delightfully Western, and there were plenty of them!



The bias strips only used the front half of the skirt, so I used the back half to make myself a headband. I cut it on the bias to add some stretch (and discourage fraying), then used Fray-check to bind the edges. It worked marvelously, and was so easy. You can see the ends peeking out over my shoulder.



Stashbusting and another addition to my summer wardrobe -- What a perfect combination!

Anyone for a Chortle?

As a writer (however amateur), I place high importance on words. Thanks to writers such as J.R.R. Tolkien, I have developed a love for words that are beautiful – beautiful in their shapes, their sounds, and in the way they combine with other words to express unparalleled beauty and truth.

As I have studied and used words, I have discovered a shocking failure in the English language: we have absolutely no good synonyms for the verb “to laugh.” Unless, of course, you choose to make use of some of the thesaurus’s suggestions:

~chuckle
~double up
~giggle
~snicker
~hoot
~snort
~cackle
~chortle
~guffaw
~gurgle
~snigger
~titter

Some of these words would work perfectly for a despicable villain with a strong resemblance to a toad. For instance, “The despicable toad-like creature cackled malevolently.”

Others would work well for jolly, comical characters. For instance, “The jolly old man held his hands to his sides as he guffawed loudly, his cheeks growing rosy from the exertion.”

But which of the above words would suit any sensible, self-respecting heroine? Can you imagine Sir Walter Scott writing the following: “Rowena sniggered at the jester’s antics.” Or worse, having Jane Austen record that "Elizabeth Bennett gurgled at Mr. Collins's absurdities.” Impossible!

Now, take the verb “to say." A very nice word, and one that writers are urged not to shy away from in their search for variety. But there are options for different occasions – to say softly is to whisper; to say loudly is to yell. Such words give the sense of the dialogue in a moment. Not so with “to laugh.” To laugh softly is to laugh softly; to laugh loudly is to laugh loudly.

It simply won’t do. For the first time, I feel that the English language has let me down. Not only let me down, but dropped me with a resounding thud (now there’s a word with some good synonyms!). With hundreds of thousands of words in our vocabulary, you would think there would be one nice synonym for “laugh.” Variety is the spice of life, surely, but in this case writers are doomed to plodding, humdrum regularity. My search for an elegant substitute to laughter has proved utterly vain. Perhaps I should try writing a tragedy, instead.

A Mother's Day Tea

While my mother doesn't usually request anything special for Mother's Day, my sister and I decided to host an impromptu tea party for her this year.

What's a tea party without scones? I made a half recipe, and very carefully remembered to cut every ingredient in half -- except the butter! They still worked, and were quite delicious.



~~~

Sweet Vanilla Scones (taken from If Teacups Could Talk by Emilie Barnes):

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
4 TBSP sugar
1 TBSP baking powder
3 1/2 TBSP butter
1 8-oz. carton vanilla yogurt
2 eggs, separated
3 TBSP heavy cream

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

2. Stir together flour, salt, sugar, and baking powder. Using a pastry blender, cut butter into flour mixture until it resembles coars crumbs.

3. Stir together the vanilla yogurt and the egg yolks. add to the flour mixture and stir lightly with a fork. Add cream 1 tablespoon at a time until dough begins to clump together.

4. Gather dough on lightly floured surface and knead just three or four times or until the dough holds together (Do not overwork!). Pat dough into a rectangle about 3/4 inch thick and cut with 2-inch round cookie cutter.

5. Place scones on ungreased cookie sheet and brush tops with beaten egg whites. Bake for 10 minutes or until ight brown. Serve warm. Makes approximately 16 scones.

~~~

Although they're good enough to eat alone, we served the scones with lemon curd and fresh whipped cream:



I made berry parfaits with vanilla yogurt, strawberries, fresh-picked blackberries, and real whipped cream -- with a sprig of mint and some walnuts for garnish. Healthy and delicious!





My father found the perfect gift for our mother, which he graciously allowed us to give to her -- a beautifully framed copy of Peder Kroyer's painting of two women on Skagen Beach. My mother, unbeknownst to me, has loved this painting for many years. I discovered it only recently, as I scoured Art.com in an effort to compile a list of artists and paintings that I like (a list which is now about 17 pages long!).


And just to make the Week in Feminine Dress last one more day (and in honor of Mother's Day), I wore my "Beach dress" from the Sense and Sensibility 1914 Tea Dress pattern.



The fabric is an embroidered cotton voile, which I found a few years ago for $2 per yard at Wal-Mart. This was a project that spent about a year in my UFO (unfinished object) box. Two years ago I finally pulled it out and finished it.



The sash is a beautiful raspberry taffeta ribbon that I found at JoAnn's on clearance (I think it was 12 cents per yard) a few years ago. I used the excess ribbon as a headband.



Happy Mother's Day to all mothers out there! Thank you so much for all that you do!

Baker's Dozen

While I find it difficult to believe, I have now completed my thirteenth blouse from Simplicity 4499. Some of the first blouses I made from this pattern are showing their age, and have now taken their ranks among my "work" shirts.



For this blouse, I combined several elements to make it look different from my other blouses. I used the Peter Pan collar that I drafted for the blouse this winter.



The only outside inspiration I had came during a browse through the Laura Ashley website; I love the narrow band on the puffed sleeve of their Anchor Print Shirt.



I decided to skip the back darts and use side ties to cinch the waist. I think ties are my new favorite detail!



I used metal buttons, salvaged from a discarded garment. But by far my favorite detail is the ruffle on each side of the buttons. I had seen this technique used on blouses before, but wondered how on earth they prevent raveling. It took me a while to realize that cutting the ruffle on the bias would eliminate raveling! I put in two rows of gathering stitches, gathered each ruffle to the correct length, and sewed right down the middle of the ruffle. It was so simple!



Hmm, since 13 is an "unlucky" number, perhaps I should make another blouse. I don't believe in luck, of course -- but any excuse for another blouse is a good excuse!