The Stripey Sweatshirt Tunic

I could not sleep thanksgiving night. I was back in my own bed for the first time in 11 months, and I lay there awake. My body still thought it was in Malaysia - where it happened to be the middle of the day rather than the middle of the night.

Finally, at 5 a.m.,after lying in bed for hours trying to fall asleep, I heard my little sister come downstairs to get a drink of water. So, I got up, found her in the kitchen, and told her to go get dressed. JoAnn’s opened at 6 with Black Friday sales, and we were going to go buy some new Simplicity patterns, since they were on sale for $1 each!

Photo taken by my little sister!

On our drive into town we saw a beautiful sunrise! We arrived at JoAnn's shortly after 6, and headed straight to the pattern books. We looked through the books together, discussed the merits of different patterns that struck our fancy, made our selections, and headed home with a bag of new patterns and heads full of sewing project plans!

Now, we got plenty of pretty dress patterns, but at my mom’s suggestion, we also picked up some basic everyday patterns at that Black Friday sale. My little sister grew a ton this year, and is definitely in need of some new everyday clothes!

So, patterns came home, and I was ready to get started sewing. I knew exactly which patterns I wanted to make first, and got started cutting out new dresses for both myself and my sister.

Then a few days later I found myself in a thrift store, with approximately 1 yard of gray and raspberry striped sweatshirt fleece in my arms. For $1 that light weight sweatshirt fleece came home with me and a new project got pushed to the top of my sewing queue. A sweatshirt tunic for my little sister, made using one of those basic patterns my mom suggested we buy - Simplicity 1333/D0137.

I cut the pattern out, threaded my serger, and the tunic came together incredibly quickly, even with stripe matching! Under 2 hours from cutting out to completion, I like that kind of project! (Admittedly, the stripes match perfectly on one shoulder and not at all on the other. But on both side seams the stripes match perfectly!)

The shoulder with the perfect stripe matching!

The pattern called for a knit fabric with significant stretch. The sweatshirt fabric had little to no stretch. So I figured I’d just go up one size to accommodate the lack of  stretch in the fabric. Thankfully, I looked at the finished garment measurements printed on the pattern pieces before cutting the tunic out. This pattern has 4 inches of ease added! That’s enough ease to make the pattern out of a woven! There was no need for me to cut out the tunic the next size up - it would have been huge! I cut out the tunic in the size my sister’s measurements indicated she needed, but had I been using a knit with more stretch, I would have gone one size smaller.

The tunic came out a little loose (thanks to those 4" of added ease!), but very cute and comfy! It's the perfect length to wear with leggings.

With as fast as my sister is growing, the extra roominess of this tunic isn't a bad thing at all! It allows for plenty of movement and activity - such as climbing on top of old chicken pens!

And it works pretty well for visiting the goats as well.

This shy little goat is Persephone, one of my sister's favorite doelings from this year.

And this is Harvey, our big old stubborn wether who needs a good talking to every now and then.

My little sister has certainly grown up this year while I've been gone - but she still enjoys going pattern shopping with me and wearing clothes I make her. And for that I am very thankful!

The All Around The Globe 1940's Dress

I'm home! Yes I'm home! Around 11:45 pm, Wednesday, November 22, I was greeted at the airport by my family, best friends, and two welcome home signs!

I was home for Thanksgiving!
Now fast forward a few days to Sunday. I was standing in front of my closet trying to figure out what to wear to church. After 11 months of living out of a backpack, having an entire closet again was overwhelming! So, what did I select to wear to church on my first Sunday home? A dress from my pack. The same dress I wore on my last Sunday at home, on my first Sunday on the Race, on my last Sunday on the Race, and many, many, times in between. Yes, I wore my map dress to church last Sunday.

Picture taken in Ecuador, at a Cathedral in Quito

Way back, before I even heard of the World Race, let alone decided to do it, this late 1940's dress, made out of silk escape maps from WWII, came across my Facebook feed. I was immediately enthralled.

Photo found on BBC.com

Follow the link to read all about this dress!

It turns out that during World War 2, soldiers were given silk maps to use to find their way out in case they got trapped behind enemy lines. Silk was used as it could be folded up really small and concealed in clothing. Also the silk maps would still be legible if they got wet, unlike paper maps. Following the war, fabric was still scarce, thanks to rationing, so women were creative in making dresses. A silk map that had saved your sweetheart's life during the war? Prime dress making material! 

Upon learning about these silk map dresses, I knew I had to make my own! Of course, I didn't have access to actual WWII silk maps, so I would have to use the next best thing - what ever map fabric I could find.

So, I decided I was going to make a 1940's map dress, then I just let that idea sit in the back of my mind for a while until the time came when I would be able to find a suitable fabric. That time came last December. I was in Hobby Lobby, picking up trim for some project or another, when I spotted it. A bolt of map fabric! It was a quilting cotton with a nice drape, and just what I'd been looking for! 

I didn't buy any that day, but I rushed home, told my mom all about it, and requested 3 yards as a Christmas present. By this time, I was less than a month away from leaving on the World Race, and I figured that a map dress would be just the thing to wear on my mission trip around the world!

Christmas morning I unwrapped 3 yards of map fabric, from my mom, and a card of vintage mother of pearl buttons, from my sister. Out of my stash came Simplicity 1585 (My only 40's reprint pattern, which had been just waiting for the perfect fabric!), and I was ready to get started! 

I cut out the pattern, and discovered at once that if I made the sleeves as they were drafted, they would be much too tight for my arms! Thus, before I could cut into my map fabric I had to draft a new, slightly wider, sleeve pattern. I was rather nervous messing around with the sleeve pattern - but my adjustment went surprisingly well! I lowered the sleeve cap and added 2 inches of width to the entire sleeve. This resulted in sleeves that still fit into the armscye, and were comfortable to wear! Definitely my best sleeve alteration work to date! 

Once the new sleeve pattern was drafted, the dress construction went well, just about as quick as easy as I could ask for. The only other alteration I made to the original pattern was to add side seam pockets - because what is a dress with out pockets?

The finished dress features 2 of the mother of pearl buttons from my sister on the front yoke, and one on the back key-hole opening. They were the perfect finishing touch for this dress! 

Even with the fabulous buttons however, the dress still needed a little something extra. So I made a matching fabric belt with a pretty coconut shell button I picked up at Hobby Lobby.

I wore this dress in all 11 countries I visited this year, and I received compliments on it everywhere I went - South America, Africa, Europe, Asia, and even back home in North America.

Photo taken in Penang, Malaysia.

Yes, this dress is absolutely my favorite item from my World Race Wardrobe. It was one of my only dresses over the past 11 months, and I still like it enough to wear to church on Sunday - even though I now have other options!

Costuming Pride and Prejudice - The Gentlemen

Last week my younger siblings' home school group preformed Pride and Prejudice. I have it on good authority that this young man, my little brother, played his part incredibly well.

His roll you ask? Mr. Collins. He proposed to Elizabeth Bennet, got turned down, and married her best friend instead. All while talking insistently about his patron, Lady Catherine De Bourgh.

 Yes, I am very proud of my little brother's acting ability. And I'm quite proud of my mom for the costumes she made for him and some of the other young men in the play.

Love these two goof balls!

Now, the ladies' costumes were relatively simple - find an easy dress pattern, sew it up, and add some accessories. The gentlemen's costumes were a bit more involved. Tailcoats, waistcoats, trousers, shirts, and cravats were needed for each and every gentleman. So, as neither my mom nor any of the other moms involved in the play had the time to sew regency suits for half the cast, they improvised. Refashioning to the rescue! 

Modern suit coats were obtained from thrift stores.

The lower front of each suit coat was cut away, so that the front of the coat ended at the natural waist rather than the hips. 

The fabric that was cut off the front of the suit coat was then sewn onto the back to make tails. (Now, due to pocket placement and such, some of the suit coats needed addition fabric from other sources added in order to make the tails) 

And there you have it - a tail coat! 

My mom made 3 of these tail coats herself, and led workshops during play rehearsals to help other moms make their sons' tail coats.

 But of course, the costuming didn't end with the tailcoats - oh no, other pieces were needed. Thankfully most of these pieces could be purchased. Modern trousers worked just fine, as by the regency era men were wearing long trousers rather than knee breeches. (Now regency trousers had fall-fronts, rather than zipper flies, but for the play I'd hope no one was paying that much attention to the guys' pants!) Modern dress shirts also worked for the costumes. The collars were flipped up and tied with a cravat. The cravats couldn't be easily bought, but they were quite simple to make - just a long strip of fabric hemmed on all sides.  

Then came the waist coats - the second most involved part of the gentlemen's costumes. Modern vests just don't have quite the right shape, so a little more refashioning was required.

A waistcoat in the middle of refashioning - and a brother who appears to be done with trying things on.

Primarily, the bottoms of the waist coats needed to be straitened out - the hem of a regency waist coat was strait across - not pointed! Some waistcoats required a little extra work as well.

This red one for example needed a back! So, my mom combined it with this black dress shirt to turn it into a real vest.

Didn't she do a great job?

Tailcoats, waistcoats, shirts, trousers, and cravats: after over 2 months of sewing it all came together so that my brother and his friends all looked like perfect regency gentlemen the night of the play!

From all reports the play came off beautifully! Of course, I was disappointed to miss it - but my best friend recorded opening night for me! So next week when I get home I plan on watching it! I can't wait to "see" this play I've heard so much about over the last few months!

The costume coordinator, the set builder, Mrs. Phillips, and Mr. Collins (already out of costumes)

But mostly, I'm looking forward to seeing these people again! I've missed my family this year! Just 5 more days till we're re-united!

The Backpack Needed Pockets

Once upon a time, there was a girl who was traveling the world for 11 months. Her goal on this journey to share the love of Jesus with others. On this journey she carried 2 backpacks - one ginormous internal frame pack, and a day pack (the largest school backpack she could find). When she set out on her journey that ginormous pack weighed 47 pounds - it was heavy, but not too bad. But then, 6 months later, when it came time to fly from Africa to Europe that ginormous pack weighed 66 pounds! You see, the girl had done a bit of fabric shopping in Africa. . .

Big pack and day pack - packed and ready to leave Ghana

Well, thanks to a friend who had an extra bag, the girl was able to get all her belongings safely to Europe. While in Europe, this girl’s mom came to visit her - and agreed to take all of her fabric acquired in Africa (plus more that had been acquired in Europe) back to the United States! Thus, the girl's ginormous pack was lightened by 20 pounds!! Upon realizing how nice it was to have a lighter pack, the girl decided she also wanted to lighten her day pack. She decided the best way to do that was to find a new, smaller backpack that she just couldn't put as much stuff in. Less stuff =lighter weight. The girl’s mother was on board with this idea so she bought her daughter a new, smaller backpack, and took the old, large, school backpack and all the girl's extra stuff, back to the United States.

The big suitcase my mom and I bought in Romania so she could take a bunch of my stuff (and friends' stuff) home!

The girl then continued on to Asia, happy that her ginormous pack was now an acceptable weight and happy to have a smaller day pack.

Upon arriving in Asia however, this girl decided that her new day pack needed some adjustments - namely pockets. So she set to work to add those.

Digging through her pack she found a mesh drawstring bag, the perfect size to be cut up and turned into a water-bottle pocket on one side of the new backpack.

The other half of the mesh bag, along with the original drawstring, was hand-sewn on the opposite side of the backpack. This made the perfect travel pillow pocket!

Then some webbing (also found lurking in the ginormous pack) was sewn down one side of the front of the backpack, creating loops for things to be clipped to.

The perfect place to attach a coffee mug! (Something that always needs to be kept handy as this girl has a slight coffee addiction!)

To finish off the backpack modification project, loops of webbing were sewn onto the backpack above the side pockets.  A place to clip a water bottle to keep it from falling out of the pocket when the backpack is shoved under bus seats.

With these additions the girl's new day pack was good to go! Much smaller and more comfortable to carry than the big school backpack - and custom made to carry her water bottle, pillow, and coffee mug! The perfect backpack for the girl to carry during the last 3 months of her travels. 

Now, those final 3 months are almost done (Only 2 weeks left!!) and you can read all about them here! 

Costuming Pride an Prejudice - The Dresses

Meet Mrs. Phillips,

photo credit: Clara Stark

Also known as my little sister. 

Yep! This year my younger siblings' home school group play is Pride and Prejudice! And my wonderful mother is coordinating the costumes.

 Upon hearing this bit of news from home, I briefly mourned the fact I wouldn't be home to see the play and help costume it. (This big sister, currently in Malaysia, wants to know why teleportation hasn't been invented yet?) Then I started talking costumes with my mom. Over the past 3 months we have had multiple video chats and a long-distance phone call or two (wifi was non-existent for me in Cambodia) to discuss the costuming of this play. (Not to mention the daily text conversations) 

Now, it is not uncommon in the home school group plays for moms to make their children's costumes. So, my mom's first order of business was to make resources for this task available to the mothers. She decided a basic regency dress pattern was needed.

McCall's M7530 fit the bill. A modern drawstring/elastic waist dress pattern, it promised to be easy to adapt and easy to sew.

The sleeves got slightly altered, the waistline got raised, and my mom put the pattern to the test by making my little sister's "Aunt Phillips" costume.

The dress turned out great! Exactly how my mom had envisioned it! So, she went on to suggest the same pattern to other moms and then made 2 more dresses herself for some of the other actresses.

This blue and white dress, modeled here by my sister, will be worn by Elizabeth Bennett in the play.

I think my mom did an excellent job adapting the pattern to have an over skirt for this dress! For just a little something extra on stage, she also added a navy blue ribbon sash and ties in the back.

Following the completion of Lizzy Bennett's dress, my mom had gotten the hang of the pattern and been bitten by the sewing bug! (I tell you, sewing, especially costumes, is addicting!) So she volunteered to make another dress. This green dress will be worn by Lady Lucas.  

Now, the play is in a little over a week, so it's costume crunch time! My mom tells me the dresses are all done. She just has some accessories and gentleman's costumes to finish up.

Check back here in a week or so, as I'll be sharing the rest of the costumes once my mom completes them. Caps, lace collars, bonnets, fichus, tailcoats, and waistcoats coming up! 

I'm quite proud of the costumes my mom has made and coordinated for this play, and I can't wait to see more pictures (and hopefully a video!) once the play opens!

To see what I'm up to this month (since it doesn't involve costuming a play) check on my World Race blog! I'm currently in Malaysia - my 11th and final country.