Talking Tuesday: Isaac the Syrian

 Via

A Snowy St. Patrick's Day: What I Wore Monday

A second post in one day--craziness, I tell you.  Insanity!  It is St. Patrick's Day (unless you are going by the church calendar, in which case, let's pretend it is March 30, k?)  I'm part Irish, and love what St. Patrick means to Ireland, and dressing in green is one of my favorite things, so let's do this thing.

Today we woke up to several inches of snow, and the kids' school had a power outage, so they ended up having to come home again mid-morning.  I took these when it was still snowing this morning, so forgive the blurriness.

I remembered after I took them that it was St. Patty's, and substituted my owl brooch for a little leprechaun that I've been saving for a few months.  Oh, and my watch!  I found this watch for a dollar at a flea market last fall and finally got around to getting a battery in it on Saturday.  Works perfectly now!

So, let's talk about the outfit, shall we?  The shirt is a cast-off of my husband's.  I normally dislike stand-up collars, but the shirt is made of very nice fabric and has a nice hand, so I tried it, and I think it is okay.  The reason he was getting rid of it is that it has French cuffs and the cuffs were irredeemably dirty (we tried soaking in Biz for several days, plus three tries at the cleaners, and no go), but the sleeves are too long for my short arms, so I rolled them up and called it good.  The opposite-side button placket is a little strange, but not too bad.

Nothing like taking a series of photos and realizing your sweater vest is flipped up at the hem.  Oh well.  Keeping it real over here.  About the sweater vest.  I saw Rochelle's outfit featuring this vest, and fell in love.  I was bummed when she mentioned it was thrifted, but when I was searching ThredUp two weeks ago for vests, up popped two of them, in my size!  Woot-woot!  I even had a credit on my account so it didn't cost me a thing.  I will say, I think the gray washes me out a little, and perhaps a different colored shirt would brighten the outfit up a bit--white doesn't do me a lot of favors.

I've been wearing these boots for several months, but I don't think I've photographed them before today.  They are vintage Snowland boots from the 1960s, but I think they can pass for 1940s.  I've seen boot adverts from the era that are similar.  The best part is that they are wool lined, and so warm.

The faux topaz earrings I've mentioned before, but just now got around to photographing in detail.  The scarf I've had for almost 15 years; I bought it from an old lady on the side of the road in Nizhni Novgorod when I was first a student in Russia.

On my coat: a WW2 sweetheart pin.  It is Lucite with a little brass airplane on the front.  It is a little bigger and heavier than I expected, so it will really only work on a highly structured garment like a coat, but I like it.   

Detail of the pin.  It is a plastic 1960s number, but fun!  I'll probably wear it other times in the year too.

Outfit Deets:

White men's shirt: Land's End, via my husband

American Eagle Cocker Spaniel vest: ThredUp (it is a size large, just fyi--I just looked and there is still a small and large size available!)

Green skirt: me made (although, getting a little too big in the waist!)

Faux topaz earrings: Target

Leprachaun brooch: Bright Eyes Treasures, Etsy

WW2 sweetheart pin: ebay (it was mislabeled WW1--a reenactor acquaintance found it for me!)

Boots: Snowland, via ebay

Sew for Victory: 2.0!

This year, I'm participating in Sew For Victory 2.0!  I follow several bloggers who participated last year, and was intrigued, so I'm excited to take part this year!  I have two projects in the works for this challenge, and if I have time (unlikely) a third.

First up: a navy blue skirt.  My old navy skirt (a 70s era thrift find from Haberdashery brand) is starting to show its age, and I've noticed the last few times I've worn it that it has turned into a pilling machine.  So time for a new navy skirt!  I think this project is the most likely to be finished, as I cut out the pieces this morning, and skirts are pretty fast.  The fabric is micro-brushed twill from fabric.com, and now that my green skirt is really getting too big, I'm thinking now I have an excuse to buy the green version of this fabric and make a six-gore version!

This is the same pattern I used for my red skirt, and I'm hoping to tweak the waist a bit to fit better (elastic on the inside of the waist band, perhaps).  

I know this is basically the same style as Simplicity 3688, but I just can't bring myself to haul that pattern out even though it is actually a 40s pattern.  I know this pattern, and I'm sticking with it so I can git 'er done. I'm adding an inch to the bottom length so that the lining is shorter than the skirt.   

Oh, and I'm using rayon bemberg again for lining--I bought it at the same time as the other bemberg for the navy microbrushed twill, so might as well use it.  I'm warming to it after wearing the red skirt a ton, and it is nice not to mess with a slip every day.

Next up: a blouse.  I'm of two minds about the style for this blouse, so my final decision will affect whether I can get it done.  I'm torn between making a long sleeve and short sleeve blouse.  I'm seriously deficient in long sleeve blouses, but I think I get more versatility out of a short sleeve version, especially out of this fabric, which is on the lighter side.  I'm also considering making this an Eisenhower-style blouse with a banded bottom, but that would require a whole muslin to get it right, and I'm not sure I've got time for that.  I'm also not sure the style would work for this fabric.

Lastly, I'm unsure about which pattern to use.  I have two that I like and have sewn before, so no muslin needed, but I'm intrigued by the Smooth Sailing blouse, and am considering making that since I have the pattern.  And after writing all this out, I think this is my tenative plan: I'm going to make this basic blouse pattern again, but use the sleeves from the Smooth Sailing pattern.  I do have to be careful with puffed sleeves, but I can always change them to straight if need be as I have three yards of fabric.  But then, maybe I'll just take the plunge with Smooth Sailing and go without a muslin (living on the edge, that's me).

Finally: a dress out of this fabric.


I was thinking about making the Crepe from Collette, but I don't love the cap sleeves, and I don't want to fiddle with drafting right now, so I might change my plan.  I've also got a ton of it, so maybe I'll make something for the girls too.  This part of my project list is unlikely to be finished in time for the challenge, and might get pushed to summer.  I'm tricky to fit for dresses, as I'm small on top, wide on the bottom, with a huge waist-to-hip ratio, and I'm a little concerned about finding the right dress pattern for this fabric.  I might end up with separates that look like a dress, just for good fit, not sure.

7QT: Clean Week Edition

--1--

I'm sort of noticing a Clean Week trend; the past few years, it has tried to kill me.  Last year there was the epic stomach flu that put me in the hospital with dehydration and a pretty severe gastroparesis flare.  This year, it was influenza and pneumonia together.  I spent last Saturday in the ER, as I mentioned earlier in the week, and have spent most of this week shuffling around in yoga pants and a sloppy old maternity cardigan, barely able to get off the couch, my head splitting in pain, struggling to breathe, ribs aching, and coughing like an old man.  Yesterday, finally, the pain in my head lifted, and I started to feel that this thing might not kill me after all.  I'm still not up to snuff, as they say, but I think I'm on the mend anyway.  Thank God for small mercies, as I'm on solo parenting duty for a few days.

--2--

More small mercies: on Wednesday, one of our occasional sitters e-mailed me to say she was unexpectedly free on Thursday, and would I like her to come over and help out?  A resounding yes!  I had her come from 3:30 to bedtime, and it was such a blessing to have another pair of hands during the witching hours, especially since Miss Birdie didn't nap and is sort of sick and kind of awful right now.  Of course, that could just be because she is two.  Let the toy stealing from the almost-mobile baby begin.  Oh, the drama. 

--3--

Even better?  My mom is finally coming!  For realz.  She's had to postpone her trip twice due to unavoidable circumstances, and it looked like she might have to postpone again because of new health crisis with my sister, but things settled down as much as they are going to right now, and she is coming!  (She is on the plane as I write this, so no backing out now!)  I'm so excited.  

--4--

I'm also looking forward to the costumes of Downton Abbey exhibit that is at Winterthur now--I bought our tickets several weeks ago, and we are going on Wednesday.  I was hoping to leave Birdie with a sitter, but it was not to be, so all us chickens will head out during the morning rush to feast on 1910s and 1920s costumes.  Everything I'm reading and seeing about the exhibit says it is fab.

--5--

There is nothing quite like realizing that your 3 year old is outgrowing all his 5T pants.  

--6--

I think I just need to own up to the fact that I am just a leetle bit of a clothes horse.  I sort of shudder to apply that label to myself, as I really do purge my closet regularly, and don't hang on to anything I'm not wearing regularly, or doesn't fit after a season, but I'm such a magpie when it comes to thrifted clothing. (ThredUp is both wonderful and dangerous in this way for me!)  I went on ThredUp this morning to search for pants for Boo (see #5), plus a new pair of church pants for Piglet, who managed to bust the knees of the last pair, that were, admittedly, getting a little short.  While I was there, I was sort of idly browsing for pants, as occasionally a high-waisted pair does turn up.  And lo, and behold, the Holy Grail: Pendleton jeans, in my size, high-rise, perfection--at least on the screen.  And listed for about the amount of the credit I had burning a hole in my pocket sitting in my account from my last bag clean out.  I also found a pair of high-waisted wheat-colored cords for less than $5 that I think I can alter to suit a look I want to try.  If not, it was still less than the price to buy fabric to make them.  I will say, my luck hasn't been great lately--I've only kept two pieces I got lately and returned the rest.  Although, what I did keep is fabulous.  The skirt especially has gotten a lot of wear with all this cold weather.

--7--

And because I'm out of ideas, you get a (Lenten) meme:

Via

Oh, wait, one more thing.  I just realized that the 4th anniversary of my gram's passing was yesterday.  I miss her a lot, and I'm so glad to have inherited some lovely things from her, including her sewing machine.

Wasn't she gorgeous?

Go see Jen for more Quick Takes!

Talking Tuesday: Clean Week and C.S. Lewis

Troubling news from home yesterday.  I know it is Clean Week, as there is much to bear this week.  Still feeling pretty rough after the weekend--pneumonia confirmed, influenza confirmed, still battling lung congestion and a fairly severe headache, but at least I feel I can rise from my couch today, if only for brief stretches.  I find Lewis a consolation during these times.  I'm not sure I totally understand what he is saying here, but I know it is worth understanding, and will continue to ponder.

“The problem of reconciling human suffering with the existence of a God who loves, is only insoluble so long as we attach a trivial meaning to the word "love", and look on things as if man were the centre of them. Man is not the centre. God does not exist for the sake of man. Man does not exist for his own sake. "Thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created." We were made not primarily that we may love God (though we were made for that too) but that God may love us, that we may become objects in which the divine love may rest "well pleased".”

C.S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain

What I Didn't Wear Sunday

I spent 8+ hours in the ER yesterday, as the infection I've been battling for some time decided to go for round two of special nastiness.  Things escalated to an emergency yesterday when it started to hurt to breathe and my arms and legs were numb and cold, so off to the ER I went.  They ran a bunch of tests, gave me some fluids and some meds, but then, just kind of forgot about me.  It was highly frustrating. Because keeping me awake all night in an uncomfortable bed is just the thing for a sleep-deprived patient with pneunmonia.

I stayed home from church today (obviously) which was kind of a bummer as it is Forgiveness Sunday, and Lent starts tomorrow.  I feel behind already.

But I don't want to miss my last of 7 posts (although technically I think this makes 8, as I posted last Sunday), so I'll give you a Downton Abbey outfit to round out the week.  I will note for the record that I took these on Friday, lest you think my sad sick self looks this nice today.  And I was only outside for about five minutes, for anyone concerned about the cold.

Grey Sag Harbor Skirt: Thrifted, ebay

Langvin rayon blouse: Thrifted, ebay

Black elastic belt: H&M

Heather Graphite Foot Traffic Tights: Sock Dreams

Gray t-strap shoes: gifted from a friend

Necklace: Kohl's (old)

Earrings: Etsy

Beauty from Ashes

I hope this ramble-y little post makes some sense.  I've come down with another lung infection and had a killer migraine yesterday, so I'm not sure how well I was able to articulate myself, but 7 posts in 7 days waits for no man, so here you go!

Dostoevsky wrote that beauty will save the world (The Idiot).

When we went to Austria in the summer of 2012, I rediscovered some parts of myself I thought were lost when we visited Salzburg.  I wrote a little about that journey here, but mostly I discovered that I need beauty and goodness in my life in order to have some sense of peace.  A lot has happened since then, and I confess that I've forgotten some of those very important lessons.  There is much in city living that ugly, dirty, and depressing, and it can be very easy to slip into forgetting to see the forest for the trees.  There is also much to like about living in the city--this winter would have been much more difficult for us if we had been living in the suburbs or somewhere more rural.  So even though my basic vision of the beauty in creation involves isolated rural landscapes, I'm trying to adjust to the urban reality of my daily life.  And that landscape has its own sort of beauty; one must look harder to see it.

I think one of the first things that people notice upon entering an Orthodox church are the externals of it--the physical space is designed to engage all the senses, and the iconography, the incense, the music, the candles, the chanting, etc. are all part of that.  It is to remind us of heaven, and the heavenly cloud of witnesses that surround us always, to relive the creation and salvation story through the liturgy, to point our minds and hearts to worship God and to pray for the salvation of our selves and the world.

When we first moved to this part of the country, we were underwhelmed by many of the local churches, particularly the iconography, which was heavily influenced by the Romanticism that overtook Russian iconography in the late 19th century.  It seemed so at odds, both liturgically and aesthetically, with the traditional Byzantine style iconography to which we were accustomed.  I myself studied iconography with the Prosopon School, and learned the Rublev method, which is fairly contiguous with Byzantine styles.  Aesthetics mean a lot to me, and speak to me in visceral ways, so to find so much of the iconography of the churches to be of a distinct Western style, full of sentimentalism, was disappointing. Lately, however, I find myself revising that opinion, as I think those 19th century images have much to teach me about beauty, and about a window on the soul.

Merciful Savior Church, Nizhni Novgorod, Russia

A few weeks ago, I had the very rare opportunity to attend a Saturday Vespers by myself.  I went to the Russian parish that is an easy walk from our house, and entered the candle-lit darkness of the nave.  It was womb-like, even though the church was cold.  The fragrance of incense lingered on the air, and the brass candle stands, the gold on various icons, the threads of the analogian covers all sparkled in the low light.  I breathed a deep sigh, and felt something go out of me, a pressure that lives on my shoulders most days.  I was transported back to my first experiences of the Orthodox Church in Russia, and to the sure conviction I had upon entering that God dwelled there.

The church in which I spent the most amount of time in those days was in Nizhni Novgorod, a city about seven hours east of Moscow.  The church was not large, but very old, and filled with iconography, both painted frescos and murals, as well as loose mounted icons.  Being Protestant, and having no sense of the history of iconography, those 19th century sentimental images seemed quite familiar to me.  They were similar to the ones I'd seen in Bible story books growing up, and were reassuring.

Merciful Savior Church, Interior, Nizhni Novgorod, Russia

We could have a discussion about the theology of these Romantic-type icons, but I don't think that is worth going into here.  The point is, how do these images help me to focus my mind on God, to journey to salvation, to imitate Christ?  I'm not sure I could articulate exactly how they do, but they do.  I feel movement in my soul when I'm surrounded by beauty, and it pushes me to prayer, to examine my worldliness, to understand the myriad of ways in which I fall short of the glory of God.  I understand more viscerally how deep the thorn in my wounded soul, and how impossible it is for me to draw it out myself.

I will pursue beauty.  I will look for the beauty beneath the mask of ugliness and sin, I will try to look past the spiritual sickness of the world and see the creation of God.  I will remind myself (again) of my purpose in this life.  I know I will stumble, I know I will fall, and sometimes, it may take me a while to get back up again, but as I journey to the Cross this Lent, I will remind myself of my need for salvation.

A blessed Fast to us all, and forgive me, a sinner.