Dress Sewing Progress In May

 

Before I get to the sewing progress I want to share a picture of the peonies that I have been enjoying. I have cut peony bouquets from yards where no one lives in prior years, but this is the first year that I have had my very own peonies blooming. They are gorgeous! I am so happy to have peonies of my very own. :) Fun fact: Peonies are the state flower of Indiana; land of my nativity.

It has been a beautiful month. This past Saturday the weather was so idilic. I was enjoying the morning outdoors. I hung a load of laundry on the clothesline. There are few things as satisfying as a load of clean diapers flapping on the clothesline. 

It was such a peaceful morning!

I collected a bundle of bachelor buttons to dry.* My bachelor button patch is starting to bloom like crazy. 

*I have since discovered that drying bachelor buttons doesn't work. At least, this method doesn't work.

On to the sewing content:
I did a lot of piddly sewing projects this month between stints of working on the formal dress.

I picked up this brightly colored floral XXL skirt at thrift store. I liked the pattern and I knew there would be plenty of material to make something for my little girl.

I cut out pieces to make a jumper with pockets.

I finished the neck and arm holes with bias tape.

I added lace at the hem.

I was way off with the pocket placement. They are too low; like down at her knees. That is a bummer! I waited until all the seams were finished to check the placement, though, so the pockets are going to stay in the wrong place.

This jumper was a nice one day project. I was able to sew it on a Saturday when I had a lighter load, as far as household duties go.

I did some hand basting on the tulip sleeves for the formal dress. 

I set my phone camera on the shelf above my head to capture these shots.

I found this skirt when we were out thrift shopping, too. It was a size 10-12 girls. Much too wide for my 3 year old. So I put a new waistband on it.

It took me about 45 minutes to take all the stitches out of the original waistband. I decided to reuse the elastic, so that was an extra 15 minutes to take the serging out of the elastic.

I like to use a really light weight fabric for elastic casings. Stiffer fabrics sometime keep the elastic from being as springy as I would like. I used some viscose lining fabric for the casing on this project.

Below, is a skirt that needed to be narrower for my daughter to wear it now. I took it in at few points along the waist. The print is really cute on her and I like the pleating details. They add a nice flare.

This skirt needed some length. 

I had some red fabric that matched. I added a flounce with a lace trim. Now it is a perfect patriotic skirt!

I crafted this black skirt from a spaghetti strap top. I just cut off the top portion and added a viscose casing for an elastic waistband. It is a really comfy jersey material. I think she is going to wear this one a lot.

I sewed the tulip sleeves on to the bodice of the formal dress. I assembled the skirt and skirt lining. I sewed the bodice to the skirt.

When I had my daughter try on the dress she immediately began twirling around and swirling the skirt. This is a really good dress for twirling!

I resorted to stitching the zipper on by hand because I can't find a zipper foot for my sewing machine. I used to have a zipper foot, but for some reason it is gone now.

This is an invisible zipper. It turned out pretty invisible. It is not my best zipper install job, though. I certainly wouldn't want my 4-h Judge of yesteryear trying to work the zipper up and down. It moves, but it is quite difficult! I must have stitched it too close to the zipper teeth. 

The dress is not finished. May is not over yet.

I will keep working. I want her to be able to wear it to a wedding on Saturday. The pressure is on!

The Robin By Henry Beer (Poem)

 

The Robin

By Henry Beer

The robin is a lusty bird,

A pioneer, I'd say.

He comes when chilling winds prevail,

When clouds and storms hold sway.

The robin leaves the sunny south,

He loves the north land best.

He loves our summer, spring, and fall,

'Tis here he builds his nest.

The seasons he can well discern,

He knows when spring is here.

And other feathered friends come too,

When robins do appear.

We hear him in the early morn,

He sings a joyful lay.

The art of industry and toil,

The robin does convey.

The robin is a friend of man,

He builds his home near by.

He nests on ledge of porch, or roof,

Or lilac growing nigh.

The robin is a builder too,

His nest is neat and round.

Although 'tis made of mud and straw,

A work of art is found.

The robin eggs are heavenly blue,

How pleasant to the eye!

The eggs retain the color of

The blue, ethereal sky.

The robin careth for his own;

His brood is well supplied.

If base intruders enter in,

They boldly are defied.

They are a blessing unto man,

For countless bugs they eat.

The worms that spoil the fruit and tree

Become their food and meat.

'Tis true he loves the cherries bright

That hang in trees quite high.

The cherries which we can not reach

He takes as his supply.

Shall we deny the scanty store

That creatures need to live?

The good they do for us is more

Then they ask us to give.

This bird with coat of crimson-brown

Is welcome to our heart.

When chilling winds of autumn come,

From him we're loath to part.

Barbeque Sandwich Or Sloppy Joe Sauce Recipe

 

Mr. In The Mid-west loves my Sloppy Joe sandwiches. It made me feel so good recently when I heard him say, after I had packed him a couple Sloppy Joe sandwiches to eat on his way to work one day, "Those were the best Sloppy Joe's that I've ever had!" 

This is a family recipe from my Mom. I have memories of using this recipe to make the pulled

pork meat for my graduation open house. We had to multiply it many times for such a crowd!

Sloppy Joe Sauce

1 small Onion, Chopped

2 TBS. Butter

2 TBS. Vinegar

2 TBS. Brown Sugar

1/4 c. Lemon Juice

10 oz. Ketchup

3 TBS. Worcestershire Sauce

1/2 T. Prepared Mustard

1 c. Water or Broth

1 c. Celery, Diced

Brown the onion in the melted butter. Add the remaining ingredients and let it simmer until celery is tender.

Add about 3 cups (more or less as desired) shredded roast beef or pork for barbeque sandwich meat or add browned ground beef to make Sloppy Joe sandwiches.

Pansies By Henry Beer (Poem)

 

Pansies

By Henry Beer

Pansies are a simple theme.

Though they're commonplace,

You can read a message there

On each smiling face.

Pansy blooms of bright array,

Growing near the walk,

Have a language all their own,

For they seem to talk.

Master hands have painted them,

Gorgeous tints we see:

There are no conflicting shades -

All is harmony.

Artists often stand at loss

Colors to combine,

Here you'll see a perfect work

Made by hands divine.

Brown, maroon, and indigo,

Yellow, white, and blue,

These and intermediate shades

Are displayed for you.

Seems to me such loveliness

Does God's goodness prove;

And His bounteous, gracious hand

Manifests His love.

The very works the Father made

Glorify His name

Should not we with grateful hearts

Also do the same?

Page 57 of My Garden Of Verse

Tightwad Tip | Lids Instead Of Foil

 

Lids for baking. Save foil. No waste!
In this post I am sharing some of my ideas for how to save aluminum foil and use lids instead of foil.

For a conservative on the political scale I sure live a "green" life. Haha! From cloth pads, to cloth diapers, to cloth wipes, to flannel "Kleenex," to fabric napkins, to using rags instead of paper towels I am pretty waste free. I recycle and upcycle at every opportunity. 

Frugal people hate to spend money on stuff that is going to be thrown away after one use. This applies to aluminum foil, too. I have reused sheets of aluminum foil several times over by wiping them clean and folding them up neatly after each use.

Having a few nice, oven safe, lidded, casserole type, cookware pieces are a valuable addition to your kitchen. By keeping your eye out at thrift stores and garage sales for pieces like this you can find some nice lidded casserole dishes. 

I recently found two smaller corning wear dishes that are good size for leftovers. By storing leftovers in containers like this you can save yourself dishes later by being able heat the leftover's in the same container that they were stored. I also have a few larger lidded casseroles. One large size and one medium size. I use them when I am baking potatoes, heating up leftovers, bringing dishes to fellowship meals. Dishes like mashed potatoes, baked beans, stuffing, or macaroni and cheese are good candidates.

Having lidded casserole dishes helps cut down on the need to use aluminum foil, but sometimes I have to get a little more creative to avoid aluminum foil.

I can use sheet pans to cover 9×13 pans and even my really large roaster.

Using sheet pans as covers can be very handy when I am short of space. The rigidity of the sheet pans allows me to stack the different pans of food on top of one another. This is helpful in the refrigerator where space is limited, as well as counter tops in a small kitchen.

Covering pans with rimmed sheet pans can be really useful when transporting food to fellowship meals. The sheet pans don't slide off during the drive and they can survive being stepped on, which may happen by accident in our van.

When it comes to rising dough, I have used a bowl turned upside down to give the dough plenty of room to rise while blocking any drafts, and keeping the dough from drying out. These bowls are oven proof and I have used them in this configuration to cook a ham. Hams come in such awkward shapes. It is really difficult to cover them without using foil. 

For smaller batches of dough I just use a plate over my kitchen aid mixer bowl.

Iron skillets are a versatile solution for cooking on a grill. Sometimes the cleanliness of grill grates can be questionable and lead one to cover the grates with aluminum foil. We recently faced this situation. Mr. In The Mid-west wanted some aluminum foil for the grill, but  we were out of aluminium foil. I brought him an iron skillet. Problem solved! Iron skillets can handle open flames. It takes a little scrubbing afterwards to get the smoke and soot off the the outside of the skillet, but I love to use my skillets to cook over a campfire. 

These are my ideas. Do you use any of these strategies? Please share your ideas in the comments! 

Friendship With Creation And The Creator (Poem)

Hepatica 

(If you are interested in seeing many of the woodland flowers mentioned in stanzas 5 and 6 of this poem, I highly recommend the blog: Plants Amaze Me. I enjoy so much the pictures on that blog. I virtually go on walks in the woods with the author through her photography. I vicariously get to experience the flora and it delights me.)

 Friendship With Creation And The Creator
By Henry Beer

Some people love the gilded joys

Of crowded city life;

And many revel in it's throng,

It's tumult and it's strife.

When balmy summer days have come,

I roam the woodland wild;

I still can find a mystic joy,

As when I was a child.

Long years I've known the flowered friends,

Each spring they do appear.

Amid the crowded cares of life,

They give me springtime cheer.

I've learned to know them by their names,

I know their time and places.

You ask me how I know these flowers?

I know them by their faces.

I've learned to know the Violet

And Rue Anemone,

The Adder's Tongue, Hepatica,

The Trillium blooming free;

The Dogwood and the Red Bud pink,

And whither we may turn,

We see Spring Beauties everywhere,

The Bloodroot and the Fern.

One needn't be a scientist

These beauties to explore.

Just view them in the light of Him

Who liveth evermore.

For all the lovely things of earth

Are shadows of the time

When all the pure will bloom anew

More lovely and sublime.

I've learned to know the Master true,

He has most wonderful ways.

He knows the mysteries of the earth,

And merits all my praise.

So in this royal friendship bound,

His handiwork I see;

And though I live on earth below,

We live in harmony.

Proverbs 27:25 

The hay appeareth, and the tender grass 

sheweth itself, and herbs of the mountains 

are gathered.

Book Review| My Garden Of Verse

 My Garden of Verse by Henry Beer is the subject of this post.

I found this book of poems at a flea market a few years ago. I had no inkling that it was such a wholesome (God fearing) poem collection. I noticed it on a shelf and had for sometime felt that poetry was lacking in my life. I briefly flipped through the pages. I saw that most of the poems had a garden/nature theme. While I didn't think there would be any deep thought provoking poems, I thought that, at least, it would not have poems with  objectionable subjects. On that basis I bought it.

I had no idea what a treasure I had found!

My Garden of Verse by Henry Beer was published by WM. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company in 1945. The book is broken up into 5 chapters; Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter, and In Memoriam and contains 162 poems in total. My copy is a third edition from 1960. (I did contact the publisher to ask permission to copy these poems to my blog. I was told that these poems are in the public domain now.)

The poems in this book have a special place in my heart because they bring to recall the places of my childhood that I hold dear. Particularly, the things of the woodlands; the plants, and flowers, and trees that I learned as a girl. The seasons and constant pace of nature that are so familiar and comforting are highlighted in Henry Beer's works. Sprinkled throughout the chapters is a poem for each month of the year.

The really neat thing about the month poems is that Henry Beer was from Indiana (I am, too) and so all the flowers and trees and wildlife mentioned in each month corresponds perfectly with the seasons where I am from and as I have experienced them. I don't know if you know what I mean, but sometimes what blooms, for example: in March, is different depending on where you are on the continent. Writers from these various places have a variety of experiences of when the snow melts or when the sap flows, etc.... And these experiences make their way into their writings. I think it is so cool that everything in Henry Beer's poems, as far as woodland life, is exactly as I know it to be.

The other thing that I love about these poems are the spiritual truths. In every poem Henry Beer uses creation to point to the Creator. There are many uplifting and edifying thoughts that really anchor the readers mind on heavenly things. There are poems that tell redemptions story, exalt Jesus, and call the believer to greater love and service. These poems are quite encouraging and contemplative.

I did some searching online to see if a could find more information about Henry Beer. I wanted to know who he was. Through his poems I had gathered that he was some kind of Christian and that he had a son named Marcus that had died in his youth. There wasn't any information about Henry Beer online. I thought that was unfortunate. His works deserve to be more widely known, in my opinion.

I shared some of these poems with friends who happen to be part of the *Apostolic Christian faith tradition. I was shocked to learn that my friends knew of Henry Beer. He had been a minister in their denomination and even written some hymns that they sing in their church. It's a small world!

You can order a copy of Henry Beer's My Garden Of Verse from Apostolic Christian Bookstore .org.

 I will finish this post with the forward from My Garden Of Verse, which is a poem. :-)

Forward
The gate to my garden is open!
In this garden of verse you will find
Many writings, all varied in nature,
With the noblest of virtues entwined.

Come out to the fields and the gardens

While the birds sing at break of day.

Here the trees and the fields and the forests

Have a message of truth to convey.

The charm of each season and splendor

Will here to your vision unfold;

The glory of spring and of autumn,

The time when the season grows cold.

Fond memories of home and of childhood,

With friendships endearing and true,

The problems we face in life's pathway

In verse are recorded for you.

May the seeds I have sown in my garden

Spring forth and bring cheer to your heart.

May they help you when careworn and weary,

And a message of solace impart.

Come browse through my garden of verses,

There the Master will speak to your soul.

You will see by the beauty of nature

Many reasons His name to extol.

*Some of my readers may not be familiar with the Apostolic Christian faith, so I have added this asterisk to provide some context. The Apostolic Christian Church is one of the many branches that came from the Anabaptist movement of the 1500's. Around here (where I live) people generally shorten Apostolic Christian to AC. In everyday speech it sounds like, "I know that family: they are AC's." Or "The AC church runs the nursing home in town." Or "The AC choir sounds like heaven!" Etc....  Some AC congregations are very conservative in their dress standards, with women wearing head covering, dresses, and keeping their hair in a bun, and the men being clean shaven and wearing white shirts and black ties to meeting. I will sometimes be taken for an AC when I am out and about because my style fits all the AC distinctives.

Honor (Poem)

Honor
by Henry Beer

The man who makes success of life,
And squanders not his days,

Is quite deserving, seems to me,

Of honor, worth and praise.

But, honor is a subtle word;

If we are not aware,

And do not keep it in its place,

It soon becomes a snare.

There is a bold and slothful bird

Which lays its eggs inside

The nest of other singing birds,

And hatches out with pride.

This lusty bird will eat and grow,

And almost fill the nest,

And crowd the little fledglings out;

They scarce have place to rest.

This honor kept within the heart

Will grow to self-conceit.

And oft will crowd good virtues out,

Our noblest aims defeat.

Full many men of noble worth

Are humble in their ways,

And honor vain they do not seek,

Nor do they covet praise.

And praise will not exalt the just,

Not honor make him vain.

He knows the worth of humbleness,

Which he seeks to retain.

All that I have, all that I am,

All that I hope to be

I do ascribe to Christ, my King,

Who gave me liberty.

Sandwich Loaf Sourdough Bread Recipe

 

This recipe includes oatmeal for a really flexible moist bread loaf that can be thinly sliced for sandwiches. It is my favorite bread to make now that I have an active sourdough starter again. My whole family devours these loaves so quickly, which is why I make a two loaf recipe.

Oaty Sourdough Sandwich Bread

2 cups boiling water

1 cup oatmeal (old fashioned or quick oats)

1/4 cup butter

1/4 cup molasses

2 tsp. salt

2 cups active sourdough starter (mine is whole wheat)

2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

2 1/2 - 3 cups all purpose flour

In the bowl of a stand mixer: pour the boiling water over 1 cup of oats and let sit 5 minutes. 

Add butter, molasses, and salt.

Wait until the mixture cools sufficiently so as not to kill the yeast. You want the temperature to come down below 120°F.

Stir in the 2 cups of sourdough starter. 

Add both types of flour and mix for 5 minutes on low speed.

Rest 15 minutes.

Knead for 5 minutes by machine.

Form into ball, cover, and rise in a warm draft free place 2-4 hours. (2 hours at warmer temperatures and 4 hours at cooler temperatures.)

Grease 2 loaf pans. Shape dough and raise in loaf pans for 2-4 hours until nearly doubled in size.

Preheat oven to 400°F. Place a large roaster pan in the oven while it is preheating on a shelf below where the bread will bake.

When rise is complete slit the top of each loaf with a bread knife.

Use a steam baking technique by adding 1 1/2 cups of water into the hot roaster pan as soon as the bread is placed in the oven to bake. Close the oven door at once to trap the steam. Bake at 400° F. for 35 minutes.

Remove to wire racks to cool.

Slice and enjoy!

Matthew 6:11 
Give us this day our daily bread.