Virtuous Girlhood

Quilt Exchange!

You have a oppt. to be a part of Shining Stars Magazine’s quilt exchange! You must be subscribed to their magazine and may do so for free here. You may ask about the quilt exchange details by e-mailing her here. And the below link is for sending Hannah your info for the quilt exchange.

Submitting Your Info:http://shiningstarsmagazine.com/ssm_006.htm

Have fun!

~RJ

Great Sewing Tip: 2 Easy Doll Patterns

Here are 2 easy doll patterns that me and my sisters have made.

1. Simplicity: 4364
2. Simplicity:3520

(These are for 18 inch dolls.) If you wait for Joanns 99 cent Pattern sales you can get a much better deal.

Sewing Tips: Some Great Simplicity Patterns!

Here is a list of some really great patterns:

Historical:

• Simplicity #2843
• Simplicity # 2887
• Simplicity #3725 and #3723
• Simplicity # 5403
• Simplicity # 3623
• Simplicity #2890

Non- Historical:

•  Simplicity #7655 (So easy!)
• Simplicity #
• Simplicity #
• Simplicity #
• Simplicity #

All of these are really great patterns! Some of them I am going to make this year but I have made most of them! Remind me to give you a picture of some of them that I have made!

Sewing Tips: Sense and Sensibility Tips

Do you sew? Are you going to make a dress by Mrs. Chancey? Than do I have something for you! I discovered a while back a page on her site and she has step, by step sewing tips and instructions for her dresses!

Here it is.

Happy Sewing!

Blessings,

~Miss RJ

Lilies Of The Field

Ever wondering where you can find modest, but sophisticated dresses, blouses and skirts? Well, here it is! Lilies of The Field offers all that and more! Here are our top 4 favorites.

The Felicity Dress: This dress is not only comfortable but cute and stylish! We have two, and let me tell you, they are very well made! I have worn them and now my sisters are wearing them. Hopefully they will make it to sister #4 but unless they get ripped, they probably will make it! They come in a ladies’ style dress as well so you can match your daughter! They come in soooooo many different colors!

The Girls Classic Blouse: We love this blouse because it is, oh, so very comfortable! And goes with almost everything! It has fabric choices but we have always bought the white My sisters and I have worn these blouses since we were, well, little! And B & N still wear theirs. It is priced at $25 but is worth it! They also sell ladies’ blouses just like this one for $25, as well, so you can match your daughter!

The Girls Petticoat Dress: This petticoat is full length and comes with long sleeves, three quarter length, and short sleeves. It is affordable at $37; even if that is too much for your budget, it is also worth it! And your daughter can wear this even beneath those too-short dresses to make them longer. They are very comfy, and will be well worn!

The Ladies Three-Tiered Skirt: This skirt comes in any fabric! And it is very fashionable and stylish! It has a side pocket, and is comfy. It is long, and flowing, and is $38. I would recommend it as a addition to any ladies’ or young woman’s closet!

I hope this gives you some ideas!

Blessings,
~RJ

Liberty Day!

I am very excited to tell you all that Liberty Day is coming up! So, find out what we will be doing HERE, get out your sewing machines and start sewing :), get your pen and paper, (Details HERE), and get out your apple pie recipes for a contest! (details here)

Let’s all get ready for March 21st!!!!!!!!!

R.J.

Contest!

Over at a pondering heart, there is a contest for a Sense & Sensibility’s E-pattern of your choice!

Click HERE to enter! 

Also she has alot of other fun contests so check those out as well!

Blessings,

R.J.

I Am Posted!

I am officially posted! I have one of the (many) pictures of my photo shoot with my cousin up on Boutique Narelle!

 Enjoy Miss Narelle’s blog and check out some of her wonderful stories about some young ladies who love to sew!

 Blessings,

R.J.

Great Sale At Jo-Anns!

If you are a seamstress, then you might want to take advantage of this great sale at Jo-Anns! They have Simplicity and Butterick patterns on sale for only 1.99 each - ones regularly priced at $6.95-$17.95 each! They have some other good sales on, as well! So head on their way! Oh, the Simplicity sale is from Sept.7- to today! Oh, and the Butterick sale is from Sept. 18-20th.

My mom and I will definitely be heading to Jo-Anns!

Have fun shopping!

Blessings,

His Handmaiden,

R.J.

Christmas Present Ideas

Even though Christmas is about 5 months away, here are some ideas for Christmas presents.

• Check garage sakes for books, toys, and other things for your family! You can find really GOOD buys there! We found an ENTIRE Hello Kitty play set at one for A’s Christmas gift! (although we did give it to her a little early for the use for trips.)
• Thrift stores are also good places to find clothing, games, and books!
• Cross stiching, quilting, sewing, and embroidery also provide ideas to make things.

Hope this gives you some good ideas!

Blessings,

R.J.

The Art Of Sewing

The art of sewing is a fun art to learn! If you do not now how to sew, then I suggest you learn how! You can easily ask a young woman who likes to sew if she would be willing to give you lessons if you would give her a small donation. Here are some tips:

• look for estate sales, garage sales, resale shops, and thrift stores. Today at a house on our street we found a sewing machine for sale for $20 dollars - used once! You can find needles, yarn, sewing machines, fabrics, and more at these sales!
• Buy patterns when on sale at Jo-ann Fabrics and use coupons whenever shopping there!
• Sign up for Jo-ann’s mailing list! You can get coupons and deals that you could not get otherwise.

If you know how to sew you, can do anything! You can sew basically anything if you learn the skills! Two friends of mine have a shoppe HERE If you click their home page, you can see their new products.

Have fun sewing! I am having fun sewing a pink sundress with a floral jacket for a doll.

Blessings,

R.J.

How To Keep Busy

Some young ladies wonder how to keep themselves busy…. or how to pass those spare moments that are not spent in cooking, cleaning, taking care of siblings, and school work. The Bible tells us not to be idle! So here are just a few ideas to keep busy!

• Sew. If you are a beginner, check out this link at: Maidens Of Virtue Sewing Projects
• Cross stitching
• Knitting
• Crocheting
• Stamping (such as stampin up)
• Painting
• Writing
• Sketching
• Music
• You could offer to help some couples at your church with babysitting or a meal.
• You could also offer music lessons to children of your church.
• You could even offer to help out with schooling for families at your church.
• Offer sewing lessons to young ladies of your church! This is such a blessing to parents of young ladies.

I hope you find these ideas helpful!

Blessings,

R.J.

Crosstiching Delights

Cross stitching is such a delightful pastime! You can make many beautiful things with this art! I have made bookmarks, samplers, cross stitched pictures, and much more! It is fairly easy to do, once you get the hang of the stitches and everything! Here are some tips to doing it:

1. Never, ever, start cross stitching without finding your center first! I cannot even stress how important this is to do! If, you do not, you will make a mess of your entire project!
2. ALWAYS follow pattern directions! It is never fun to have to take out your work! And plus it usually leaves holes!
3. Buy fabric when on sale and with coupons. You can save HUGE amounts by doing this. I prefer WalMart, or Jo-Ann Fabrics for cross stitching supplies. But sometimes thrift stores will have a sewing aisle. I know The Sparrows Nest in McHenry does!
4. Cross stitching makes great gifts for family and friends! Also, gifts are even more special to them because YOU made them!
5. It’s so easy to get sidetracked when doing this! Again I CANNOT stress how important it is to STAY focused!
6. And my final point is this: Have fun cross stitching!

Here are two books about cross stitching that have been very helpful to me in finding suitable patterns to use, as well as some tips!

• Mary Engelbreit Cross Stitch, copyright 1996, available through online stores. I have the first edition copy that my Grandmother gave me. Here is an address for the book:

Meredith Press, Crafts, RW-240, 1716 Locust Street, Des Moines, IA 50309-3023. USA

• Sampler and Antique Needlework by Darlene O’Steen, copyright 1994. I have the first edition of this one, as well. Here is the address for it:

Symbol Of Excellence Publishers, Inc., 405 Riverhills Business Park Birmingham, AL 35242 USA

Happy sewing!

His Handmaiden,

R.J.

P.S. By learning these arts while we are unmarried, we as young ladies may even be able to pass this on by teaching classes to other young ladies!

Sewing Lessons

Well, Mom started sewing lessons with two moms and their daughters. So there are10  extra people coming here every Tuesday afternoon! It’s a lot of fun. We will be making doll dresses.

We went to  Jo-Ann Fabrics last Tuesday, June 24 (that was the first lesson) and they picked out some really, really nice fabrics. The doll dress is a sundress with a jacket. I have a link HERE: It is the bottom left dress.

Then for the next lesson we had them cut out squares, pin them together and then sew them together. This was for practice. We all had a lot of fun! I cannot wait for the next lesson! The girls did really well! Even one of the 5-year-olds did it!!!!!!!!! Good job, girls!!!!!!!!!!!

Well, I must go.

Blessings,

R.J.