Peasant Dress From Farmhouse On Boone

 I am sure many of you have heard of the blog Farmhouse On Boone by Lisa Bass. 

I came across this toddler dress tutorial from the Farmhouse On Boone YouTube channel.

That was several years ago, before I had a daughter to sew for, but

 I saved the video hoping that I would have a use for it later. :) 

This dress was really easy to put together. 

I whipped this one up over the course of two days.

I created my own detail on the bodice. It is different than the one in the tutorial.

The technique I used on the formation on the neckline casing was slightly different than the suggested casing from Lisa's demonstration.

I serged the raw edge and only folded it over once to make the casing for the elastic. I was afraid of my casing being too stiff if I folded it over twice, per the instructions in the video. The way I did it is less finished, but I am happy with how much the neckline scrunches up with the elastic inside. 

I added a few decorative embroidery stitches.

I sewed in an attached under-skirt. 

I had some pretty fabric with an eyelet finish on one of the selvedge edges that is so perfect for this application.

This dress turned out a little snug. I hope to make another one soon. I plan to tweak the size a bit. In the next post I can include the measurements that I end up going with. 

The sizes Lisa gives on her blog are for a 12 month size and a 24 month size. HERE is her tutorial. I think she did a great job making the explanations simple and easy to understand.

I Made A Doll Kit Gift

 

I put together a doll sewing kit for a girl from our Church. Her 12th birthday is coming up and I think this kit will be right up her alley.

I cut out the doll pieces from some tan fabric.

I included 1.8oz. of polyester stuffing. 

That should be more than plenty!

I added the yarn for the doll's hair. Already precut and ready to sew.

And for good measure, I included a needle book. (Wink)

I embroidered the face because that can be

 a little difficult.

And I traced all the stitching lines onto the pieces.

I assembled everything in a cute box. And I printed off a copy of the sewing instructions to include.

If you are interested in putting together a doll kit, you can find my Doll pattern HERE at my QuietStandards Etsy shop.

It is $4.35 for a digital download version of the pattern. That includes all the rights to the pattern, so, you are free to make dolls or doll kits and sell them yourself!

I know I would have loved a gift like this when I was 12. What about you? Did handicrafts play a role in your upbringing?

Basic Economics|Book Review

 

I finished reading Basic Economics by Thomas Sowell. It took me a while to get though this book.

All 654 pages! I had to check it out twice from my library and renew it 4 times. 

But, I did read it all.  

I have never been interested in the study of Economics. I read this overview of the subject as a challenge. I had been in a discussion about public policies with an individual many months ago. They said to me, "You don't know anything about economics." Well, that statement wasn't entirely baseless. I didn't know very much about economics. But, I could change that. I could educate myself. So, I took it as a challenge.

After reading Basic Economics by Thomas Sowell I would still say I don't know very much about economics. I know a lot more than when I started, though. The thing about economics is, that it can be complicated. An economy is like a web where no transaction happens in isolation. All the purchasing decisions of individuals are interconnected in this web of consequences. It can be hard to determine what effect a single action will have or the accumulative effect of multiple single actions will have in the long run. 

Right off the bat in the book, Economics is defined as the study of the allocation of scarce resources. This definition is driven home chapter after chapter. What is the scarce resource? Money? Labor? Capital? Milk? Fuel? Time? These resources are not infinite and there are systems set up within societies to allocate these resources to their end purpose. 

The book makes a case for free market, price driven economies as being the most prosperous. When the pie is bigger even the people with a small piece are benefited.

 I really enjoyed the style that the information was presented. There were many current real world examples, and many scenarios illustrated by real historical events. Nothing was confusing. I could follow all the points. I feel like the information was laid out and then restated a few different ways just to make the points clear. I really "got it" once I finished a chapter.

This introduction to Economics has made me interested in learning more. It has made me aware of my own deficiencies in this area of knowledge. The saying, "The more you know, the more you know you don't know." Is true.

One of the neat things about this book and Thomas Sowell is that he has created questions to go with each chapter for those using this book as part of their homeschool curriculum. The questions are in a PDF file that can be downloaded from his website: tsowell.com.

What have you been reading? Let me know in the comments!

Ecclesiastes 12:12 

And further, by these, my son, 

be admonished: of making many books 

there is no end; and much study is a

 weariness of the flesh.

Eggnog Oatmeal Recipe

 I invented this recipe last week. My children asked me to make it for breakfast three mornings in a row. I'd say that makes this recipe a keeper! :)

Eggnog Oatmeal Recipe

1 cup Quick Cooking Oats

2 cups water

2 TBS. Sugar

Dash of Salt

3/8 tsp. Ground Nutmeg

1 tsp. Vanilla Flavoring

1 Egg

1/2 cup Milk

3 TBS. Butter

In a 2 quart sauce pot, over medium heat combine oats, water, sugar, salt, nutmeg and vanilla.

Heat until boiling. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes.

In the meantime, beat the milk and egg together until smooth. 

Once the oatmeal has cooked, temper the egg mixture with a few spoonfuls of oatmeal. Then pour the egg mixture into the oatmeal pot. Stir thoroughly. Cook for two minutes while stirring. 

Turn off heat and add butter. Stir until the butter has melted.

Enjoy!

Reuse Cereal Bags|Tightwad Tip

Tightwad Tip

Reuse Cereal Bags

Tightwad Tip Number One should be: don't buy cereal.

But, if you buy cereal, reuse the bags. They are heavy weight, thick plastic, and don't get holes poked in them very easily.

My favorite use for cereal bags is filling them with chicken backs for freezer storage. There are a lot of sharp boney edges on chicken backs. They inevitably poke holes in zip top bags.

To close the cereal bags use one of the twist ties that, of course, you save from every bread bag. (Wink)

That is my tip for the day!

And before I go, if you are a true Tightwad who doesn't buy cereal, you can always ask your neighbors and friends to save their cereal bags for you. I am not joking! I have a Tightwad friend who actually does this! (And she never buys zip top bags.)

Freckles!

I really want to make some freckled dolls, Anne-of-Green-Gables-esque.

I purchased a permanent fabric marker with a fine point tip.

I have these five doll bodies finished. (HERE is my pattern.) I can't wait until the legs and hair are sewn on to try this marker. 

I may regret this, but here goes......

I'll test it on the back of a doll's head first. If it turns out terribly wrong the hair will cover my mistake and no one will be the wiser.

That went surprisingly well! 

Let me finish a doll completely before I show you the face. 

I got the legs sewn on while I was at the playground with the children.

This is how I cut the yarn for doll hair:

Wrap yarn around a thin book that is about 8 inches tall.

Keep wrapping yarn around the book until you have about 5 inches of yarn.

Snip the yarn in half with scissors at one of the open edges of the book.

I sewed the hair on and braided it. HERE is a doll hair tutorial with details.

What do you think? 

I am happy with the freckles. I think the marker worked well! 

The marker brand is Marvy made by Uchida of America Corp. If you need to make freckles, I would recommend their fine point fabric marker.