In Other News...

Hello All,

My mother and I went to the Sisters Quilt Show in Mid July. There were some gorgeous quilts there, and we walked in the beating sun or the baking shade and looked at the amazing work of these quilters for hours that morning. I, for one, would be willing to sign Mother's petition to move the event to early May instead of mid July, but still it was an inspiring event and made me want to quilt when I was home lying on the couch recovering.

                                         on my bucket list to make!!!

In other news, Fiddle Camp is upon us, and I'm choosing my "wardrobe" for the 4-day event. By the time this post is published I will be at camp already, but here's my ideas right now!

 Wardrobe sounds like such a fancy word, but really I just needed to pack clothes that would be comfortable in the heat and it doesn't hurt if they're pretty, too :)

 

Day 1: Blue & White Paisley dress

light and airy

We found this dress at Ross last year and with a slight modification it was perfectly wearable.

 

 

 

Day 2: Pink A-line Dress

comfortable and stylish

 

Day 3: Blue Prairie Embroidered Dress

made of a thin chambray or other light fabric. Vying for being worn during the camp performance instead of the dress below.

We found this dress at Ross, and let me tell you, it was a find. SO pretty!!

Note: The dress does not reach the floor when I wear it. My dress form was just on a "short" setting! 

Day 4: White Eyelet dress

light and airy, with a fun shawl collar. Formal enough for an end-of-camp performance.

We found this dress at Ross last year. Is it just me or do we find a lot of fun dresses at Ross!?!

Have a beautiful Late July...

to God be the glory,

Miss Humphrey

Wild Strawberries and the Old West

 Hello all, and thanks for reading today!

This was my most recent sewing project, completed in 11 days of inconsistent work on it. 

 

 The shirt was a gift for my mother's birthday and I went to town a bit with extra details. The most fun part was seeing it done, of course, but the construction went fairly smoothly, which is not always the case for me :) Collared shirts used to seem daunting, but with the pattern I have they are actually not scary at all. Unless you are afraid of interfacing and pattern instructions, you should be able to make one of these :)

I should mention, like I did in the first post where I reviewed this pattern, that the instruction to attach the front of the shoulders to the back of the shoulders is MISSING. So if you are considering purchasing this pattern be aware of that!

Also, my collars (I will not say the pattern collars) turn out so thick in their construction that I don't like to use the snap at the very top of the collar. I left it off of this shirt because I was low on snaps and I knew my mother felt the same way about tight collars that I do. My little brother calls the top button the "choker button." 

I made my own twist on this pattern by curving the collar, making short sleeves, adding my own sleeve cuff details, and curving the bottom of the pockets inwards a bit more among other things.

 

 

I would have added more of those fun pearl snaps to the sleeves and pocket flaps except I only had enough to do the main shirt closure. So I did a little cross-stitch to ornament the non-functional sleeve tabs while keeping them attached to the sleeve. 

This is the second time I've made this pattern, (here's the first time) and both times I used "upcycled" fabric, aka, fabric from the skirts of dresses I had made a few years ago that I hadn't worn much and didn't like. I like re-purposing fabric in this way, and since most of my skirts from this era had ~2 or more yards of fabric in them, they are easily turned into something else :)

to God be the glory,

Miss Humphrey

 

Make The Most Of Your Special Day....Week....Month....year....

Being that it's graduation season, and I am partaking in the excitement this year, I deem it appropriate to post something of this category! 

Being a homeschool graduate is great, because even when you graduate you can never stop being homeschooled or homeschooling yourself. When your every day life is learning, you never stop! The same goes for public-schoolers too, I know.

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Most everyone asks about college, so here you go, and you're welcome.

I got my "home-college" assignments long before I finished my last schoolbook, and I've already started in on this exercise of Home Management. It's all fine and nice (and really wonderful) to know how to cook, or do your own laundry, or keep your little brothers busy with school when your mom is gone to town. It's also great to be able to clean a toilet or organize a kitchen cupboard. 

But can you do all those things, (plus shopping, hospitality, menu planning, more cleaning, dishes, more cleaning, AND self care) all by yourself, all day, week, month, long, without help? Well, that is what my parents wanted to see, so I've started to gradually get into the project of being the main homemaker on Humphrey Hill. I haven't done a "complete takeover" yet but that is planned for a week, in a couple of weeks. 

Beyond this interesting and creative exercise, I am writing a book that is near to being stamped as a first-draft. I have been writing it for years actually, but my goal is to finish it this month and my goal is coming along nicely. I plan to publish it, and well, I don't know, but doesn't that sound college-like to you? 

Between these things, perhaps starting a business, improving my skills with musical instruments, some travel Lord Willing, and daily life (don't forget the new ideas that pop up from time to time) I'm busy!

Oh, I didn't mention sewing in that list, but it deserves a place there and I have some projects planned for this summer. I am working on an A-line dress made with a very slippery imitation wool dobby fabric, a first experience working with specialty cloth. So far I don't like sewing with specialty cloth - please give me back the cotton I was raised with!!

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There are so many fun ways to celebrate life accomplishments like graduations. We're having a family camp-out complete with hot-dogs, s'mores, snacks, and a river with 1,110 rocks to maneuver in a kayak. In addition to this, my mom and I have been scheming a girl's day out to "do the shops" in our local quaint, charming little town. But there are so many more ways to celebrate!

Most everyone has a party* with their friends and family when they graduate. Will you have a themed party or a free-for-all fun party? 

*Note: Parties do not have to be wild; in fact, as you already know, parties are more fun to look back on when you don't have to regret being stupid and childish as a celebration of your adulthood.

Many graduates are into sports. ("Ah, all that youthful energy," sigh the visiting grandparents.)

If your family or friends are collectors of outdoor games, I can think of few things better than having a evening of back-yard sports, when it's deliciously warmish-cool outside. Don't forget your coolers of fun pops and juices and iced teas. 

Of course, not everyone is into passionately flinging objects at other passionate people and expecting them to catch those objects, screeching hysterically when they do and when they don't. If you are one of those young persons who would rather sit with dignity in a decorated room and have a fun, interesting conversation with others your age, I think you would enjoy an Afternoon Tea or Literary Dinner. Of course, you can't really stay inside the house on a nice summer evening, so a game of croquet or a stroll about the grounds might benefit your party.

There are also those in-between people who don't fit in either box. They are serious hikers, outdoorsmen & women, fishermen. Sometimes they are the kind of people who would rather not bring 15 teenagers on a fishing trip, and instead would enjoy a group hike in an amazing location they've been wanting to see for awhile, or an organized white-water rafting trip with a picnic or hotdog roast at the end. 

Anyhow, whatever way you celebrate, (and I would happily celebrate all 3 ways) keep in mind that the celebrating ain't over when the guests leave. Entering a new time of life is exciting! And since that was so completely cliché, let me put it another way: Celebration, when done right, is so, so good for people. A merry heart does good like medicine, and celebrating, when done right, brings family together and friends together and strengthens important relationships with the bond of happy memories. Ever since I was born I've been one of those kids that wanted to make a cake for most everything, and I'm not stopping now. I love what God has given me in my life, and though I don't need a special reason to make my life, and my family's life, special, I've got one now so I want to milk this one for all it's worth!

Which could mean many things*: bribing my brother to take me hiking, baking that basket weave cake and giving brother No.'s 4 & 5 the icing bowl to lick out, buying those long-needed organizers for my fabric shelf, taking a walk through the tall, stickery grass at sunset and just enjoying being God's happy creature in His creation.

(*Here's the translation of this thought: "Ooooh! I just LOVE this planner!! Oh, I'm graduating. I'll get it. And those chocolates look so good that I should really get them for myself for graduating. I really, really don't want to do the dishes right now. I'll ask [un-named brother] to do them for me since I'm graduating.)

Just kidding - sorta. Don't get any bad ideas!

Congratulations on your accomplishment, whether it's finishing high school, 9th grade, your new dress, a project, or that pile o'dishes that's indwelt the kitchen for a week.

to God be the glory,

Miss Humphrey

Spring!

Hello all!

I made my first Summer dress earlier this month, when the warm weather was getting into my bones. Not quite practical for the sun-then-snow nature of March in the High Desert, but I'm sure it will become quite useful when it is scorching in a couple of months. For now, it can be transformed into a warmer jumper with the addition of a cute blouse.

I made it using this Simplicity pattern. It was a good pattern and after I found the particular pieces for my size and cut them out, whipped up quickly. It did have an invisible zipper in it, which always complicates things, but I was satisfied with how it turned out. 

I came up with an idea for a "one piece wrap blouse" earlier this year. 

Well, alright -- it isn't quite one-piece, but it's pretty close. Here's a diagram I've drawn up:

The basic idea is a bodice that is completely one piece like the one in the picture above (minus the attached ties you see.) Technically, all that you'd have to do is hem the entire shape, attach ties and sew the shoulder fronts to their backs, and voila, you have a blouse. 

 I did add sleeves to mine, as well as Velcro at the lower neckline to keep it shut for modesty's sake. Oh yes, I added a bit of blue eyelet trim as well, for modesty's sake to say nothing of pretty accents. The blouse pictured above was my first try at this concept and holds lots of room for improvement, but it was as good start. I like the idea of making sewing simple, and especially with blouses since they tend to daunt some of us. This idea uses ties as a closure instead of buttons, clasps, or a zipper, which greatly simplifies things. 

The blouse could definitely benefit from shaping, for wearing comfort as well as for not looking like this:

Flattering, eh?

(It looks much better worn on a person than on a dressform, by the way.)

So that's a work in progress that I may return to sometime to perfect.

Aside from sewing, I made a birthday card today with the theme of wildflowers.

It was rather busy - or shall we say elaborate instead?

I had fun with all those decorative borders!

Spring is crowding out the brown around here. I LOVE it when the valley turns green. It makes me so happy!

In a few months, it will look like this. Can't chase away all the brown!

It's funny how this scenery, with its small amount of spring growth compared to many places, has grown on me over the years. Coming from a wet Oregon valley as a little girl, I sure disliked the dryness of this country, but now I love it. (With a sort of love that still appreciates it when the farmers below irrigate their pastures! Relative dryness, not Sahara please.)

Brave little souls!

to God be the glory,

Miss Humphrey

Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:

Romans 6:3-5

Every Little Girl Wants A Twirly Dress

Hello All,

Recently I made my first little girl's dress. I made it free-hand style, using most of the same techniques I'd use to make a dress for myself. Girl's dresses are so much easier to make than women's clothing!

I didn't have a pattern to reference for girl's size 7-8, which was the size of the recipient, so I mostly went off of some measurements we found on the back of a pattern catalog. I only used a few, making this one of the most "free-handed" dresses ever. 

It turns out, you don't need every pattern made to make the style of dress you want. Have confidence in your abilities. You can design anything you like, and you can sew anything you can design, with practice.

A sweetheart neckline for a sweet little girl...

A short slit in the back for ease of putting on closes with a button and elastic loop. Another dress that I didn't have to put a zipper in = happiness and fond memories.

Little girls aren't the only ones who like circle dresses. I confess to having 3 in my collection right now with plans for another at some point. I did outgrow one of them, made of a lightweight pink fabric, but I couldn't stand to repurpose it. It holds too many happy, summery, running-through-the desert-grass-and-breeze feelings that are worth feeling again.

to God be the glory,

Miss Humphrey

Teal, Purple and Pink

 Hello all,

Thanks for stopping by the blog again! I have another dress for you that was made during my time at The Manse. 

This dress features a pieced skirt with triangles inserted into each third of the skirt. Here's another dress I made with a pieced skirt.

My grandmother offered to hem the skirt. It is luxurious to have someone else finish a flared skirt for you!

I tried something a little different on the sleeves this time: making a pleat at the bottom of the sleeve instead of gathering it with elastic to make it a puffed sleeve. I think the pleats worked out pretty well.

There is a yoke in the back which I quite like.

Are y'all staying cool this summer? We've been watching the weather and smoke reports and having apprehensive feelings about the next few days since our house is void of air-conditioning. Oh, well. At least we don't live in Arizona right now.

to God be the glory,

Miss Humphrey

Fiddle Camp Wardrobe Planning

 Hello all! 

I'm pretty excited - next week, I'm headed to Fiddle Camp! I thought I'd share what I'm planning to wear for the four days of camp. 

These are not special, fancy outfits. Actually, it's a good sample of what I wear day-to-day! Comfort matters more to me than style on a 90 degree day, but that's not saying that I have to wear something plain and ugly, or skimpy and revealing. 

Do you want to guess how much use this Edwardian walking skirt gets? A lot!! It's a great, everyday jean skirt, but its gores and delicate waistband save it from being boring :) It goes with the western, 1800s style that is so dear to my heart, and I can wear it with every blouse I own, which is wonderful!!

The plaid shirt is the Stillwater Supply Co. brand. My mother and I purchased them on sale at Bi-mart.  These are very nice western shirts!

This is a one-piece style dress I made earlier on in my sewing hobby, and while it is definitely not perfect, I like it! I might wear it as a jumper instead of a sort-of sleeveless dress. I might improve a few things on it before I take it to camp - we'll see!

On the last day of camp, we're having class performances. I plan to wear my blue circle dress on that day for something a little more dressy!

We mustn't forget the cowboy hat!

And there you have it, my wardrobe planning for 2023 fiddle camp.

 I'm so happy to get to wear homemade clothes much of the time. The world of sewing unlocks beautiful possibilities!

Have a great mid-July, everyone!

to God be the glory,

Miss Humphrey

How I Made This Dress, Part 3...Finishing Up

When I have the bodice completely done on a dress, I have usually passed all the hard work. Just have to attach a simple skirt, and I'll be done! 

Not so with circle dresses. Those can be finicky to the very end. 

And not so with the tiered skirt to this dress, because I had a lot of work ahead of me to make all those gathers!

My mother told me how to do a tiered skirt. Here's the "formula" I used for how long each of my panels needed to be.

Here's how I did my panels...

I cut a panel and sewed the ends together (right sides together) to make a round. On one of the panels, I had to add extra yardage to make it the right length. This dress fit easily into 4 yards of fabric, using the excess from one panel to complete another.

I sewed 2 rows of gathers on one edge.

It would have been cute to just hem the bottom of this panel and have a blouse!

I gathered the second panel until it fit pretty well with my last panel, then sewed it up!

To this I added a short panel to complete the skirt.

I made a sash out of the dress material, and I was...done!!

Here's some more dress pictures.

Hope you enjoyed this dress-making process!

to God be the glory,

Miss Humphrey