Of all the garments I’ve sewed over the past decade or so, Beatrix’s linen dress gave me the most trouble, and I’m the least pleased with the results. It’s no fault of the pattern, the linen I used is just really hard to work with, and I don’t sew very frequently anymore so I’m out of practice. I sewed the bodice lining in place twice, and still it isn’t right. Plus, the hem is really uneven. Beatrix declared it good enough, so I decided to follow her advice and stop fussing over it. This dress was entirely made to her specifications, and she loves it. That’s all that really matters. She must have worn it around the clock for two days straight after I finished it, scolding me for being so late with her birthday dress, but clearly very pleased. I’m hoping that as the weather warms up, she’ll let me hem it a little shorter, and maybe make the sleeves 3/4 length. For now, I’m just really pleased that the ordeal is over, and that I was able to keep my promise. I’m also relieved that Beatrix isn’t a perfectionist like me! Otherwise, I’d probably still be ripping out seams.
I’m reading one of my favorite books from childhood (affiliate link), King of the Wind, to my girls right now. Have you read it? When I was about Larkspur’s age, I was obsessed with horses. That’s a twelve year old girl thing, right? We lived in a little apartment, and there was no hope for me to have a horse of my own, but I lived and breathed Marguerite Henry’s books and dreamed nonetheless. Misty of Chincoteague was another favorite. As close as we live to Chincoteague, we’ve never visited. Jonny says this is the year. Maybe?
We took a long break from homeschooling for Advent and Christmas, and this week it’s time to get back to work. The transformation of Jonny’s office into a homeschooling space is mostly completed, and I’m excited and hopeful that having a new school room will make everything go smoothly. Just kidding! I’ve been doing this for so long, that I know better. But, it sure doesn’t hurt to have a fresh space, and I’m super grateful. I think this is my first time in twelve years of homeschooling to have a dedicated room for it.
p.s. I bought the gold leaf Virgin of Guadalupe print from this shop as a birthday gift to myself, and I’m telling you because I love it so much!!! I also bought the St. Francis of Assisi letterpress from the same shop (he’s my confirmation saint) and that one is wonderful too, I just don’t have a frame for it yet. If you love them too, I would suggest subscribing to Erica’s newsletter, because she offers discounts sometimes. I got them for 20% off. (And this is not an ad. Erica has no idea who I am! I just love these prints.)
Richard (in Charlotte, NC) says
Beatrix’s dress looks quite good to me, you should be very proud; sorry to hear that you had difficulties with the Linen fabric. I have purchased a goodly quantity of linen from Fabrics-store.com and plan on making some Medieval-era clothing for my pear-shaped body – (read nice and loose and comfortable). Hopefully, my attempt at sewing will not be in vain.
Kate McAuliffe says
I was a big Marguerite Henry fan too. I have never read the one you listed. My library was not very big. My favorite was Misty of Chincoteague. If you make it there, please take lots of photos for those of us who can’t make it there. Thanks!
Maria says
Loved all of Marguerite Henry’s books, and now my son does! Chincoteague and Assateague are his favorite vacation destination, aside from our favorite campground in Vermont. When I was a child, we camped on the Maryland end of Assateague, but personally although I love camping didn’t enjoy that as much since the campsites are among the dunes with no shade at all. But the beach along the entire stretch of the island is stunningly beautiful, and if you don’t mind walking a half mile or so you find entirely deserted stretches of beach. Now when we go we stay on Chincoteague (I highly recommend the Sea Shell Motel, small, clean, and more reasonably priced than the large hotels) and drive across to Assateague every day. If you do this, it’s still definitely worth a drive up to the Maryland end of Assateague – on that end the ponies are free to wander wherever they like, including campground and beach, whereas on the Virginia end of Assateague the ponies are fenced into large pastures and can only be seen from a distance.
Heather says
I have a horse-crazy girl of my own right now; she’s blitzed through nearly every Marguerite Henry title and is passing back through the catalog for a second go. We live on a small farm but horses aren’t in the plan, so it was so, so hard to hear her pray each day for God to send her a horse. As it turns out, he sent not one, but *three*… to our neighbor’s field! I just blogged about how huge a thing this has been for us. He really does care about the details!
Kathy S says
“Misty” was my dad’s favorite book growing up and seeing the ponies swim was on his bucket list. He finally made the trip and loved it! It continued to be a favorite memory of his. Do your research ahead of time, but do go. It will definitely be a memorable experience for your whole family!
Joy says
I recommend that you check out The Little White Horse by Elizabeth Goudge, it was my absolute favourite when i was about 12 and my daughter loved it at that age too.
Anne Kitching says
Like everyone else, I love the dress. Not so fond of linen, though….. It is hard to work with, and iron….
I like the length, but see what you mean about 3/4 sleeves; they would look very sweet rolled up, I think, too. The collar is perfect!!!
I never did care for horses, but I’m reading the Harry Maclary book to Monnie right now (several times a day).
Marilyn says
Beatrix looks so pretty in her new dress. You did a great job on the dress. I enjoyed the Marguerite Henry books,too. Did you ever read the Black Beauty books?
Marilyn
Marion says
Beatrix looks so lovely in her birthday dress and with her hair up she is a true beauty. I too love the Marguerite Henry books.
Marion
Martha says
The dress looks perfect to me! It’s a pattern I wish I could sew for my girls, if I knew how to sew. 🙂 Maybe one day. Also, my Phoebe is obsessed with the Misty of Chincoteague series and all horse things and it would be a dream to visit that area one day. Hope you do so and share it here so we can see!
Joan says
Ginny the dress turned out beautiful. Beatrix looks very pretty in it.
Joan
Winwick Mum says
Oh, you’ve got a Hairy Maclary book! We adored those books when my girls were small and even now can recite the words to each other. Our very favourites were Hairy Maclary’s Rumpus at the Vet’s, Slinki Malinki and Slinki Malinki Open the Door – we read them over and over, spotting new things in the gorgeous pictures every time. You even have your own Slinki Malinki, I see! 🙂 xx
Jo Shafer says
Well, I think Beatrix’s dress is just perfect the way it is. Sometimes the most challenging sewing projects turn out to look like something right out of a fashion magazine photo. Trust me ~ I know!
Ann says
Oh, the dress is lovely as are your chicken pictures. Marguerite Henry lived near us in Rancho Santa Fe, CA and sometimes could be persuaded to make short presentations at our local schools. This was back when my daughter was in elementary school and now she’s 45!
Lou says
That dress is adOrable! You did good. The chickens and the prints are lovely. But that black cat….oh, it’s a beauty. My daughter has a soft spot for black cats—she has two—both rescues. Also, adorable.
Cathie says
Oh, Ginny, the dress is darling. Sometimes our children teach us the most important lessons. I love the hemand sleeve length as is……perfection!
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Emily D. says
I LOOOOOVE King of the Wind! And yes, when I was in sixth grade, my best friend and I did a riding day camp for a week. We were totally horse crazy. We both read the Misty books and Mustang, Wild Spirit of the West (is that the title? The one about Mustangs!). Whenever I go to the Outer Banks I think of Misty and the wild horses. 🙂
Kate says
The advantage to having a dedicated room for homeschooling, isn’t that every student will actually do school there. It’s being able to keep all the schooling materials and school clutter in one place! I highly advise building cubbies so each child has a place to store their books. I hammered and painted one together in a day. It made schooling six kids a bit easier – because the first challenge every day is finding one’s books. And it cut down on the paper clutter in the rest of the house.
While linen feels so good, it is tricky. I don’t make many things with it, especially children’s clothing, because it wrinkles and stains so easily. It’s a challenge to keep it looking decent. What I also find challenging are independent pattern makers instructions. I like to support them, but they often seem to leave out steps. I don’t know if that’s because of printing cost or they’re not as experienced in translating what’s in their head to paper. They’re more like the older patterns my mother had. Since every woman sewed “back then” they assumed a sewer didn’t need to be told everything. Newer patterns from the major companies don’t make those assumptions anymore. My best source for sewing patterns has been thrift stores. You take a chance that all the pieces will be in the envelope, but at 10 to 25 cents, it’s worth the gamble.
Lynda Kling says
I’m 70 years old and I STILL ride and have horses….it’s frequently something you don’t grow out of!!!!
Stephanie says
The dress is lovely! I tend to nitpick all the faults in whatever I make as well, but sometimes I look at all the other million things I have on my to do list, shrug, and think, “Eh, good enough.” 🙂
I think I’m about the only woman alive that didn’t go through a horse phase as a young girl! I’m familiar with Marguerite Henry’s books (one of the characters in The Babysitters Club books, which I read faithfully, frequently mentioned her), but I’ve never read her myself. It IS a lovely thing to reread your favorites with your own children, though. I did that so often with my son when he was young and it was so special. 🙂
Sharon says
Your photo of King of the Wind brought back memories. I read the same book over 50 years ago! I also read Misty of Chincoteague.
Laura says
The dress is beautiful! I too, am a perfectionist, which does not always come in handy when sewing. My children have taught me that everything doesn’t always need to be perfect 🙂 And I’ve come to realize that handmades for children definitely don’t need to be perfect – they move so much that no one will notice those little imperfections. Not to mention the fact that some of my children are very hard on clothing! I do have a question for you. I have not sewn a lot with linen – only a few items – do you have a recommendation for sourcing good linen? I want to make another dress for my younger daughter out of linen and am looking for some good neutral colors.
Also, what kind of chicken is the “fluffy” one! Love it!! Beautiful pictures once again! Good luck getting back into the swing of things this week. We took an unexpected long break and are easing back into it this week as well!
Lorrie Fulton says
I loved “King of the Wind” as a girl. Truly, I read and re-read all of her books many times over. Another favorite by Marguerite Henry is “Born to Trot”.
Gwen Murillo says
I love your pictures and the dress did turn out perfect! Hoping the new homeschooling room from Jonny’s office means he has found a job in case I missed that somewhere. Enjoy! Still praying for you!
Gwen
Eileen says
I think Bea’s dress is lovely and Bea looks beautiful in her special dress! I know how as a sewer, I want garments to finish perfect but, as I am often reminded, if I want perfect get God to do the sewing! I have joined a couture sewing group to improve my garment sewing skills, and the group gives me courage to try things I never would of done a year ago.
WOW, the Catholic Church when I was confirmed, (way back in the day), girls could only choose female saints as confirmation saints! Can boys choose female saints?
As always, your pictures are beautiful! Good luck with the start up of school again post Christmas break. Always look forward to your posts.
Karla says
My kids read that book for homeschool this year! I myself haven’t read it, but they enjoyed it. We have the storybook, My Chincoteague Pony, and have read other books about these horses – it would be so lovely to see them! If we lived so close I would definitely take advantage.
The dress looks beautiful! I tend to be more critical of my work, but I bet that’s true of many people; we are quick to see our own mistakes. When will we learn that striving for perfection is an utter waste of time?? 🙂
Angela Pitout says
the dress is beautiful – I would love to be able to make and sew like this.
all the best with your new school room space. we home school from our dinning table – our new school year will start as soon as our books arrive. there seems to be a delay in postage with the couriers over the silly season. the joys of living in africa, I suppose.
thank you for sharing your beautiful space with us Ginny.
Nicole Spring says
Oh my goodness Marguerite Henry was my absolute favorite author when I was younger. Whenever I bring her up to people they have no clue who I am talking about! I can’t believe you love her, too!!! I read every.single,one of her books. My Mom even took me to Chincoteague island when I was maybe 11 or so. They had a Misty museum and a little shop that sold hard to find Breyer horses (I was obsessed with them as a kid. Forget dolls – I was all about horses). It was an amazing trip BUT there was one iffy part. For whatever reason I thought Misty was still alive then. The museum guide asked me if I wanted to meet her. To me this was like meeting a movie star! I remember jumping up and down saying YES!!! Then he opened a door and there she was…STUFFED! I think my jaw hit the ground. He asked if I wanted to sit on her and I remember just shaking me head and walking backwards. That’s an experience I’ll never forget. However I did get to meet some of her great-grandbabies. That made things a bit better 🙂 Ha,ha. My girls already read all of her books but I think I might have to read them to my boys. It has been far too many years.
Dana Michigan says
St. Francis is my confirmation saint too!
And Bea’s dress is lovely!
t.a.knight says
I, for one agree. That dress is lovely and ‘good enough’. Perfection in our childrens eye is so much different then our owns. And no need to shorten… she will grow and the dress will grow shorter with her.
Sarah says
King of the Wind was my favorite Marguerite Henry as a kid, along with Justin Morgan had a Horse. Fun fact, Marguerite Henry lived ten minutes from my home and there’s still a sign for “Misty’s Meadow” at the corner pasture where she kept Misty.