Simple Woman's Daybook

FOR TODAY
April 27, 2011

Outside my window...gray and raining.

I am thinking...about the things I need to do in town today. Lots of little errands.

I am thankful for...Gods Word. I marvel that it was written so long ago. Its so prevalent for today.

From the learning rooms...We are learning by leaps and and bounds. Little Felipe is 5 and knows all his letter sounds and letter names and is now learning to write the alphabet and spell his name.

From the kitchen...Ham and beans in the crock pot for dinner and they smell so good!


I am excited about...finding out our second grandbaby is a little girl too!

I am praying...for friends.

I am wearing...blue tee shirt and light denim skirt and I'm barefoot still! Must put my shoes on or I won't get much accomplished today.

I am creating...a fairytale doll . Fairytale to be announced.

I am going...to finish some doll shirts today and hook doll hair and go to church :).

I am reading..Signs, Wonders and Miracles by James Knox.

I am hoping...to get another doll in the shop tomorrow.

I am hearing...the hum of a happy house.

Around the house...the last load of laundry is fixing to go in the washer. Then I'm finished....until tomorrow.

One of my favorite things...Young people. I always dreaded having teens but I've found that my teens are some of my favorite people to be around. They keep me laughing.

A few plans for the rest of the week...doll in shop, sew brides maid dresses for a young lady at church and plan a great Sunday dinner.

Here is picture for thought I am sharing...Donnie, my 18 year old. Love this boy.

Miss Molly

It took me awhile. (all dolls seem to take me awhile) I can't just seem to whip a doll out. I want to make them up real fast. I have to think about them and decide how I want them dressed etc. Then real life happens. Children, school, cooking and laundry take up the bulk of my time and they are my main priority. So sometimes a dolly has to sit and wait patiently for me to get her clothes ready.



Anyway, I finally got Miss Molly dressed and ready for the day. I am loving the rainbow colored yarn. Its very soft and a pleasure to knit with.
All of her clothing is knit, right down to her pink skivvies. All her clothing is knit with wool or a wool blend. I'm sort of a yarn snob, preferring to only knit with wool or wool blends such as wool/silk or wool/mohair. My favorite fiber to knit with is Alpaca. So soft.

Molly is in the shop now.

Giving and Taking

I was recently informed that my friend has advanced breast cancer and it seems to also be in her lymph nodes. As I have prayed for her, I've thought about the children she has raised, is still raising and the powerful influence she has had directly on 10 lives. Several of her children are involved in various sorts of ministry so in essence the impact her children are having is indirectly her influence too.

I've been thinking about Job a lot because the children and I are reading through the book of Job together. Without fail there has been something in each of the 24 chapters we've read so far that has caught my attention and caused me to pause and think.

Thinking about my friend and Job, I've thought about giving and taking. Job 1:21 And said, Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.

In my human mind I tend to think of the giving to be a good thing and the taking to be bad. Surely when Job cried those words he was of the same inclination. What I see in Job though is the set belief that no matter what, God is good. He is worthy of our praise. Even when our children are all destroyed in one day and our wealth and health have been taken from us, God is good and blessed be his name.

I've been thinking over things in my life, looking at the hindsight of being a Christian for 17 years, come the first of May. Things that were given and things that were taken away. I have been given a testimony I did not want. I wanted to cast it off and run from the burden it brought with it. I've had things taken away. Relationships, family, friends.

The giving and the taking didn't seem good at the time. At the time persevering seemed impossible and overcoming wasn't a thought in my head. I didn't understand the giving and taking that God was doing in my life and I thought I needed to grasp what he was doing right then when the pain was so intense. I thought if I could just get what he was doing it would somehow lessen the intensity of what I was going through. But in hindsight I can say that Jesus does do all things well. Blessed be his name.

So back to my friend. I want God to heal her for His sake. She is a beautiful testimony of what a christian woman ought to be. She brings glory and honor to his name. I don't want her example taken from among us. But the giving and taking of her life is not within my power. God has ordained life and death.
Job 1:21 And said, Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.

My Redeemer Lives!

Dolly Clothes

I love English smocking. I drew out a little pattern for a smocked bishop doll shirt. It took me a couple of tries to get the pattern adjusted to the right width (with pleats) for around my dolls necks.

Click on the pictures to see the details of the smocking better.

I am blessed to have a Sally Stanley smocking pleater. Without this handy dandy tool, I wouldn't smock much at all. When I first started smocking, I used transfer dots and ironed them on to my fabric. Then I began the long, arduous task of picking up each dot with needle and thread to make the pleats. It took forever. But I did it several times. Then my husband took pity on me and for Mothers Day bought me the pleater. I've used it for several years and learned a great deal more about English Smocking.



So these little dolly shirts are fun because they are (in comparison to making a dress or something bigger) fairly quick to make and simple in their construction. I had 3 of these little shirts smocked and ready to go and yesterday I sat down and sewed all three of them up in about 1.5 hours.


I'm going to get some pictures of these outfits on a dolly today and but them in my shop later on this evening.

Simple Woman's Daybook

FOR TODAY
April 20, 2011

Outside my window...gray but the birds are singing.

I am thinking...my sons.

I am thankful for...the creative process.

From the learning rooms...I am learning about probiotics and prebiotics

From the kitchen...Making yogurt today.


I am excited about...finding out our second grandbaby is a little girl too!

I am praying...that I would have more love and natural affection.

I am wearing...blue tee shirt and khaki skirt and I'm barefoot! Must put my shoes on or I won't get much accomplished today.

I am creating...a cool doll coat :) .

I am going...to finish some doll shirts today and hook doll hair and go to church :).

I am reading...Kinder Dolls by Maricristin Sealy...best Waldorf doll book ever. I wish I would have had it when I first started making dolls. So much valuable information.

I am hoping...to get our budget rolling. It seems to take forever to get a base amount of money together so the money will move the way it needs too.

I am hearing...the dryer is squeaking.

Around the house...several cupboards need a good cleaning. That always seems to be the case though.

One of my favorite things...a clean bedroom.

A few plans for the rest of the week...taking dinner to a friend, working on dolls and doll clothes and doing something fun with the children on Friday.

Here is picture for thought I am sharing...Gracie, one of the first dolls I ever made and the very first dolly that I sold in my Etsy store.

Confessions of a Pattern Junkie

I confess that patterns like this one (in my opinion anyway) are what dressing little girls is all about! If it were me and I had a little girl to sew for again, oh wait...I'm fixing to have a little girl to sew for again, YIPPEE! I would make the dress in a chambray fabric or a light weight, light colored denim and make a few different pinafores to go over it. Then it could be changed up with half the sewing effort. :)



I don't know the pattern number or the copyright date on this one. What I do know is that it was designed by a woman named Helen Lee. Googling her name was the smartest thing I've done in awhile. Apparently she was a BIG children's clothes designer. She designed bunches of patterns for McCalls. AND get this in 1953 she won the Coty Award for her “significant influences in the development of good taste and charm in children’s fashion” now isn't that fun to read! If you take a gander at the Helen Lee link, you'll see that it is true...she had excellent taste in children's clothing and her patterns are a mixed delight of childrens fashions and artwork to look at. I didn't realize it until I Googled Helen Lee's name that I have at least 5 of her patterns in my vintage stash. In the future I will be looking for her name on the patterns I'm drooling over.