Murderer by Default

     I know I'm a little late to talk about all the Planned Parenthood stuff going on, but that doesn't mean I haven't been thinking about it, and something happened today that really struck me in relation to Christian action.  Honestly, all these things that have been coming out in the Planned Parenthood videos don't bother me.  That is, of course it's horrific, but not nearly as horrific as the fact that they are murdering these babies in the first place, and it makes perfect sense with their worldview.  Think about it.  There's a mass murderer who targets children, who can't speak up or do anything to defend themselves.  Do you really expect them to treat the bodies with any kind of respect?  Therefore, I really don't understand why PP is getting all of this attention now, but I am thankful that it is, and hope and pray that it will have real results.
     There's a guy I work with who is a pacifist, and he isn't a Christian, but he is a Jehovah's Witness, so we were both trying to argue our points from Scripture, and one of my main points is that sometimes killing is necessary to preserve lives, whereas he thinks that any form of self defense or defense of others that involves killing the oppressors is wrong.  After he went home, I was ruminating more, and I really wished I had asked him "so do you think that the rest of the world should have just stood by and let the holocaust happen without any interference?  Wouldn't that make all the other countries murderers as well by default?"  And then I was struck with the realization that that is exactly what we as Christians are doing when we live in a culture where helpless children, who are created in the image of God, are being murdered by the millions, and so many of us don't do a thing about it.  We cherish righteous outrage at the abortionists and abortive parents, but our own hands are stained with the blood of the innocent.  I am not saying that everyone is necessarily called to fight against this scourge of sin in the same ways, but we manage to be so apathetic about it so much of the time.  When I started thinking about this at work, the sense of guilt just took my breath away.  I was so glad I was working by myself, because I was literally sobbing, but at the same time wished someone would ask about it so that I could use it as an opportunity to witness to the gospel.
     I know this post sounds pretty depressing and hopeless so far, but I have to end on one very important point. No matter how great our sin is, Christ's righteousness is greater, and those of us that He has chosen before the foundation of the world are credited with it.  I may be a murderer, but in His death, He took on the guilt of my sin, and that is one of the many reasons why even in the midst of this horrible disease that grips our country, I can rejoice in God's sovereignty.

“Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins.”

Acts 5:31

Fabrics!

     I got the fabric for my Portside duffel bag a little over a week ago!  I actually keep meaning to post about it, but kept putting off taking a picture (of course, once I did, it took about two minutes), and finally only got to it because I wanted to start cutting on it.  To be honest, even though I still like them, I sort of haven't had as much motivation to make the bag since I bought them, because the colors aren't quite right.  I was hoping for a deeper, redder orange, and stark white, instead of off white, but while they had a perfect chevron in those colors, there was no solid orange to match, so off white and Tennessee orange it was!  However, from a distance it's hard to tell that the white isn't really white, and I like most shades of orange, so it's not the end of the world.  I only got the materials I needed to start, so I don't have the lining yet, but it shouldn't be hard to find a thin cotton in whatever color I choose, so I'm pretty excited about the prospect of getting it!
     The main fabric stores around here (I usually go to Hancock's, but there's also a Joann) don't really have a great selection of heavier fabrics, such as canvas (which this is) so I did my research beforehand and went to a store specifically for home decor fabrics, to which I'd never been, and I was a little nervous as I parked, because it was in a sort of secluded spot, the kind of place that makes me regret that I never remember my pepper spray, but then when I walked in, it was beautiful!  They had oodles of canvas type fabrics, in all sorts of wonderful colors and patterns, and I think I'll be going there for all of my home decor fabrics from now on!
     Fare thee well, I'm off to cut the pieces!

Wait, Rebecca Does Nail Tutorials Now?

     Well, no, not in general, that would be terrible (I have a near perfect record of messing up my nails before they dry every time I paint them), but I was having a glitter-fit last night, so yeah, just this once.  It's hard to tell in the pictures, but it's basically an ombre thing, with the glitter solid near the base of the nail, and gradually fading to just barely sprinkled on towards the tip.

Really blurry close up.  Hey, I never said I was good at taking pictures!

The materials needed.  Just glitter and clear nail polish!

      The thing about clear nail polish is that dries faster than regular nail polish, and also, because it's clear, if you do mess it up, you probably won't be able to tell.  In other words, even I can use it.
 
     The first step is to mix your glitter on a paper plate.  Of course, you could just use one color, but that would label you as a super boring person, and who wants to be that?  I used pink and gold, because I love pink and gold.  It reminds me of rose gold, which is the prettiest kind.

     Now, once you've mixed them, one finger at a time, paint the nail and, holding it over the plate so it doesn't get everywhere, sprinkle the glitter on over the base.  After that you may want to sprinkle it really lightly over the rest of the nail, but I found that it scattered enough that I didn't usually have to in order to get the look I wanted.  By the time both hands are done, the base coat on the first hand should be dry, and you can give it a topcoat to keep the glitter where it's supposed to be.  I actually gave it another topcoat after the first one dried just to be extra secure.  It's doing a great job of staying put!

     Because I said that I did it because I was already having a glitter-fit, you may have been wondering what it was I did to get into it.  Well, BWSC (my favorite conference) has a tradition that a couple students started before my time, of people sticking clothespins on each other, and it's great fun, and usually they just have quotes, or jokes, or random fun things to say on them, but this year I decided to cover mine in glitter instead!  I used more or less the same technique (base, glitter, two layers of glaze) as for the nails, except that I used a glue and water mixture instead of clear nail polish, and coated them instead of sprinkling them in glitter.

Just a Little Exultation

     THE PATTERN ARRIVED!  Ahem, unless you've been following my recent strain of posts, you have no idea what I'm talking about.  I am currently preparing to make the Portside Travel Set from Grainline Studios.  Except I'll probably just make the duffel bag to start with, but we'll see.

The back of the booklet.  I'm pretty excited to get started!

The instructions seem to be quite clear, although it's a little hard to really get into your head what's going on with any pattern unless you're actually doing it.

      So I'll probably be going to get the supplies in another couple weeks or so, but in the meantime, keep voting on that poll on the sidebar for your favorite color scheme!  Also, I would just like to point out, to anyone who may be interested, that I'm blowing Maggie out of the water in our sibling rivalry.  Eheh.

COLOR CHOOSING TIME!

     I have officially bought the pattern for my latest project, and I would imagine it will get here within a week or so, therefore, NOW Y'ALL GET TO HELP ME PICK THE COLORS!  I've come up with several color options (along with descriptions of how I'd use them), and you get to vote in the poll on the side!  Of course, it will partially depend on what fabric I can find, but I'll do my best!  I can't guarantee that I'll follow the majority opinion, but given that I like all the options, I agree to at least consider it.  IT'S GOING TO BE SO MUCH FUN!  Okay, let's get started.

1.  In this color scheme, I would be using black for the bottom half, some black and white pattern for the top (I was thinking some kind of abstract floral.  Feel free to chip in an opinion in the comments!), and a solid hot pink lining.

2.  With these colors, the bottom would, again, be black, and the lining solid grapefruit pink, but the top would be polka dotted.  If you vote for this one, please tell me in the comments whether you think black with white polka dots, or white with black polka dots would look better.

3.  Black on the bottom, black and white stripes on top (wide stripes, I think), and red with white polka dots for the lining

4.  From here on out, all the whites look a little gray, but trust me, they're supposed to be white.  Hey look!  Finally one without black!  This color scheme would have navy blue on the bottom, navy blue and white stripes on the top (again, kind of white stripes), and a solid yellow lining.

5.  Ugh, stinky gray!  Everything looks a little darker than it's supposed to here, actually.  Here I would be using an orange bottom, an orange and white chevron top (That's probably Maggie's favorite choice, just because she loves chevron.  Don't click on that link, her blog is terrible.  Just kidding it's really good, but still don't click on it.), and turquoise lining.

6.  It's a little hard to tell here, but that color on the left is brown.  I've always dreamed of having a tower bedroom with mint green wallpaper with brown polka dots, and that would be the primary fabric here!  The bottom half would be solid brown, and the lining light pink.

7.  I love purple, so I couldn't just make a list without ANY purple options!  Envision, if you will, a purple bottom, narrow purple and white stripes for the top, and a mint green lining.

8.  Strawberry lemonade is one of my favorite color schemes that there are, so obviously I had to consider that for my first ever really cool traveling bag.  Here, I would be using this raspberry sorbet-ish shade of pink for the bottom, ideally finding a pink, yellow, and white pinstriped fabric and using that vertically for the top, and using solid yellow for the lining.

9.  Ooh, watermelon!  If I used this color scheme, I would be putting green on the bottom half (I haven't decided yet which shade of green to use, so if you vote for this option, tell me in the comments which you like better!), a pinstripe of all four colors in the above palette, also vertical (keep in mind, that this is an idealized image, and it will also depend on what fabric I can find), and lining it with solid pink.

     Okay, now you have all of my color schemes, go vote!  The poll will be open for two weeks, but that's not an excuse to procrastinate, it's just an excuse to vote once a day, and give you more time to get as many people as possible to vote.  Thank you all for your input!

Duffel Bag Project

     As you are all most likely aware from my last post, I love sewing.  I've thought for a long time that I should blog about some of my sewing projects, but I never think of it until after I've finished the project, and then it just seems like a dum-dum-head thing to do, because I wouldn't have any in-progress pictures.  I also keep thinking that I ought to blog more (not least because Maggie recently surpassed me in pageviews.  If you click on that link, I'll kill you.), but can't think of anything  good to blog about!  However, I just recently decided on my next sewing project, and I want y'all to keep me accountable and make sure I finish it!

Thread Theory

Four Square Walls

Stones Throw on Kollabora

Effortless Attention

    I've been pining over the Portside Travel Set for months now, after seeing so many beYOOtiful versions around, so I finally decided to make it!  I haven't bought the pattern yet, as I'm waiting to figure out whether it's a paper version that gets sent by snail mail (preferable), or one that must be printed out at home, but I hope to get it, and get started on it, soon!  I don't know my color scheme yet, so any suggestions on that would be very helpful!  I'm thinking maybe black on bottom, some black and white pattern on top, and a hot pink lining, but K Beff thinks I would get tired of it, and she may be right.  I think it's probable that the hot pink would help me avoid that, though.
      My goal is to get it done before my summer traveling starts (So if you want to see it in person, come to BWSC!  Oh, I'm sorry, was that an accidental plug for the best conference in the world?  Nope!  It was an ON PURPOSE plug for the best conference in the world!), so it's y'all's job to make sure I stay on track, and harass me if it seems to be taking too long.  I will try to post about my progress periodically, and especially when it's finished.  SO MAKE SURE YOU'RE DOING YOUR JOB!  See ya!

Some Things on my Mind Lately

   

 A hot topic nowadays (well, actually, it has been for many years), is the way Hollywood presents unattainable ideals to girls and women.  I have decided to put in my bit,as it is a very important subject, because of the despair that girls will fall into when they realize that they can never measure up to the standards set before them in movies.  I am referring most specifically to animated films (princess movies are probably the most at fault in their idealized portrayals), because in live action films, everything comes from at least a semblance of reality, and there will be plenty of flaws that cannot be hidden or fixed.
     Oh, did you think I was talking about people this whole time?  That's ridiculous, everyone knows they're unrealistic, and little girls figure out pretty quickly that they will never be Disney princesses, but it's still fun to pretend!  No, I am referring to a far more grievous departure from reality: skirts.  To demonstrate what I mean by this, I'd like to use an example from a movie I am sure many of you are familiar with (it was kind of a big deal early in the year).  How many of you have seen Frozen?  There's no need for a show of hands, since I can't see it through the internet anyway, but probably the vast majority of you have.  Many of you girls, I am certain, particularly seamstresses, remember Anna's coronation dress, pictured above.  Those pleats, that swishiness, the way it looked while twirling, how could you not fall in love at first sight?  I, for one, saw it, thought of hardly anything else for the rest of the movie, spent the next few weeks watching the parts with "For the First Time in Forever" and "Love is an Open Door" over and over again just so that I could see that skirt in action (the silhouette of it twirling behind the sail?  Oh, it makes my heart go pitter-pat as even Captain America can't.), and the next few months devising formulas, and thinking of the best way to replicate the skirt.
     But alas, soon came the day when I realized that I was in love with something that didn't exist; that couldn't exist.  You know the part in which she trips into the boat, and as she falls backward, you can see that she doesn't have a petticoat or slip or any kind of underskirt under her skirt? Oh, how I wish that were possible.  Someone once described '50s dresses without crinolines as "sad," and it's true!  The skirts just hang limp, depressing and forlorn!  Obviously, the dress which we are discussing is not from the '50s, but the same principle applies.  No under-structure=no happiness, or joy, or peace on earth.
     No, you're probably thinking "okay, this sounds like an easy enough problem to get around.  So animators pretend that support isn't necessary, but that doesn't mean you can't add any when you copy it."  You have a point.  Let's see how the results of that would play out.  There are two basic ways in which skirts can be poofed out: hoop-skirts, and crinoline petticoats.  A hoop-skirt would probably be more accurate for the time period, the event, and that length of skirt, so we'll discuss that possibility first  There are advantages to hoops, admittedly.  They will give the skirt a nice smooth shape when standing still, move nicely while walking, and never get all uncomfortably bunched up between your legs, however, hopefully, anyone wearing the skirt would not just be walking or standing still!  One of the main reasons we love the skirt is for its twirling ability!  Do you see where I'm going with this?  Well, picture it this way.  When you start twirling, and the pleats do their thing, the circumference at the bottom is three times what it is when everything is smoothly in place.  That's a pretty dang full skirt.  Well over the volume of a circle skirt, it may possibly even have as much volume as a double circle skirt.  What this means is that, unlike a normal gathered skirt, when you start spinning, you won't get a bell shaped effect, the skirt will flare straight out.  Because of the length, and therefore weight, of the fabric, it shouldn't go up indecently high, probably not past your knees, but that's not the point.  Remember that hoop-skirt you're wearing?  Well, it isn't made the same way as your skirt!  It has one shape, which will not really change with your movements, which means that as your skirt flares up, and your hoop-skirt stays down, you basically flash your undergarments to the whole world, which is about one of the most mortifying things anyone can do.
     So hoop-skirts are a no go.  well, what about a crinoline?  This is actually a pretty feasible solution, and when I make my (probably shorter, without all the patterns, and possibly in different colors; the pleats are the main attraction) version of the skirt, I will most likely wear it with a crinoline.  You can sit down in it, without all the bother of a hoop-skirt, it moves pretty nicely when you walk, and, most importantly, because of all the gathering, it will flare out with the skirt, and it's also not a big deal if a little bit of petticoat shows.  But there are still some minor inconveniences.  They don't really make crinolines that long, and of course you could always make one, but it's difficult, what with all that fabric to gather, trying to keep parts from interfering with each other and getting in the way.  The problem most relating to our subject, though, is comfort, because why else bother caring that animated skirts don't seem to need support?  Crinolines do tend to get bunched up between your legs, or bunch up all weird in certain sections, making the skirt look fuller in some parts than others, and besides, you just don't get the nice swishy feeling you have when there's nothing between you and the skirt.
     As I said before, a crinoline is a pretty good solution to the problem, but wouldn't it be so nice if we could have that beautiful shape without any need for it?  Anna's skirt is only one demonstration of Disney lying to us in this way.  I can think of so many more examples - well, no, actually, I can only think of that one, but I know there are a lot more examples of animated skirts that had beautiful shapes on the outside, but when they moved, you could tell that there was nothing to support that shape.  Disney is deceiving our girls, telling them to believe in impossible dreams, and trying to ruin their lives.  Help me to fight against this madness!