Drumroll, Please...DRUMROLL! Thank you.

I have officially finished my Susan Pevensie costume!!! At last!

It all started when I saw Prince Caspian. I had been a huge fan of Narnia when the first one came out, so when I saw Prince Caspian, I fell back in love with it.

Anyway, I suddenly became very interested in making one of Susan's costumes. My original plan was to make her green LLW dress...but then I saw this picture:


Don't ask why, I couldn't tell you, but I really loved it. So I started looking around on The Wardrobe Door ( a great site if you want to make a Narnia costume). I checked out the page on Susan's purple dress, where I read about a lot of things that probably went into the real costume--on Isis Mussenden's budget, with her weavers, crew and experience--not mine. So...I started looking for a pattern that would work well and make the costume just perfectly, but I couldn't find one. So, being a perfectionist (strike that: a selective perfectionist) I decided to make my own. That equaled: "oops! I am tired! I just want to be done! I have this big mess to clean up now! Those pieces are uneven!"

Anyway, I made my own pattern. I started with just some newspaper, a tape measure and two and two makes four. If you do try this, however, try to make yourself a dress form, it would have really helped with measuring and fitting...trying to measure your own shoulders accurately is such a pain!

I gave in after a rather poor attempt of making a pattern for the skirt. I decided to use this pattern:


(sorry, it's a little big) I used petticoat D, which is the one without the ruffle.

Creating the split was really rather easy...after I had given it some calm, cool and collected thought. What I did was this: measure the front of the skirt and find the middle. Then, I sewed a seam with a very small seam allowance (to try to keep the skirt at the size I wanted it). One tip about that, though: don't be over-zealous about "small seam allowances"...make it large enough to serge, otherwise you'll get fraying. After ironing down the finished seam, I just cut very carefully through the little "loop" that was made by the seam and then seam ripped it. It worked very nicely.

For the bodice and bodice lining, I sewed the princess seams of the bodice up, but left it in two pieces (front and back). Then, I laid out the lining, cut it and sewed the boning too it. I sewed the lining to bodice right sides together and then turned them out like a bag, joining the front and back together.

For the sleeves, I made a pattern ( again, look at the write- up on this costume on the wardrobe door), sewed them together, and then sewed them to the armholes.

That was pretty much it, and the rest is very self explanatory. If you have any questions, please ask them in the comment form.

And here are some photos of the finished product:







I'm afraid that I need to stop smiling...my "beam" isn't very Narnian queen-ish :). It's not as perfect as the picture I had in my mind was, but I am pleased with how well it turned out, considering that it was my first real try.

Similar

What's alike about these two images?.....Peter's always getting whacked over the head by Susan's bow!




Both images from the NarniaWeb marketplace

Thanks, Joanna!

The Real Blog Award

Joanna has given me this, my first blog award. It's encouraging to know that somebody thinks that I have an uncanny knack for finding silver linings...

"THE LEMONADE AWARD: The concept behind this award is that the blog creators have shown an uncanny knack for silver linings and making the best of bad situations (i.e., lemonade from lemons)."


Rules: Name ten blogs that reflect silver linings philosophy

Sarah
Strongjoy
The King's Missionary
Mia
Megan
...I can't think of any more...I wanted to do so many people, but others got to them first!

Thanks for telling how to do the snow effect, Joanna!

Growing Christmas Trees, Mice kings, and Friends in the Nutcracker!!!

So, yesterday, my dad and I went to the Nutcracker ballet given by a local company. You see, he often gets free tickets from work to the touring attractions in our town, so he got some last week for Sunday. I couldn't go then because of an orchestra rehearsal, so I was disappointed. I had really wanted to see a friend of mine who was dancing in it.

So, I hoped and prayed all week long. I really wanted to go and this weekend was my last chance. So, yesterday afternoon (which, by the way, was a l...o...n...g day in itself) he got tickets!

YAY!!!

So last night, we drove downtown, at last found a parking place, and started walking. I had mentioned seeing one of those tricycle taxis to my dad, just because I was talking about whatever came into my head. To my great surprise, when we had parked, we walked over to one and got a ride. It was SO much fun!


The ballet was really great to see my friend do her part with such relish and even more fun to see her get a moment of stardom. Great job, G. !

Well, the ballet went over well, and I loved it. Afterward, we stopped at a Starbucks and got a nice cappucino--decaf, of course. :)

All in all it was a wonderful night, and I had a great deal of fun with Daddy. I think that I'll always want to remeber it.

A little change

Alright, for the Christmas season, I am going to change my blog and return the Narnia header after Christmas.

The Doings of a Young Woman

Since I am not a " Simple Woman's Daybook" type (after all, I am thirteen) I decided to start my own. If you want to do it, feel free to use this picture. It's really pretty random, so if you think of other things that you are doing, just feel free to include them. Here goes:

I am wearing: a brown 3/4 sleeves shirt and dark blue jeans.

I am a listening to: a very LOUD mixture of my little sister playing her little $25 violin to the Celtic Woman Christmas CD and my other little sis' playing Narnia with her friend. It's getting quite brutal out there! (Narnia, I mean).

I am especially glad: that I am done with my schoolwork for the week.

I learned this week that: I can't be good ( for lack of a better word) just because I want to--God has to mold me.

I am working toward: a concerto competition in January, getting my math curriculum finished and finishing my Susan costume.

I have been thinking about: Lots of things, not the least of which being Christmas!

Outside my window: A lovely beginning of sunset, but still nice and cold.

I am reading: Jo's Boys and Plutarch's Twelve Lives.

Here ends this remembrance post.

It's Christmastime in Texas

A Nativity set from Spain is part of the decor...



as is a fake Christmas tree. Hey, it holdsthe ornaments and does take any care whatsoever (and the cat likes it, too). :)

Shivering on a Bus Stop

Picture this:

A man. A man shivering on a bus stop. He is wearing a pair or old khaki shorts and an old forest green polo shirt, both so worn that they look gray and could not possibly be very warm. Day in, day out, he either sits there, trudges through the shopping center nearby or he sits someplace else. He has a hard time talking, so he can't get a job.

He would like shelter, but he can't imagine where there might be such a thing for him. He is often hungry, but sometimes people give him something to appease his hunger. Life is this cycle of cold days, cold nights (or hot days, hot nights) with no end in sight.

He watches the cars speed down the freeway, not really caring anymore, having learned not to care or wish himself in that impossible to reach world of comfort.

Perhaps he never cared.

All he knows is that he is hungry, and cold, and uncomfortable and lonely. He knows, subconsciously, that almost nobody in the assortment of middle-class cars really cares for him, or even notices.

He might not even know that God loves him, that God made him. How is he to know this? Nobody has much of a desire to come in contact with him. Of course, God is absolutely capable of leading this man to Himself though he were on a deserted island in the middle of the Arctic ocean.

But God has directed his children to feed the hungry, for if anyone does this unto the least of him their brethren, they do it unto him. Why, then are Christians just standing by?

It's here!!!!

So now, I'm going to go sit down and WATCH IT!!!!


(No, my costume isn't done, but it will be soon!)