A Metaphorical Shelf

I have many childhood memories of playing dollhouse with my sisters. We had huge imaginations. We always had new stories to capture through our dollhouse people. And when we weren't playing dolls we would pretend we were princesses, spies, cashiers, mommies, waitresses, and babysitters. We had picnics, frilly dress up clothes, fort houses, too many dolls, and too much fun. We were girls. We've grown up and our childish play has been put on a metaphorical shelf. We kept memories of our youths in our hearts and we've kept the dollhouse. 

Now that our two-year-old sister is old enough we took the dollhouse out again. Since she has three older brothers we weren't sure what she would enjoy playing with. Some have said that she'd be a "tomboy"; tough and ruddy. Although she's always been determined even through her traumatic birth she's a very happy, healthy girl. She learns fast like Abby, is neat like Maggie and loves dolls like I used to. She'll sit for hours putting together her house. Positioning everything just right. It's so neat to see her mommy instincts show through. She brings her babies to lunch and to nap time. She pretends like my sisters and I used to. She loves to prepare pretend food and clean the dishes. We're so blessed to have her to brighten up each day. You could say that we have encouraged her to be a mommy, not giving her a chance to "be herself". But that wouldn't be the whole truth. She's a girl, because that's what God made her.

³ Older women likewise are to be reverent in their behavior, not malicious gossips nor enslaved to much wine, teaching what is good, ⁴ so that they may encourage the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, ⁵ to be sensible, pure, workers at home, kind, being subject to their own husbands, so that the word of God will not be dishonored. Titus 2:3-5 NASB

Battle of the Swimsuits

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 I know I am not the only one out there, though oftentimes it seems like it...
I find that it's very difficult to find a decent swim suit. ( And might I say the cost is ridiculous!)
Do you have the same problem? Although I don't go swimming that often, I do find it frustrating seeing how the culture handles swimming apparel. Many prefer to swim around the pool wearing the latest colored underwear... :-P

I thought I'd share a few helpful links and ideas to dress modestly for the glory of God even at the pool.

Here are some options I've tried and discovered. Click the links to the websites. All photos are from their websites.

Land's end

  They have a selection of swim suits, rash guards and swim skirts.

( Sorry the photo is so small. Click the link below for a better view.)

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Swim Modest

  They have a selection of swim suits.

I have bought a swim dress from them and it has held up very well. It's well made and comfortable.

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Dressing For His Glory

They have a selection of clothes as well as swim wear, swim skirts, swim shirts, and swim skorts.

Their swim skirts are about the same price as land's end's skirt, but are a  quite a bit longer with leggings sewn in.

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Simply Modest Swimwear

They sell swim suits, leggings, swim suit patterns, and swim fabric.

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I bought a swim dress and leggings from here. They were well made, but the fabric hasn't been as durable as others.

Fresh Modesty

 Olivia sells a very pretty, stylish swim suit pattern. I haven't used her pattern before, but it looks very nice.

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These are just a few ideas and I am sure there are other solutions, depending on how much you prefer covering. I am not judging any one for what they swim in, but I hope that we'll all consider what we wear for the glory of God.


Do you have any suggestions on where to find or make a swim suit?... :-)

Skirts.

If you know me in person you'd know most often, I'm wearing a skirt.
Some people live in jeans, I live in skirts. :-)
 And most often the only place I buy my skirts are thrift shops. Buying used saves a lot of money and often you can find some very stylish clothes for half the price.

Rarely do I find a skirt cheap enough and pretty enough anywhere, but thrift stores.

But I can dream.

I just recently discovered J.jill apparel and have window shopped online, sighing over their clothing.
With summer on the way they have added some of the cutest outfits to their store. Despite the price of a lot of their clothing I can't help but at least look at their outfits... and share a few with you!

  One of my favorites... The floral pattern is beautiful.

                                                   They have this in several colors...

 The length of their skirts is also a plus. Modest and pretty.
                                                      

 Sigh... I love the ruffles.

                                     Darling hat!

                                      
 Window shopping is so much fun...!

...In like manner also, that the women adorn themselves in modest apparel...
 1 Timothy 2:9



Where do you window shop?...

A sheet, a saturday, some sewing, and a skirt

I once again I used a bed sheet-bought of good will-for my sewing project. My inspiration once again came from Marie-Madeline.


A skirt this time.

 I didn't have the pattern and decided to make up the design, with lots of gathers and ruffles. :-)
It was some what a challenge, but very fun. I sewed most of it on Saturday and was able to finish the same day. It was rainy and some what gloomy, so it gave me lots of time to stay inside and do some happy sewing.

 It is constructed of three very ruffly ruffles, three panels underneath and an elastic waist band. The only difficulty was coming up with the measurements. It came out almost as I had expected. I was actually surprised how poofy it turned out.

Definitely a learning experience and very enjoyable. I have to say the fabric was not the most ideal pattern for a bed sheet, but it worked out well for a skirt. :-)

The weather has been very gloomy and I was happy for today's beautiful sunshine.

 How is your weather?

Here's How I Used My Inspiration!

 After being inspired by THIS. I decided I wanted to create something, too. The Marie-Madeline bloomers look very practical, comfortable and feminine. I don't have the pattern, so I decided to test a couple things out.

First, instead of using fabric I took the West ladies advice on their sewing DVD and bought a bed sheet at Goodwill. It was some much cheaper than regular fabric! $2.60 for around 2 yards of fabric.

My grandma bought this pattern about two years ago and I decided to use the shorts pattern and gather the pant legs to create something similar to the bloomers.

 And another plus? The bed sheet is Utica J.P. Stevens and I think it might be vintage. :-)
 I found this vintage bed sheet on etsy and several other utica sheets. I think mine might be vintage, too.

So, a fun project done. My little experiment worked. Using a bed sheet, part of a pattern, a little math, some elastic, a sewing machine, and a whole lot of inspiration, you can make a cute pair of /gaucho/pants/skirt/bloomers. Perfect for a spring day. :-)





What is inspiring you?...

Modesty 2

Here are three main points about modesty that I think about when trying to find clothing.

1. Covering
I think about firstly covering up what needs to be covered up. I find it helpful to have a goal as to what kind of limit I am looking for. Do I want to show my thighs? How short is to short when it comes to shorts? Do I want to go to the super boundary of my chest or keep my shirts a couple inches higher closer to my neck. Those are things you need to think through and really decide what God would be pleased with.

2. Tightness

I think about how much my clothing shows my form or shape. I try to find loose clothing that is not see through or too revealing to my shape.

3 Femininity

I try to pick out feminine clothing such as pretty decor, shirts. Being feminine is a way to truly show the world that we are proud that God made us women. And that is one difference about men and women.


Deuteronomy 22:5
The woman shall not wear that of a man, neither shall a man put on a woman's garment: for all that do so are abomination unto the Lord thy God.

This verse is very clear about what the Lord thinks about clothing for each gender. Men and Woman are different and that's how God designed. We should be proud of our gender. And not try and be the opposite.


1 Timothy 2:9
In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety;

This doesn't say what modest apparel is defined by. God leaves that up to us. That is a big responsibility. No man should have to be turn there eyes from what we are wearing. We should definitely be considerate to our brothers in Christ.


1 Peter 3:3-4 - "Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight."