Faith, Home, & Family
As part of the Schoolhouse Review Crew, I received access to Rosie’s Doll Clothes Patterns Learn How to Make Doll Clothes Video Course. The video course includes over 130 videos, over eight hours of video, and eight free printable patterns. The video course is accessible online, as well as available on dvd. The doll clothes made from these patterns will fit 18 inch dolls.
I love crafting of all kinds. I also love taking crafting classes. It’s been years since I’ve been able to take a class, though. Making a home and homeschooling six kids doesn’t leave one lots of time for craft classes. Craftsy online classes sound like a great fit for me, no travel time, I could just go straight to class.
I made a list of three classes I would love to take.
My Craftsy Wish List:
1. Quilting Quickly – Learn to make quilts in a fraction of the time. Great for beginners like me!
2. Modern Piping – I’ve been decorating cakes for over 20 years now, but I would love to learn more about this technique
3. Knit Original Toe-Up Socks – I’m a very beginning knitter who would very much love to learn how to knit socks.
Check out all of the great Craftsy Classes by clicking here.
*Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. If you click the links and sign up for a class, I will receive a small commission.
As part of The Schoolhouse Review Crew, I received the Costumes with Character eBook from Golden Prairie Press to review.
Make Your Own Costumes from Eleven Time Periods with One Dress! Costumes with Character is written by Amy Puetz. With a foreword by Jennie Chancey. 72 full color pages available as an ebook or printed book. View the table of contents and sample pages There are many pictures of the different costumes on the website.
Amy Puetz is a homeschool graduate who loves history.
She loves to tell the stories of people who impacted their generation.
She first wrote a historical costume book and then other historical books with a Christian worldview.”
Using costumes is a great way to make history come alive for kids and reinforce what they are learning. This easy sewing book has step by step instructions and patterns for making all the accessories needed for eleven different time periods. I really love that you can use one dress for all 11 time periods. Simply change the collar and cuffs. Then add the accessories like bonnets, vests, aprons to achieve the different looks. Patterns are included for all. The patterns are designed for young adults but a handy adjustment formula is included to help you use the patterns for younger girls. The patterns in the book are in grid form, you draw them and enlarge them yourself. The pattern ebook that I also received has some of the patterns enlarged and ready to print. Some of the patterns do take several pages to print.
The chapters are:
Colonial (Pilgrim & Puritan 1620-1700)
Quaker (1681-1860)
American Revolution (1775-1783)
Young Republic (1800-1820)
Romantic Era (1820-1848)
Pioneer (1800s)
Civil War (1861-1865)
Sailor (1865-1905)
Victorian 1880s
Victorian 1890s
Turn of the Century (1900-1910)
Tea Party
Each chapter has color instructions to make cuffs, aprons, bonnets, hats, collars, vests, etc. There are also lots of extra goodies like quotes, quizzes, and beautiful pictures. You will learn more about the history of the eras from reliable old sources. Hannah and I both liked all the historical information included. I had fun quizzing her with the quiz. lol This is a fun book for girls and ladies of all ages. Certainly a great book for mothers and daughters to read and sew together.
I let Hannah, 16, go through the book and choose where she wanted to start. She chose the Victorian 1880 section. She really liked the lace collar and cuffs. I printed out the pages that she needed, and she got to work. She did all the work by herself.
Hannah said the directions were easy to follow. The collar and cuffs were pretty simple to make. I printed the patterns from the pattern ebook onto legal size paper.
In this picture you can see both sides of the collar. There is a casing down the middle of the underside that a ribbon is threaded through. It is then gathered and tied around the neck. Hannah made the collar and cuffs according to the pattern size. She didn’t downsize the pattern, and they fit Abby, 14, very nice.
Hannah and I talked Abby into modeling for us. We already had this old fashioned dress that Hannah had made a few years ago. It now fits Abby perfectly. I just love the look of the collar.
Here’s the back of the collar. You can see the ribbon that is used to gather and tie. We left the ribbon hanging out, but you could tuck it to the inside, also.
The cuffs are great, too.
The cuffs are made with a casing on the inside like the collar, only the cuffs use elastic instead of ribbon. Neither the cuffs or the collar are attached to the dress, making it easy to transform one dress into many costumes.
I am impressed with the quality of the book and the patterns. Hannah liked the patterns and said she would use them in the future as the need arose.
The Costumes with Character eBook sells for $21.95. On sale for $17.56 Also available as a printed book The pattern ebook in PDF form that I used is free with the purchase of the Costumes with Character eBook. You can also purchase printed patterns for $15. On Sale for $12. These prices are current at the time of this post. In the future, patterns that you can buy and cut (like store bought patterns) will be available. I will keep my eye open for these to be available, as they would be great to have.
*Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this ebook in the hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. My opinions are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
I finished another afghan the other day.
A simple crocheted granny square afghan. I single crocheted the squares together and added a row of single crochet around the outside.
My goal this year is to crochet at least 10 Christmas presents. This is number 1.
1 down, 9 to go!
Last week I finished this Never Ending Granny Square Crocheted afghan for my oldest son. I think it came out pretty good. 🙂
See the spiral?
This pattern doesn’t end like a regular granny square afghan. You can see in the picture below how the colors end.
I gave this afghan to my oldest son. He liked it so much he smiled for the picture. And he never smiles for pictures! lol
I told him I was going to post this picture here, and he didn’t say no. That means OK. To me anyway. lol
This was a quick, easy and fun afghan to make. It looks different than a regular granny square, but is just as easy.
Here’s the video I used for the instructions.
Don’t let the length of the video make you think it’s too hard. He is just thorough in his directions. It’s very easy!
Happy Crocheting! 🙂
*This Crocheted Pray Shawl post contains affiliate links.
A prayer shawl can be very comforting to someone who is sick or having a hard time in life. There are prayer shawl ministries ( linked to a couple below) and Prayer Shawl Books
Here is a prayer shawl I made.
The finished measurement of this shawl (excluding the fringe) is 14 ” by 53″. Using a larger hook size and a soft yarn, makes this shawl warm, soft and comforting.
And here’s how I made it!
Linda’s Crocheted Prayer Shawl Directions:
Materials: Size I crochet hook ( or other size hook to get a somewhat loose and soft stitch.), I used Caron Simply Soft Yarn for this shawl. It’s so soft! The color I used on this one is Persimmon 9754. I bought 2 – 6 ounce skeins and I have over half of one left, probably close to 3/4. That includes making the fringe.
Chain 59. DC is 4th chain from hook. DC across. (57 stitches, including the 1st 3 chain stitches) Chain 3, turn.
Dc in 2nd stitch, ch 3 counts as first DC. Chain 1, skip 1 DC, DC in next stitch. Repeat across. DC in last stitch. Ch. 3, turn.
Repeat rows until shawl reaches desired length. For the last row, DC in each stitch across. Fasten off.
The shawl in the picture has 82 rows. You can adjust the length for the person receiving it.
I added fringe to this one. Fringe is a personal choice, add if you like, leave it off if the person receiving it doesn’t like fringe.
You can write your own prayer to include with the prayer shawl or find prayers here:
*This post contains Amazon affiliate links. If you purchase one of these items through my link, I will receive a few cents at no cost to you.
I have been making my own dish cloths for a few years now. I love them! They are so much nicer than store bought dish cloths. They make great gifts, too!
I use 100% cotton yarn. The regular worsted weight yarn does not work for dish cloths. I’ve heard bamboo works well, also, but I haven’t tried it yet. The yarn I used for the dish cloth in these pictures was given to me a few years ago. I’ve made quite a few over the years, but only have enough left on the cone for one more, I think. Since I haven’t bought any cotton yarn to use for these, I don’t have a link to share. Once I buy some, and am happy with the results, I’ll share a link.
EDITED TO ADD: I’ve been using this 100% cotton yarn, Lily Sugar’n Cream Yarn
The last few dish cloths I’ve made, I’ve made with raised stitches so they have more scrubbing power. It’s hard to see in these pictures, but you can see it better in the video below.
Ok, you can see the raised stitches better in the picture below:
Here’s how I make my dish cloths:
Crocheted Scrubbie Dish Cloth
Supplies:
100% Cotton Yarn (it doesn’t take too much, you’ll be able to get a few out of a skein)
Size G Crochet Hook
Stitches Used:
Half Double Crochet – HD
Double Crochet Around Post – Shown in video
Chain 22, Half double crochet in 3rd chain from hook and HDC across. Chain 2, turn.
HDC in 1st stitch, *Double Crochet around post of stitch below, HDC in next stitch* Repeat from * across row, HDC in last stitch. You’ll have 20 stitches. Chain 2 turn.
Repeat rows until you have 17 rows, ending with HDC row. Fasten off, weave in ends.
The Double Crochet Around Post is a very easy stitch and works well on a dish cloth. I’ve also used it as a decorative stitch on afghans.
Here is my debut video showing you how to do the stitch:
Hope I’m not to scary in the video! lol
Happy crocheting! 🙂
