Bright Monday

Christ is Risen!  

Indeed, He is Risen!

Христос воскресе!

Навистина воскресе!

We made it!  I almost can't believe it is the Paschal season at last.  It has seemed like a long Lent this year.  Fruitful, but difficult.  The Holy Week cycle was particularly intense.  I think it is difficult to convey the intensity of the week leading up to Pascha.  

I will say that last week was, in addition to being intense, very beautiful.  There was something that awoke in my soul last week, something that had been asleep for a long time, I think.  I'm trying to hold on to it, to stay spiritually awake, especially during this feastal time.  I sometimes think the temptations of the Bright Season are harder than in Lent, when you are expecting them.  Festal temptations sometimes sneak up on you and bite you in the shoulder when you least expect.  

Birdie kept complaining about being cold.  Those wool sweaters I knit were just the thing for the temperatures.  Although, you'd think we had gone on an Arctic expedition in our swimsuits, the way the kids were carrying on about it!  Thankfully the part of the service that is outside doesn't take that long.  She did refuse to take her jacket off for the rest of the service, and Ponchik wore my extra cardigan like a cape for the whole service.

Doors open, all the lights on, Bright Feast!  (My husband is on the left)

Today also marks the second day of Me-Made-May!  Readers who've been around a while will remember I participated in this challenge last year.  It is, basically, a challenge to wear your hand-made garments every day for a month.  Last year, I was still wearing about half ready-to-wear, and about half me-made, particularly in separates, so the month presented some challenges for me.  This year, my wardrobe is much more me-made, and I think it will be easier.  I learned a lot from the challenge last year, and I'm curious to see what this month will reveal.

I plan to blog this month much the same was as last year, with a weekly photo round up, probably on Fridays.  I don't have as much sewing planned this month as I did last year this time, in part because this is the last month of my spring rotation, so I have almost nothing new to share for it, but also because my summer sewing is nearly complete.  I have one skirt left to sew (it is cut out) and hope to finish that later this week.

That said, I do have one last project to share for this rotation: my Pascha dress!

I was planning to make this dress in the fall, but when I realized that Pascha coincided with the start of Me-Made-May, I knew it needed to be my Pascha dress instead.  I had planned to wear a red knit dress from eshakti, but as it happened, I'm glad I wore this instead.  It was surprisingly cold (and raindy) for a May Pascha, and I ended up pairing it with a red merino wool sweater, instead of the thin blue cotton one I had planned to wear.  I think the red looks better anyway!  (And is more appropriate to the liturgical colors of Pascha, which are red and white)

I don't have a lot of construction details to note.  This fabric is a semi-vintage length I bought on etsy.  It is a reproduction feedsack from the late 1980s or early 1990s that was made for Joann fabrics, and was a scant 2 yards.  It has a really interesting texture, and if I didn't know it was reproduction, I would have thought it might be original.  I had originally planned to make a skirt with it, but decided to try for a dress instead.  I didn't have enough fabric for a full dress, but I had some red broadcloth that was a close enough match, so I went for a contrasting border hem.  I think it works because the border is narrower than the pots and pans dress.  

I went back to bust tucks on this version, which shaped the front of the dress nicely.  I put elastic in the back, as usual, and found myself completely comfortable all night long.  I've also experimented a little with the back neckline height--this one is close to the drafted height of the XL size (I cut a small-medium, for reference).  I've been cutting the back neckline a lot higher on most of my dresses, but I wanted to see how I liked the slightly lower neckline on some of my warm-weather dresses.  I think it is okay, but I will continue to raise it 1-2" in the future.

I drafted a kangaroo pocket and applied some crochet lace from my late grandmother's stash to the facing edge.  

I had just enough left over to put a little peek of lace at the front neckline.  I like the small little extra.

I did worry about putting all the reds together, but it kind of worked!  I found a greenish egg pendant on etsy at the beginning of Lent and saved it to wear with my Pascha outfit.  Some people collect egg pendants and wear a whole charm necklace on Pascha, but I think this single egg is perfect for me.  It also provided some entertainment for Ponchik during the long midnight service.

I wore my trusty Dankso gheille shoes again this year--they were so comfortable and easy last year, that I thought, why mess with a good thing?  The fact that they coordinated so well was quite a bonus.

Christos Anviat!

Adevărat a înviat!