Cranberry Christmas dress

I finally got some pictures of a dress I made last month for Christmas (taken in our bleak and uninspiring backyard, but we're low on breathtaking backdrops right now). ;-) I used the Sense & Sensibility Swing Dress E-Pattern, making it up with a cranberry wool crepe that was in my stash. My first experience with an E-pattern was pleasant -- instant gratification! Cheaper price! Unfortunately the pattern gave me some trouble because of the intense frustration I experienced with the neckline facing (a common problem with the pattern, based on other comments on the S&S message board). I simply could not get it to work, and ended up cutting off part of the bodice so that the gathers extend all the way to the neckline (which my hair conveniently covers in the photo, anyway). So beginning sewers, be warned!

This month I will be quite busy with sewing -- I am making several costumes for a production of The Marriage of Figaro at the small private college where my husband works part-time. Should be fun!

Frosted windowpanes

Gingerbread

Yesterday afternoon was time well spent, as I frosted gingerbread boys and girls in preparation for our Christmas guests!

Cottage Pie

This has been one of my favorite dishes to fix since I was married. It really hits the spot when it's cold outside! The amounts are extremely flexible so feel free to experiment a little.

• 1 tbsp. olive oil
  
• 2 onions, finely chopped
  
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
  
• around 1.5 lbs. ground beef
  
• 2 carrots, finely chopped
  
• 1 tbsp. all-purpose flour
  
• 1 c. beef or chicken stock
  
• 1/2 c. red wine
  
• salt and pepper
  
  
• around 5-7 medium-sized potatoes, peeled
  
• 4 tbsp. butter
  
• milk
  
• salt and pepper

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add onions and cook until softened but not brown. Add the garlic and stir well. Add the ground beef and cook until browned. (Alternately, you can brown the beef separately and add it in with the onions and garlic once it's cooked, if you want to drain off the fat as I usually do.) Add the carrots and season well with salt and pepper. Stir in the flour, stock, and wine. Season with salt and pepper. Heat until simmering and thickened.

Transfer to baking dish and bake in the oven for 1 hour.

Meanwhile, cut the potatoes into chunks and add them to a pot of boiling water until soft and mashable. Drain well and mash with a potato masher until smooth. Add the butter and enough milk to get the potatoes to the consistency you like (smooth and spreadable, but not overly wet). Season with salt and pepper.

Spoon the ground beef mixture into an oven-proof baking dish and spread the mashed potatoes on top. Increase the oven temperature to 400 degrees Fahrenheit and bake at the top of the oven for 15-20 minutes. Serves 4-6.

Excerpt from my current reading

[Mr. Pickwick and his friends are celebrating Christmas Eve with the Wardle family...]

"From the centre of the ceiling of this kitchen, old Wardle had just suspended, with his own hands, a huge branch of mistletoe, and this same branch of mistletoe instantaneously gave rise to a scene of general and delightful struggling and confusion; in the midst of which, Mr. Pickwick, with a gallantry that would have done honour to a descendent of Lady Tollimglower herself, took the old lady by the hand, led her beneath the mystic branch, and saluted her in all courtesy and decorum. The old lady submitted to this piece of practical politeness with all the dignity which befitted so important and serious a solemnity, but the younger ladies, not being so thoroughly imbued with a superstitious veneration for the custom: or imagining that the value of a salute is very much enhanced if it cost a little trouble to obtain it: screamed and struggled, and ran into corners, and threatened and remonstrated, and did everything but leave the room, until some of the less adventurous gentlemen were on the point of desisting, when they all at once found it useless to resist any longer, and submitted to be kissed with a good grace. Mr. Winkle kissed the young lady with the black eyes, and Mr. Snodgrass kissed Emily, and Mr. Weller, not being particular about the form of being under the mistletoe, kissed Emma and the other female servants, just as he caught them. As to the poor relations, they kissed everybody, not even excepting the plainer portions of the young-lady visitors, who, in their excessive confusion, ran right under the mistletoe, as soon as it was hung up, without knowing it! Wardle stood with his back to the fire, surveying the whole scene, with the utmost satisfaction; and the fat boy took the opportunity of appropriating to his own use, and summarily devouring, a particularly fine mince-pie, that had been carefully put by for somebody else."

--The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens, first published 1836-37

Reception

We had our reception at a family friend's Georgian-style home.


The lawn was set up with tables and chairs.


Guests were served tea,


along with sweets (strawberry macaroons, cream puffs, butterscotch scones, and cupcakes with rose petals)...


...and savories (cucumber sandwiches, chicken salad on mini-croissants, and open-faced roast beef tea sandwiches).



Douglas and I sat at a small table on the south-facing portico...


...but this didn't last long as we soon began greeting our guests, table by table.


And lest we forget the cake, here it is!


Complete with vintage cake topper from my grandmother's 1947 wedding.

Bridesmaids

(Clicking on the photos will take you to our photographers' website.)
As I've mentioned before, Douglas' three sisters were my attendants in our wedding. Their gowns were made out of silk damask (bodices) and sueded silk shantung (skirts) which came from Denver Fabrics. The pattern we used was McCall's 3571 for the two older girls and a conglomeration of patterns for the youngest. My mom and I did about 1/3 of the work (mostly cutting out) and then Douglas' mom finished up the rest. They certainly looked very beautiful and serene!

These photos were taken before the actual wedding, while we were still kind of in the midst of getting ready, but later the girls tucked some pale pink sweetheart roses into their hair which looked sooo pretty.

Wedding gown

Finally, a bit more about my wedding gown...!


Here's the sketch I did of my dress waaaay back in January or February of this year. (Alert minds will catch that I wasn't even engaged at that point, heheheh...) I based it off an Edwardian silhouette because I think the princess lines and trumpet skirt are some of the most elegant, flattering, and beautiful design elements of all time.

If you have watched the movie Anne of Avonlea you may remember a dress that Anne wears which is creamy white with a neckline of fabric flowers. That dress made a strong impression on me as a girl and I have always thought there is something very beautiful and feminine about a floral garland around the neck or shoulders. I also like the touch of color to the white dress -- it seems joyous and happy.

I decided to use silk duchess satin for my dress because the drape of the fabric would work well for my design, and it isn't quite as shiny as some other kinds of satin. The underskirt would be made from silk georgette for some variation and softness.


I made several mock-ups of my gown, using Butterick 6926 as a jumping-off point for my bodice. Finally, I felt ready to drive into the real thing, so I placed an order for fabric from Fishman Fabrics in Chicago, which arrived in mid-July. Using my final mock-up as a pattern, I cut out my dress and sewed it up.

Also in mid-July, I combined a visit with Cheri and April in Denver with a stop at the home studio of Helen Gibb in Louisville, Colorado. Douglas didn't know what I was up to and was quite mystified when he dropped me off at her home! Helen's studio is a ribbon paradise and she was incredibly helpful to me as I shopped. There were so many gorgeous, beautiful ribbons to choose from that I was able to find the right colors and many beautifully textured ribbons to make the flowers on my gown. Neither my mom nor I had ever made ribbon flowers before, but with the help of Helen's books we were able to make all the flowers you see on my dress.


My veil was almost an afterthought. I had ordered some silk tulle from Fishman Fabrics without really know how I was going to make my veil. I knew I wouldn't be able to find anything I liked in a bridal store, and I wanted a fingertip-length veil that also covered my face. I wanted it to be simple and old-fashioned. Finally I just decided to cut out an oval shape, stitch it to a headband, and that was that! I didn't even finish the edges -- I liked the ethereal, cloudy look of not having any hard lines where the veil ended. Extremely easy!


Oh, and I did make my petticoat, too -- but I'm not even going to get into that! :-)

(Thanks to my friends Keturah and Sarah for all the photos in this post!)

Solemnization of Matrimony

photo taken by my Uncle Gary.
Douglas and I chose to use the marriage ceremony from the 1662 Book of Common Prayer for our wedding, which you can read in its entirety here (and no, it has nothing to do with the Jane Austen link -- that's just the first page Google pulls up). :-) We chose to use that particular ceremony because we appreciated that it is so full of Scriptural truth. The "Duties" section (which was read by Douglas' father) pretty much just culls sections of the Holy Bible that pertain to the different responsibilities of husbands and wives -- i.e. it is straight from Scripture. In our culture, a lot of what is discussed in the 1662 ceremony has been forgotten or discarded, so it was refreshing to Douglas and I and our families to participate in a ceremony that honors the infallible Word of God.

We included a congregational hymn during our service -- For the Beauty of the Earth (in this case, verses 1, 2, 3, 4, and 8), which is a hymn of praise to the Lord. Douglas' talented cousin was also able to sing a solo for us during the Signing of the Registry, which was The Lord's My Shepherd, sung to the tune of "Brother James Air." Douglas himself composed the bridal processional for organ, which I heard for the first time as I walked toward him down the aisle. I would love to get a copy of it to share, if I can!

Both Douglas and I were surprised by how quickly the ceremony passed. I was very nervous at the beginning, mostly because I am not comfortable being the center of attention, but God gave me the strength to get through it without fainting or any other unpleasant symptoms. It helped to have my dad's arm to lean on, and later Douglas' hand to hold. :-)

After the pronouncement, we walked back up the aisle as husband and wife to a joyous peal of bells... it was wonderful to see so many shining, smiling faces looking back at us. Just a short half-hour of my life, but I'll never forget it!

Mr. and Mrs. Singer

Mr. and Mrs. Singer on their honeymoon in beautiful Forest Park, Peoria, IL.
Click on the image for the full effect!
I'm back! Thank you so much for all your prayers. The wedding was wonderful, beautiful, exciting, spectacular, etc. (Of course I am a little biased.) I don't even know where to start in describing it! I think I will have to do separate posts about each detail. In the meantime, I know you are itching to see photos... our photographers put up a few preview shots on their blog which you can view here.

Five days

With five days to go until the wedding, I think I'd better sign off for now. If you would like to pray for us, I have some specific requests:

• that Douglas and I will have a strong marriage founded on love for our Heavenly Father and love for one another.
  
• that our wedding will be God-honoring.
  
• that we will have beautiful weather (outdoor reception).
  
• that God will give me His peace and help me to relax and enjoy the day!

'39 Packard

Why is a photo of this elegant, beautiful, sleek, gorgeous, shiny '39 Packard gracing my blog?

It's our transportation on the wedding day!!!

It's owned by a local, semi-retired businessman who, although a complete stranger to us before we sought him out to ask about hiring the car, is willing to drive us around on our wedding day, "for the fun of it!"

In other '30s news... I have to confess that after we got back from vacation a few weeks ago, I gave up on the idea of completing a new '30s dress as a "going-away dress" in time for the wedding -- I was just piling too much upon my own shoulders and I didn't have enough time to get it done. Instead I decided to wear a dress I already own and love, which not too many people at the wedding will have seen before, anyway. Once I made that decision a great weight fell off, and I'm just as excited about my outfit even if it isn't "bran' new."

Invitations

I am really pleased with the way our wedding invitations turned out. Originally, I was all for getting something pre-designed, but Douglas pressed for an original design and now I'm so glad he did. It was a team effort between us and we are both happy with the results!


Douglas drew the representation of my engagement/wedding ring, and I scanned it and cleaned it up in Paint Shop Pro. It makes for an interesting medallion, no? Several people have asked if it's a family crest or symbol... perhaps it will be from now on! ;-)

The invitation text is printed on the inside of the card, using the font Edwardian Script ITC. We also included R.S.V.P. cards with self-addressed, stamped envelopes, plus a 2x3, black and white engagement snapshot, as well as a business card with the address of our wedding website. My grandmother was very helpful in stuffing and addressing envelopes! And it's been fun to sort through the barrage of R.S.V.P.s that piled up while we were away on vacation.

Wedding travels

En route from Brother's Wedding to Cousin's Wedding we find ourselves in the hills/mountains of Tennessee -- a far cry from I-80!


A field of cosmos, and beyond, the landscape of North Carolina.

Bridal shower

My sisters-to-be threw me my first bridal shower on Friday evening -- as you can see, they know me pretty well and decorated the tables accordingly. It was a lovely evening and I so appreciate all their effort!