Skip to content

DIY Summer Dress (With Tutorial For Making Dresses More Modest)

So I was shopping at a thrift store yesterday and came across one of the most beautiful dresses ever! It was long and Grecian, a beautiful fiery orange, and it fit pretty well too. There was only one problem... it wasn't quite modest. The front and back necks were low and awkward.

But was I going to leave it there?

No!!!

(Is that even a question? ;-) )

So I purchased it, took it home, admired it, put it on again, and put it back in the bag. And then this afternoon, I was in a bit of a slump. I had three really big writing projects, but my brain was like "I don't ever want to think about them ever again!!!" and went on strike. So I pulled out the lovely dress and a measuring tape, turned on one of my favorite podcasts, and got to work.

BUT FIRST... the "before."



with a shirt on underneath for modesty
















AND NOW... the process.

In a world where it's hard to find a dress that (a) fits, (b) is cute, and (c) is modest, learning how to do some DIY sewing projects is a great skill to have! I took some photographs of the process in hopes that you can do this too.



So I don't know if you noticed in the first photograph, but the dress is about 7" too long for me. Which is fantastic! The first step was to cut off the excess fabric (save it! It's important!), and sew a new hem.

PAUSE: In this tutorial, I'm assuming that you want the dress all the same color. That's why we're saving the bottom strip - because it can be used to patch up the front and back necks. If you don't want the same color, go find a scrap that has the same characteristics (same weight, same weave, hopefully the same washing instructions, etc). Or if you do want the same color, but don't have fabric to spare... good luck. A trip to the fabric store is definitely in order. Bring the garment along so you can get a close match, but getting a good one isn't guaranteed.



I didn't take enough pictures for this step... so... yeah. Take a square of fabric, about two inches taller and four inches wider than you will need to cover the low front neck. Fold in half and mark that vertical center line with pins. Unfold and place the right side against the wrong side of the dress (which should be insided-out at this point). Then, carefully keeping it centered, mark in place. Once you think you've got it, right-side-out the dress and take a look. Good? Fantastic! Take some more pins and pin the square from the right side. So you'll have two sets of pins in for a moment... then take out the ones that you put in while the dress was inside-out. Then, VERY CAREFULLY, try it on and take a carefully look in the mirror. Repeat the entire process until it's perfectly located. Then you can move on to the next step.

PRO TIP: when you're pinning the top of the insert, stretch the fabric a little. This will help prevent a gaping neckline, which is never fun.



Now you're going to remove the dress and baste the front insert in place. You can remove the pins now.











Now you can move on to the back insert! Measure how tall you need the insert to be and mark where the top will be with pins.



Now it's time to cut out the back insert. You're going to cut out two pieces, each one a few inches taller than you need and 2.5 inches wider than you need.










Put them back-to-back, right sides together. Sew a vertical seam about a 1/2" away from the edge. Pin a top hem, but don't sew or baste the actual seam yet.






Repeating the process used for the front insert, pin the back insert in place. Keep the seam centered.




Now baste the back insert in place.

PAUSE: make sure you can put the dress on over your head! If you can't, no worries, there's allowance for that built into the back insert. Remember that center back seam? If you need, you can unpick that and insert a zipper, or some hook-and-eyes, buttons, whatever. Just one thought: probably not Velcro. Now is the time to add in that back closure!



Now go to the sewing machine and sew in the front and back inserts over the baste stitches. If you've made sure you can get the dress on (including adding a back closure if needed), you can also hem the top part. Finally, trim the squares away about a 1/4" away from the seams. Assuming you're working with something that doesn't fray. If it does fray, I would trim the squares away about a 1/2" away from the seams, and then serge, bind, or hem them. Serging would be the least bulky option, I think.

And there you go! Now you have a cute dress that fits and is modest. Yay!

FINALLY... the fashion show ;-)









Book Review: The Ickabog, by J.K. Rowling

If I had noticed that this book was written by J.K. Rowling, I would not have read it. But it turned out to be a good read. A fascinating plot idea.

Title: The Ickabog
Author: J.K. Rowling
Pages: 274
Original Publication Date: 2020
Genre: Middle School Fantasy

The Ickabog was a fictional ferocious man-eating monster, invented by conniving advisors to take over the prosperous and free nation of Cornucopia. Steep taxes, mock trials, and elaborate lies followed, as well as extreme censorship, poverty, and complete insanity.

Some people completely bought into the lie, others did not believe but had to stay silent - otherwise, they could be murdered or imprisoned.

But what if the Ickabog IS REAL? What does it want? And if it's not vile, where did all the legends come from?

-

My rating here is a little complex.

The story idea is very good, but the characters are shallow and the writing style seemed a little simplistic.

Story Idea: 9/10
Character Development: 4/10
Writing Style: 4/10
Overal Rating: 6/10

Book Review: Granted, by John David Anderson

Image from Amazon












Granted, it's a pretty good book. ;-) That might be the worst pun ever.

Wow, where do I start?

With the basics.

Title: Granted
Author: John David Anderson
Pages: 352
Original Publication Date: 2019
Genre: Middle School Fantasy

Alright. Now about everything else.

Ophelia is a fairy. All her life, she's wanted to be a granter -- someone who goes out into the human world to grant the wishes that people make as they blow out candles, toss coins into water, and see the first star. Now, after lots of training, waiting, and planning, Ophelia finally gets her wish granted. After she's given her assignment, Ophelia heads out with lots of optimism and a little too much confidence.

But nothing goes as planned. And finally, Ophelia will have to choose between following the rules of the job she loves, or doing what she knows is right.

Disguised as a charming piece of children's fantasy, Granted is a fascinating look at a question that has plagued people and governments for centuries: can the human conscience be trusted, or does it need to be regulated?

Rating: 10/10

Book Review: Double Star, by Robert A. Heinlein

I've read a lot of fiction, yes, but I haven't branched out that much. Most of it was by a few select authors that I was already comfortable with -- such as Kathryn Lasky, Brandon Sanderson, or Shannon Hale. But I decided to take a leap and try something by an author that I had never even heard of before, in a genre I wasn't the most comfortable with.

Title: Double Star
Author: Robert A. Heinlein
Pages: 167
Original Publication Date: 1956
Genre: Science Fiction

Wow. Just wow.

It's an incredible, masterful, thought-provoking work of fiction that I'll definitely be reading again!

Laurence Smith is an actor down on his luck, wasting his life in a bar when a stranger enters, buys him a drink, and offers him a job. Slightly sus, to use some Gen Z slang ;-). Laurence Smith looks into the offer and ends up accepting it, but he has no clue what he's getting into.

It turns out that Bonforte, the giant, the statesman, the linchpin of a movement for respectful inter-planetary relationships, has been kidnapped, and Laurence Smith must impersonate him.

And that's just the beginning.

I won't tell the rest, but it's a fantastic book and I highly recommend you go check it out!

Rating: 10/10

Book Review: The Price of Freedom, by Calvin Coolidge

There are a lot of great books out there. A lot. More than I will ever be able to read in my lifetime! However, truly exceptional literature is a lot more rare. Today I am going to review a truly exceptional piece of literature, The Price of Freedom, which is a collection of speeches by Calvin Coolidge. I'm pretty sure it was compiled by Calvin Coolidge too. Yup, that's right -- Calvin Coolidge, the 30th President of the United States of America. And, in my opinion, one of the best presidents this nation has ever had.

Now, about the book.

Title: The Price of Freedom: Speeches and Addresses
Author: Calvin Coolidge
Pages: 407
Original Publication Date: 1924

I've read a lot of books, and I have a lot of favorite books, but this is definitely in my top five! (I'll do a post about my top five fiction and nonfiction in the future.) In fact, when I first read this book, I was like, "It could be canonized as TJEd scripture!" (TJEd, as in Thomas Jefferson Education, a method of leadership education that is fantastic!) Seriously, it's that good.

Here are some of my favorite quotes from The Price of Freedom and the speeches they can be found in:

"Of course there is a need of a better understanding of the American form of government. Self-government is still government. There is no such thing as liberty without restraint. My rights are always represented by the duties of others. My freedom is always represented by the obedience of others. Their rights and their freedom are represented by my duties and my obedience."

"There are evil forces at work now. They are apparently organized and seek the disintegration of society. They can always be recognized by a direct appeal to selfishness and nothing else... the answer to this lies in a knowledge of past human experience and a realization of what man is."

"Mankind has always had classics. They always will. That is only another way of saying they have always set up ideals and always will. Always the question has been, always the question will be, what are those ideals to be, what are to be the classics?"

"Independence is exceedingly exacting, self-control is arduous, self-government is difficult. Always there is the temptation that some element of these should be surrendered in exchange for security and ease."

"The fundamental principles on which American institutions rest ought to be clearly understood. Being so understood, the can never lack for defenders."

"We review the past not in order that we may return to it but that we may find in what direction, straight and clear, it points into the future."


Conclusion:

Rating: 15/10

Tech And Statesmanship

Many of the technical choices we’re about to make will be strikingly political. Who has access to what data? Where is the line between human choice and machine intelligence? Why is one computer architecture better than another? These decisions — and the people who make them — will determine power’s new aspects. Banal technical choices will reverberate through the our future with the same influence that the Bill of Rights, the Magna Carta, the Analects of Confucius, and the Koran retain long after they were first written down. The real contests ahead will concern networks — but this means, in fact, a deeper conflict over values. Networks are like churches or schools or congresses; they reflect the aims and ethics of the people who build them. The price of meshing so many passionately held aims and sensibilities, hopes and hatreds, will be high.” — The Seventh Sense, pages 51-52.

“Your assignment is to write an essay on the ethics of editing human DNA,” my biology teacher said.

As some of you know, I started going to a charter school, Leadership Academy of Utah (which sounds a lot better than it actually is) when I entered highschool. I dutifully took the classes I was supposed to take, did the assignments I was supposed to be, and said what I was supposed to say. The first year was fantastic. The second year was frustrating. The third year was bad enough that I dropped out and dedicated myself wholly and completely to TJEd.

I took biology in my second year, during Tenth grade. The teacher was spectacular, the class itself was fine. But mostly, it just felt completely irrelevant. Especially once we started talking about editing human DNA and creepy stuff like that. So when I was assigned to write an essay on the ethics of editing human DNA, I balked. That’s just for scientists, I thought, and I’m definitely never going to be a scientist.

So I raised my hand and asked that eternal question: “Why? When am I ever going to use this in real life?”

Now, my teacher knew me pretty well. ‘Teacher’ doesn’t really even describe him; he is a mentor first, and a teacher second. So he just looked at me with wide, horrified eyes for a second, then said, “You want to be a politician, right?”

“Yeah,” I said. “So what?”

What he said next completely changed my perspective: “The future and limits of science are not created by the scientists, but by the government. Scientists push the limits of reality, but the government decides what science is ethical.”

Hmm… well, when it’s put that way… let’s just say that essay was written with gusto.

#MentorMoment

This doesn’t just apply to the ethics of editing human DNA. It also extends to the ethics of technology and networks. To paraphrase The Seventh Sense, congresses reflect the aims and ethics of the people who build them. So while the people have a ton of sway in the debate, in one sense, the verdict is up to the legislature.

So of course, it’s going to be a deeply political argument. Everything that happens in the government is deeply political at this point. Censorship? Political. The Bill of Rights? Political. The Constitution? Political. Education? Political. Technology? Political.

Though they may seem inconsequential or trivial now, these decisions – decisions that will be made in a fourth turning – will change the course of history. They will play a major role in the cycles of history; their answers will help determine whether we have a forceshift or a freedomshift.

However, “The price of meshing so many passionately held aims and sensibilities, hopes and hatreds, will be high.”

There is danger to letting the government make the decision. If they choose wrong – a forceshift, and a precedent for even more government control. If they choose right – a freedomshift, possibly; but along with it, the creation of a precedence that says yes, the government is allowed to legislate about these sorts of things.

It kinda feels like there is no right answer, only dozens of wrong ones.

But, well, that’s the intricacies of freedom.

And that’s the power of statesmen.

Operation BIXA Shirt

I made myself a shirt! I LOVE how it turned out. I've already worn it twice, and it's incredible! It's fits well, the fabrics are so soft, and the colors... it's a match made in heaven! And it was for a school project... #TwoBirdsWithOneStone

Pattern: BIXA, by MoodFabrics (free sewing pattern!)
Time: 7 hours, counting shopping/photo shoot
Satisfaction: 10/10

Here is the front!
I did not use the original BIXA pattern; I made view A but added in the lovely ruffles in the sleeves and also the peplum. Altering that pattern was a bit nerve-racking!


And here it is from the back! I love how the magenta and zebra striped fabric go so well together!


The ruffle -- the most nerve-racking part of the entire project!


From the side... again, I can't believe how well the two fabrics go together!


Me as a super model ;-)


Also me as a super model...


Twirling in my new shirt...
































































































































PS. Thanks to my wonderful Mom for taking pictures!

Plans For My Etsy Shop, Foxtrot, Hinge Point, and Brownie Bites

Hey guys!

It's been forever since I last posted, which I'm really sad about. Today I am going to share what I've been up to lately.

Etsy
Just today, I added a new listing to my shop, which you can find here. It's for faux-denim dresses with red contrast stitching, designed to fit AG or other similar 18" dolls. It's modeled by Elisabeta, and her friend Jasmine (thanks, Madeline!).

I'm planning on making a lot of spring-time clothes, from floral dresses to embroidered jumpers to skirts and blouses!

And coming soon, hopefully before the middle of March, pdf patterns! I have such fun drafting my patterns, I thought, why not sell some? They could be cheap, and since their digital, it's an instant download, meaning I don't have to ship anything.

Foxtrot
During the in-person days at LAU, I'm taking a ballroom dance class. It's a lot of fun! So far, we have been learning the foxtrot, and now we are starting to learn east swing, AKA triple step swing.

Hinge Point
Another fun thing I've been doing is listening to Hinge Point! It's a new musical group, composed of three sisters, with fantastic voices! Their music is clean, and uplifting, and fantastic!

Brownie bites
Detoxinista has this great recipe for brownie bites. They're super health-nut-ish, but they're surprisingly good! I've probably made them six or more times in the three-ish weeks since I discovered the recipe.

Camp Na-No-Wri-Mo Progress

Goal: 65,000 words.
So Far: 46,640 words.

71% of the way there

Update: I didn't write 100% of my goal during the month of July (I got 55% of the way there), but I'm still going to finish it, hopefully by the end of September.

Estimated End Date (Last updated, September 9): Undetermined

And There Was Light: #TalesOfYoungHeroes

Jacques is blind, totally blind. It happened when he was seven, and changed his life forever. But despite being blind, or perhaps because of it, he was able to lead a resistance to the Nazi occupation of France at the young age of seventeen.

His autobiography, And There Was Light, is one of the most inspiring, beautiful, stories ever, and you should definitely read it!

#TalesOfYoungHeroes

Defying Hitler: The Germans Who Resisted Nazi Rule: A Review

While on a week-long camping trip, I took the opportunity to finally read "Defying Hitler," which I had been meaning to get around for quite some time.

Well, I finished it, and holy cow it was so good! I highly recommend it. (You can find it HERE on amazon)

It follows the stories of roughly twenty or so Germans who defied Hitler, both men and women, Jews and non-Jews, ordinary citizens and military commanders, in their quest to resist the Nazis. Some want to assassinate Hitler, some wanted to have a military coup and remove Hitler and give him a trial, and still other thought it would be impossible to remove him. Regardless, they all were united in their efforts to resist.

It's a very easy, engaging read, almost like a novel. It is full of stories about people and crazy assassination attempts gone awry.

For example, there are three extremely memorable assassination attempts in the book, although there were tons more.

One time, a guy offered to be a suicide bomber. He had a bomb on a ten-minute fuse under his vest, and was showing Hitler around... I think it was a museum? and then Hitler left abruptly in the middle of the tour, and then the guy had like two minutes to dismantle the bomb in the bathroom before it blew him up. So Hitler survived that attempt because the bomb never had the chance to go off.

Another time, there was going to have been a bomb in a military meeting, except at the last minute, it was decided that junior officers couldn't attend, and because the man with the bomb was only a junior officer, he couldn't get into the meeting and blow up Hitler. So Hitler survived that plot as well.

And another time, a bomb was smuggled into a meeting in a suitcase, and a few minutes before it was going to go off, the man who brought it in left the building, and drove home, and the bomb went off. It totally destroyed the table, and completely shredded Hitler's pants, and wounded some of his officers, but Hitler was totally fine, only a few bruises. Well, and a ruined pair of pants. But Hitler survived that attempt as well!

And guess what, after the attempt that demolished Hitler's pants, he got on the radio to assure the German people that he was still alive and well. He said that his survival must be a sign from providence that he was meant to continue with his plans! So, that plan super back-fired!

However, in the end, almost none of the conspirators survived. Almost all of them (I think all but two, but I can't exactly remember) got executed or sent to the concentration camps. They had risked everything -their fortunes, their lives, their family's lives. And they still didn't succeed.

Which makes me wonder, if a ruthless dictator took over America and started doing what Hitler did, would I be brave enough to resist? Or would I be one of those who kept their heads down and waited for it all to blow over?

And how could Hitler take over a nation? Sure there were resistors, but not enough to prevent his taking power. Not enough to prevent a second world war. Not enough to prevent the mass murder of six million Jews.

Ultimately, I think Hitler could not have come to power and did what he did if:

(1) the German people had been classically educated, instead of trained on the conveyor belt.
(2) people had not been timid in their resistance but instead have acted decisively.
(3) people would not have let Hitler get little victories, like boycotting Jewish shops, and making Jews wear arm bands. Hitler had to do the little things before he could do the big things, like killing people in the concentration camps.

In conclusion, "Defying Hitler" was a really great book that was very thought-provoking, very fun to discuss, and highly relate-able to our world today.

Camp Na-No-Wri-Mo Update

This month, I've been writing the first draft of a 65,000 word novel with ywp.nanowrimo.org, which is a really amazing writing platform that people under the age of 18 can use.

I have written 21750 words so far and am 33% of the way done. I'm super excited about this, I don't think I've ever reached past the 17,000 word mark when writing a "novel" before (at that length, it's more of a novelette than a novel or a novella).

July Journal Entry #1

Hola, folks!

Alright. It's been a while since I've posted... so I'm going to catch you up to date.


Wednesday, July 1
Wednesday was pretty ordinary. I worked on my Camp Na-No-Wri-Mo novel, and wrote about 4,300 words (my goal for Wednesday was 3,716). I ate, I slept, and basically just wrote my novel. Oh, and my bedroom floor was almost clear. :-)

AND I put thorn guards in my bike tires... almost all on my own! ~listens to applause~



Thursday, July 2
Yesterday was sort of an adventure. I wrote in my book (about 2,500 words of my 3,716 words goal), I ate, I drank a lot of water, I did some extra work for money, I weeded in our family's garden.

I also wrote and sent out The Young Scholar's Gazette (a little bi-monthly magazine I do just for fun that I send to a few of my friends), which took me like three hours and is why I didn't make my word count goal.

And then in the evening, I made some doll shoes!


We will now talk about doll shoes.

So, I used a pattern by HappyBankkyCraftyMom and foam I got at HobbyLobby, a hot glue gun, and cardboard I found in our recycling box.

(looking everywhere for my camera so I can take pictures of the really cute doll shoes I made)

(finally found my camera)

Elisabeta's blue shoes! She absolutely adores them. I think they are her favourite summer shoes.
Okay, so I made a darkish-grayish blue pair first. I really like how they turned out, and I love the pattern! Really easy to use, with a simple and classic design.















The white shoes are SO impractical, but they're still really cute!
The second pair are white with pom-poms for a fun touch. A bit more playful, they are also not that great to play in because they are white (what on earth was I thinking of?) but that's fine because Elisabeta doesn't really play that much. She likes reading, writing, making sarcastic comments, looking beautiful, and taking naps. She definitely doesn't like mud.

Alteration To Blog Schedule

In case you guys didn't know, I will be participating in Camp Na-No-Wri-Mo in July. I'm going to be really busy, writing a 65,000 word first draft in thirty-one days (assuming you're counting family reunion and Sundays, despite the fact I won't be writing then).

This means that I won't be posting (almost) every day. I think I will be posting about twice a week, although that is subject to change.

Mostly, I'm just letting you know that you shouldn't be planning on new material on here every day in July.