Layer Away!

Now that it's December, we can pretty much say that it is winter, and that it is pretty much cold outside - well, at least colder. So that means more layers!! I love this time of year when I can wear warm tights with a cute skirt and a fitted turtleneck sweater, feeling comfy warm yet look really nice, too. It is also the time of year when curling up under a nice warm blanket in the corner of the couch with a good book or movie and a cup of hot coffee seems to be calling my name, too.

Let's face it - we are in the holiday season. It's winter. It's cold. It's December. It's almost Christmas. I don't really like the cold as we head farther into winter, but with the cold comes fun family activities, sometimes more travel, and some wonderful events that hopefully, bring us closer together in friendship and love.

I don't know about anyone else, but I love snow...when I can leave it behind when I have had enough of it. This is the first week that snow has been in our weather forecast here in Indiana, and I am excited and apprehensive. As long as I don't have to get out in it, and I feel warm and safe inside, then it will be fun watching the first snowfall of winter. I can't imagine going through a long, cold winter like pioneers did in their breezy log cabins! The drafts would freeze me, for sure!! However, if I had been of that time, I am sure I would have coped like everyone else. I would layer, layer, layer and quilt like there was no tomorrow!

Right now I am working on finishing up a couple of quilts I started awhile back that now just need to be hand quilted. I thought about tying them, but I just thought that I would like the look of them better if I did them right - the old-fashioned way. So, like many-a pioneer woman, I am trying to spend my cold winter days hand quilting so I can be warm the rest of the winter.

Here are a couple of swatches from one of the quilts that I will hopefully be working on. I like the neutrals, especially tans and browns.

If you don't quilt, then perhaps try knitting. Scarves are easy and don't take too long to make, and they really make a difference if you are cold indoors. They can also be a fashion accessory!

Try to stay warm, my friends!

Costumes, Clothes, and Sewing

It's been a long time! Finally getting back to myself after being sick for so long.

Probably the only thing I did while I was sick for a week was make a Laura Ingalls Wilder dress for my cousin for Halloween. It turned out better than I was expecting, and it looked so cute on her!

Making this costume and sharing it with you all leads me to my next topic - sewing.

With the weather continually getting colder (albeit beautiful today!), the winter sweaters, wools, pants, and layers come out. For me, with all of the physical changes I've had going on the past year and a half, my clothes are very sparse this winter. Very few items fit anymore! I guess it is a good problem to have :)

While trying to be thrifty, I have been looking at my fabric stash to see what I can make that will be warm and cozy, as well as fashionably acceptable. I have some nice wools that were just sent to me that should make some very nice skirts!

Pioneers probably did something similar, although they more than likely didn't have a "stash" of fabric like mine. Fabric was expensive and carefully planned out for each garment that needed to be made for each family member. Fabric was also reused. For example, your daughter needs a new dress because she has outgrown her old one. So, mother probably used an old skirt of her own to cut out the daughter's new dress, or at least parts of it.

To see an interesting site that is in Indianapolis and that has many costumes, take a look at Conner Prairie's website - http://www.connerprairie.org/

This idea of reusing fabric is one that I particularly like. I have an old full length skirt that I got at Goodwill Outlet awhile back that is considered dated today (but I love the material!), and I am working on remaking it over into something that I can wear today. Perhaps you will see pictures of this redone skirt in a future post.

Happy sewing!