Clothing Care Then and Now

My mother was of "advanced maternal age" when she had me, the first of her 5 children--so she's quite a bit older than the moms of other girls my age. She had an attitude toward clothing that...Well, I've wondered if it's her own little quirk or if it's indicative of how society viewed clothing and care of clothing in the 50's and earlier.

We didn't have a huge number of clothes. Maybe 5 or 6 outfits. And we frequently wore the same outfit the next day if it wasn't dirty. Growing up in the country, I often wonder how we managed to keep our clothes clean enough to wear for 2 or sometimes even 3 days, but we did. (My kids can't seem to manage this living on concrete.) If the clothes didn't look or smell bad, we neatly hung them in the closet to wear again the next day.

We had 2 pairs of shoes--play shoes and "school shoes" which is a laughable moniker since we were homeschooled. Our church shoes were white sandals in summer and something like saddle oxfords in winter.

I have noticed in older books (such as Grace Livingston Hill stories) that the wardrobes seem quite limited compared to what we have today. However, there was a greater emphasis on quality. There was also a great deal of emphasis on taking care of clothing properly. I suppose most people didn't have as much money (or credit, ahem) for clothes as people do now? Or maybe I'm supposing wrongly. Maybe it's just the lower-middle-class circles my mom lived in as a youngster that influenced her thinking for life.

What about you? Do you notice differences in how generations view and care for clothing?

Sewing Slipcovers

~::~sorry, don't know the image source...but my slipcovers are supposed to look something like this!~::~

I stayed up late last night sewing slipcovers for our dining room chairs. My awesome husband just recovered the cloth seats and I scotchguarded them liberally, but with my rowdy crew I knew they needed an additional cover.

I've read about so many cool projects using painter's drop cloth, so I decided to give it a try. It's durable, already "distressed," and somewhat spill resistant. Besides, I can get a 9X12 for $25. That beats buying fabric by the yard!

Of course, the one night that I forgo doing dishes, laundry, and picking up in favor of sewing, and then get up and put on scruffy painting clothes, is the morning that my sweet, gorgeous friend calls bright and early to say she's dropping by with a gift of fresh fish! Well, the good thing about that is that we got things picked up in record time--and then she didn't even come in! So funny how that seems to work out.

I finished all the edges, hemmed the ruffles, and stitched the gathering threads. Now I can gather and pin the ruffles in the evening when I'm talking to my husband or watching TV. Hopefully I'm on the home stretch! This has been a much bigger project than I anticipated. Pictures to come.

Now I'm off to prime and paint a giant bunk bed! If anyone's reading, I hope you are having a happy, busy day too!

Beautiful Bicycles

While I'm posting pictures of bicycles, how about these beauties I stumbled on at
Katie's Rose Cottage?

Oh my...Total perfection...

I had a bike that got ruined...We moved and I didn't realize that it had gotten left in the rain and humidity for several months until it was too late...I was so crushed. I have been pregnant or with a new baby for so much of the past few years that I hadn't been able to ride much anyway, but I was excited about being able to again. These photos have me scheming...I'm pretty sure there is a bike in my future...Somehow!

P.S. These images apparently originally came from the BEG bicycles site.

Becoming an Artist

~::~Ginger Rodgers~::~

I remember the day that my thinking changed about art and what it means to be an artist. Until that day, I thought an artist was a painter or someone who drew, who sold their art for money. I suppose I thought most people who could be considered artists were famous, like Monet or Normal Rockwell.

Then in the early days of blogging I stumbled upon an odd little blog by a Jewish-turned-Presbyterian free spirit sort of woman who wore tiered skirts she’d thrifted one on top of the other, wrote zines, and called herself an artist. She made a lot of different things, including altered books which I didn’t and don’t understand. I don’t think she really sold her art. She didn’t have an Etsy shop or a booth at a craft fair. Yet she called herself an artist. I was fascinated and read her entire blog in a couple days, many months’ worth of writing. I turned this idea over and over in my mind that an ordinary person could be an artist, that perhaps I too could be an artist.

~::~vintage girl on bike~::~

For many years I said that I was not creative. My sisters were creative, I said, but I only copied what I saw other people do. I was really very unoriginal. I loved to create but none of my ideas were my own, so I didn’t feel as if I could claim them. Something happened, though, as I copied others. It took a few years, but after awhile I started getting my own ideas. At first they were pretty lame, but I was trying. Now I am full of ideas! Especially when I have a little extra time and my schedule is less pressured, creativity flows through me in a torrent, so many ideas for things to write and make that I sometimes can’t even sleep.

I fully believe that all people are made in the image of a creative God and that his creativity resides inside us, just waiting to be unleashed. For most of us, though, that creativity is stifled. Maybe we’ve been tightly controlled and haven’t had the opportunity to spread our creative wings, maybe our educational environment stifled creativity, or maybe we have been conditioned to be takers of the creativity of others (such as through recorded music and television), not contributors to the creative world.

~::~Elizabeth Taylor~::~

In any case, I now know that I’m creative. As for calling myself an artist—well—I don’t know. I don’t really think of myself as an artist, but I do think of myself as someone who makes art or wants to make art. This can take many forms, from a craft project to arranging a room to blogging to learning to take pictures. I love the concepts of beauty and design, but I find that I am very halting in my own expressions. I find myself saying things like, “Blogging helps me become a better artist,” so maybe in my heart I already know that I am!

What do these bike images have to do with being an artist? Nothing whatsoever. I found them all at Riding Pretty.

Pink and Gray

{photo source unknown}

The next couple weeks leave me with a little "extra" time, not that this busy mama ever has time that is truly extra. But a bit more expendable time than usual. I plan to redo my girls' room--fingers crossed and all goes well. They have waited a long time to have a pretty room. We have yet to find the magical method of keeping their room clean, but I want them to have a space they are proud to keep in order. I found a beautiful vintage platter that is our inspiration piece. I'll post a picture soon. Their colors are pink and gray with a touch of green. I want to paint all the mismatched furniture white. My oldest required some French-inspired touches.

I made a trip to Lowe's today for paint samples, and to Hobby Lobby for some items to get started. I was pleased that nearly everything I bought was either on sale or clearance, or from the thrift store. I still need to purchase the paint and one or two items, but that will have to wait till the weekend.

The photo above is the inspiration photo that we all agree we love. The girls already have pink comforters, so the room will not look the same as the picture--in fact, it really won't look anything like it. But the color combo and the soft, romantic look is what we are after. Pictures to come!