Hi everyone,
I know “some” of you will be happy to see this next dress in the works. I spent the longest time trying to decide which fabric I wanted to use from that stash I bought at the Renew Shop here in town. I was trying to find something Fall-ish for the month of November, which is probably when I’ll get it listed! I decided on this rust and black print. It has sort of a marbled or splotchy look to the fabric.
I added some black lace to the neckline and then there will be another black lace on the sleeves and someplace else.
This picture shows the color of the fabric the best on my computer.
I only have a few pictures and my hubby just reminded me of a funeral we are going to in the morning, so I have to get to bed… I hope you can use your imagination and envision this dress! I think it will be very pretty!
See you tomorrow,
Blessings, Jeanne
That is a very fall-ish fabric, Jeanne, and I love the lace you used on the sleeves! I think this one is going to be very elegant!
I’m a bit envious of all you gals who have porches! Out here in the greater Seattle are, especially among the more “modern” houses (1960s forward), it is very rare to see a porch of any kind. All we have is a square of concrete for a stoop, and then the steps go down from that. We do have a small deck in the back, but that’s not quite the same as a porch!
Barbara, I can sure understand how you feel about Bethlehem, because that’s how I feel about the little town where I grew up, too, as well as the entire Upper Peninsula of Michigan! Stephenson is located in the southern tip of the U.P., near Escanaba and Menominee, and it is such a beautiful area, with many waterfalls, rivers, and lakes! I actually have a photo of the house where I grew up, in my computer’s photo album! Loved that house–two stories, full basement, and big rooms. It was wonderful.
I have about 2/3 of my winter/summer clothes swapped out now. I have a chest in the basement, and it’s quite easy to get to, so if I should need something from the “opposite” season, it’s really easy to access.
Would love to see a picture of your house in Michigan. Sounds wonderful. While we’ve been to Michigan we never made it to the UP. We were visiting with a woman I had worked with that moved back to Michigan after she retired so we did what she wanted to or suggested. She was born and raised in Detroit but thankfully was visiting her cousin and his wife in northern Michigan so we did get to see a lot of the beautiful state and we did Mackinac Island and the Soo Locks.
I love fall colors, Jeanne, and you picked a very pretty one for the next dress! I’m thrilled it is a Civil War dress, since you always do those so well! Love the black lace on the neckline and that pretty beaded lace on the sleeves too! This will be a very nice dress for Rebecca to wear to her grandmother’s house when she goes for Thanksgiving! Her dress has that “ pumpkin pie” vibe!
Charlotte, front porches are pretty popular here where I live, since St. Louis is definitely a place where colonial architecture is prominent. Also they are so necessary for summertime, when the sun is at its peak, since they help to give shade. I’m not saying every house has a front porch, but a large majority of houses here do. My grandparents had a stoop like you have, so I am quite familiar with that.
Sadly our home here was built in 1945 by a builder who was looking for the modern look I guess. Since it has a low-profile roof one time David and I were talking about putting a porch from the driveway to the front of the house so it would look like an Australian station house. When we looked into the cost of doing it, even himself, the cost of materials alone was huge so it never got done. The house is on a corner lot but the address is not on the road the house faces it’s on the side with the driveway. So in the 35 years we have lived here we have never used the front door. They didn’t even put a walk around to it. We were going to do that but as time went on we realized everyone was going to come to the the kitchen door on the driveway side so why spend the money. Guess the builder thought that too.
My childhood home was on a corner too, and the address was actually the side street where the driveway was. While most of the time we came through the back of the house, we had a sidewalk go to the front of the house from the driveway, , and that’s where other people came in. And we had a front porch!
I hope you have a pleasant day, all of you. Funerals are not so great but you are among friends and grieving and it is good to offer support.
I had an old friend that told me long ago, that she never goes to funerals.
I never asked her why. I thought it was quite a firm statement.
Anyway, God Bless the grieving.
This dress is pretty so far. I like the fabric.
I am sure it will be inspiring to create along the way.
Porches: We have never had a front porch or a back porch. we did have a deck on the old house. This new property, we hardly have any property but we did choose a front porch and a back screened in porch.
It is okay. We have only been here 6 months and I have not used the back porch at all.
Happy Tuesday already! I am taking a break from sewing my maple tree blocks (the substack chat is here: https://substack.com/chat/3289560 I think you can view it) and going to the olden house to clean up a bit. I do not feel like it, but I should. I hope everyone has a productive day with sun included.
Rosemary, the blocks look amazing! I once tried to make a doll quilt with just little squares and it was not very neat. I can’t imagine trying to do those tree blocks. I know the finish will be fun to see!
The maple leaf quilt is beautiful, but I was surprised the picture wasn’t in color.
The maple leaf blocks look wonderful. It must be fun to see them develop ass you add new color.
Jeanne, although I don’t have AG dolls I love seeing the lovely clothes you make for them. Your beginning on this one has a lovely fabric and trims. I know it will be special as always. Looking forward to watch it grow.
How is George? I hope it is getting better every day?
Anne, I am looking forward to seeing your tartan dress! I hope it will make me start sewing again.
I am so sorry about your weather, it sounds very scary! I hope you haven’t had damage from it!
Barbara, I am looking forward to the finish on your storage area. Ours is our garage and it is a mess! Our car and truck sit outside on the parking area. Also I do understand how you feel about your home town. Mine is one hour away from where we live. When we decided to move back to GA from FL we decided to build our house here in this quiet county in this nice subdivision on the water. The county I grew up in is not the same place anymore. It is an island with beaches and has been taken over by tourists and more and more people. The small houses have been taken down and have been replaced by huge fancy houses. The traffic is terrible and there are roundabouts every where. The house I grew up it is gone and replaced by one that is three stories high. “My beach” is the most popular one now and always crowded. Since my older brother still lives on the island we do go there sometime. The last time we went was the wedding I showed Y’all the photos, and the beach looked like New York! So you know I understand how you feel.
Linda, I do have a front porch and a back porch. I will have to send some photos when the camellias are blooming in the front.
Since we had an outbuilding in back of the house when we moved here that served as a storage building, we never thought of building anything else. But in time it filled up and the overflow ended up in the garage. Then something happened and the door to what we called the “Little House” did not open so more stuff got put in the garage. I had already moved my Christmas stuff to the garage but David said that is a no-go. It now goes in the storage room. I said it will be hard for “me” to access and bring in. He reminded me I have three strong men to do that for me and a grandson who could possibly help also. So into the storage room (the new “Little House”) it will go. The former Little House had to be torn down due to it being on the wrong side of the line for the housing. When Sean and Jason tore it down it became apparent why the door wouldn’t open. The building was collapsing so we would have had to build something else anyway. The building was over a hundred years old. Sorry to hear about the “demise” of your childhood haunt. Thankfully Bethlehem has become better than it was when I lived there. It still does not seem to have much crime. They leave that to Allentown. But your comment reminds me of what happened to Crested Butte, CO. David went to college in nearby Gunnison and spent many hours skiing the slopes of CB. We honeymooned there and it was still a wonderful small town. We returned a few years later on vacation and to look at property and were appalled by what it had become. The bastion of the wealthy and a lot of trust fund babies. The area south of town was now covered with expensive homes. They all had wood-burning fireplaces and the people in Gunnison were being forbidden from using theirs because all the smoke would come down and lie in the valley there. No one told the people in CB not to use theirs.
Oh, this dress is a knockout! Absolutely love the color and the black accents. Perfect for fall. Looks like another big winner for Jeanne. 🙂
It’s drying out around here, so back to work this morning with leaves at the other house. I think they will easily fill the can there. We have them coming down here as well, but we’re going to concentrate on the other house first.
I actually finished that little skirt I’ve been stitching, but still need to press the pleats. Maybe I can finish it up later today. But, I think it needs a sweater and I do not knit. Have to check out Etsy, I guess. I thought about using a sock to make something, but Haven’t had time to look for anything that might work or a pattern either.
Looks like nice fall weather here, and we should be in the 70’s later on. Only in the 40’s now though. Burr
I don’t knit either but have found some lovely things on Etsy and for great prices. They are usually made in Ukraine or Poland. Some of my favorite shops for doll sweaters is 10DollsFashion in Kyiv. Her things are lovely and HannaBannAnnaBears also in the Ukraine. Enjoy!
Thanks for the store tips. I’m not sure of what the tariff’s might be for those places. That would really add to the cost and require a trip to the main post office here to pay and pick up. Don’t want to do that. I do like to look though. 🙂
I haven’t had to do that with anything I’ve bought lately and I’ve bought a lot from overseas. Even things I’ve bought from China. I found another site too. MariaCuteKnit in Lithuania.
Dear Jeanne, the dress is going to be lovely. It makes me think of Pumpkin Pie. I guess that could be considered an Autumn dessert and could be served for Thanksgiving.
How funny. We just got back from Costco where we picked up a pumpkin pie. 🙂 Other person had to have it.
Dear Joy, ah ha! You have just discovered another way to distract Other Person when you need to institute one of your capers (laugh).
I’m delighted it’s a Civil War dress. The amber color is gorgeous and I love the lace, especially on the sleeves. This will be beautiful!
Charlotte, we are only one of three houses on our street with a front porch that runs the entire length of the house. My neighbor friends across the street have a tiny side porch and a few have a partial front porch. Most have nothing at all, just step to the door. We also had a back porch/ patio, but that was removed and replaced with the sun room decades ago to have another room to use year round.
I love front porches, especially the wraparound kind with the portion that extends out for a table and chairs..
When I lived in Pottsville, PA, when I was little we lived with my stepfather’s parents in their big Victorian House. It had a porch that ran the full front of the house. Our neighbors across the street also had a big Victorian with a wraparound porch. I’ve always loved porches but rarely have had one on my house. My grandparents lived for a time in a Craftsman bungalow house and had a nice front porch. When my sister and I visited in the summer my grandmother would sit out on the porch in the afternoon and watch us play. Sometimes the neighbor lady would come over and sit with her and there were always people passing by on the street that would stop to chat.
This is going to be beautiful, Jeanne! Love the color of the material and its print. The lace and beads add a perfect elegance to it. Can’t wait to see more.
I have to laugh at Dorothy In PA’s clever comment/ perfect Autumn dessert! I would agree!
Dear Paula, thanks for your comment. My favorite dessert is traditional wedding cake, white cake, white icing. Yum! Unfortunately all of my friends are “of an age” and no one is getting married. Maybe I will suggest that it be called anniversary cake instead. Hummm, I have to think about that (laugh).
Dorothy! I love white cake, and white icing too!!! My sister-in-law use to make it just for me on my birthday. Then she started putting coconut on the icing and it was even better.
My other weakness is banana nut muffins and Boston Cream Pie. ( which is really a cake) Haven’t had that cake for years.
Dear Paula, I like banana nut muffins also! I can’t eat coconut though. My other favorite cake is carrot cake.
That dress is going to be lovely. I like the beads on the sleeves and the color is perfect for fall, though the new blue LD outfit is a beautiful contrast to the fall leaves.
Speaking of beautiful contrasts, my Guadalupe rose is blooming as if it will never have another chance. It looks like this
https://www.jacksonandperkins.com/our-lady-of-guadalupe-floribunda-rose/p/v1622/
That rose is absolutely beautiful. My mother had a rose garden and they bought a lot from J&P. Their roses were always so lovely and smelled so good.
What a gorgeous color! My father planted a climbing rose bush on our fence that was this pale pink color, and it always gave the most beautiful blooms. I have never forgotten those. They looked something like this,
How lucky you are to have such a lovely rose. It’s striking. 🙂
Oh my, what a beautiful dress. I love the color and the lace for the sleeves is really nice. I can’t wait to see what’s next. Waiting in anxious anticipation.
Mention of defining flower beds made me think of the effort we made to raise our front flower bed. We used decorative blocks and they’ve worked well. But we thought it was such a good idea we created a flower bed on the other side of the walkway. It was several inches high. We assumed people would walk around it and up the walk to the door. Wrong!!! I can’t believe how many people just stepped up on it and walked over it, including the mail lady. Finally we did away with it for fear someone would slip on the blocks and fall head first into the front steps.
Since I always seem to miss some comments because I don’t get back to the blog, I’ll comment here on a couple from yesterday I read this morning.
Anne, I would love to see the next tartan dress. Thanks for converting the temps for me. I’m pretty good with metric measurement conversions but not so good with temps. So glad to hear Luna is feeling better. Hope the vet agrees. Your weather sounds really scary. The compensation for damages seems totally inadequate.
Elizabeth, your peach door sounds really pretty. Sometimes when I am creating homes on my home design program I can’t decide what to paint the front door. Thanks for the suggestion.
High of 88 today. High of 65 tomorrow. I’m not ready to change out my wardrobe just yet but I do keep a few pairs of long pants and long-sleeved shirts in the back of my closet for in-between time. In short, I don’t figure the fall weather will stick around for very long. Darn!