Happy Thursday! The perceptive readers among you have no doubt noticed that earlier this summer I switched from a 6-day-a-week posting schedule to a 4-day one, and it’s been some time since a Thursday post went up. (My own pattern recognition skills are abysmal; it would take me till Christmas to catch on. Or maybe Valentine’s Day. Or never. That’s a real possibility, actually.)

But this seemed like a great week to participate in the Thursday link-up at one of my favorite sites, Like Mother, Like Daughter. I’ve written about Leila before, and admire her site, but sadly, a photo link-up doesn’t often fit thematically with the topics here on Modern Mrs Darcy.  But this week it’s perfect, because I’m dying to show you a couple of my sewing projects (largely inspired by you, the readers, and the amazing projects you shared in the comments to this post), and I can hardly wait to share with you all the good stuff I’ve been reading.

So without further ado, I present to you….

{pretty}

These are my girls.  They’re 4 and 6, and I couldn’t think of a better subject to illustrate “pretty.”  Also pretty, I think, are their dresses, which I constructed out of a pale green cotton that had languished on their shared closet’s top shelf since before they were born.  I’ve just gotten back into sewing for the first time in, oh, a decade or so, and this pale green was my “practice” fabric.  But the finished results turned out so well that I’ve let these dresses see the light of day.

{happy}

This is Felicity, in her pale green dress that matches Sarah’s.  I’m pretty proud of myself for whipping this up (without a pattern, even).  Matching doll dresses make for happy girls.

{funny}

I just told you I haven’t sewn in a decade, right?  Well, I wanted to make a skirt, but I was terrified to cut my real skirt fabric for fear that I’d flub it.  So I made my first skirt in practice fabric–which happens to be a fish print from curtains that hung in my brother’s room a long time ago.  (It’s a fish print, from when my brother was going through his Phish phase.  Get it?  He was a Phish fan at the right time.  Even Ben & Jerry’s came out with a flavor devoted to the band.)  Well, those curtains have been folded neatly in the fabric box for years, and they made excellent practice fabric for my a-line skirt.  And it’s a good thing I chose to practice, because I messed this pattern up 7 ways to Sunday.  Do you see how the fabric to the rear of the side seam looks much, much paler than the fabric to the front of it?  That’s because I stitched the right side to the wrong side.  And it’s a good thing you can’t see the back of the skirt here, because that’s even funnier.

But my real skirt, not the practice one, is finished, but for the hem.  And it looks pretty good.  Thank you, funny fish fabric, for letting me iron out all the kinks on you.

This is my gigantic, but not inclusive, book stack.  Dear readers, if you’re thinking that you see a book here that you’ve recommended to me, you’re not dreaming.  I admire your taste and take your suggestions very much to heart.  Do you have a good book to recommend to me?  Please share it!  I feel wealthy with a tall stack of books by my bedside–I take much contentment from a tall stack of good books.  And I guarantee you’ll be hearing about a few of them in the coming weeks.

And do you notice all those Dewey Decimal numbers on the spines?  Yes, I love my library.

These are all things that bring a great deal of contentment into my own life.  Thanks for joining me at what may be the only {pretty, happy, funny, real} moment here at Modern Mrs Darcy.

And after sharing those snapshots from my own life, I’d like to know what brings you contentment in everyday life?

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