FAQ

Sewing

Do you girls ever make things stuff without a pattern? Because I do that a lot, and I was wondering if you had any tips!

Charlotte wrote-

I like to stay away from not using a pattern, just because I feel really "lost" without one. When I was younger, however, I would make my dolls dresses and such, and I would rarely use a pattern then. 

In regards to tips: you could try and stick to what you know about sewing, possibly base the shape of what you're making after a basic sewing pattern that coincides with what your project is (i.e- your making an A-line skirt without a pattern, so you pull out a basic A-line skirt looking pattern piece and base it after that.) Another thing to would be to stock up on sewing manuals that specialize in details or pattern drafting. My sister and I find these very helpful when we're creating our own projects based after what we've seen, and don't have an "already printed" pattern to assist.

Do any of you happen to use a dress-form when you sew? Is it worth the money to get one?

Brigid wrote-

Yes, I do use a dress-form. I received it as a Birthday present last year. It is not a very high tech one, just a regular old dress form like the ones you can buy at Jo-Ann's.

I do not use it too much, unless I am making my own pattern, or am having fitting issues with a pattern. Though, however, it is very useful in plotting the proper placement of pockets and buttons if you do not have someone to do it for you while you model the garment. I myself am planning on using it much more extensively in the future, as I have some business plans in mind. I would encourage you to purchase one, if you make your own patterns, or have fitting issues.

As to the price, I would strongly encourage you to look on Ebay and Etsy, or even at garage sales. A friend of mine actually purchased an absolutely gorgeous dress-form at a garage sale for a very reasonable price.

I really want to make a blouse out of sheer material to wear over another blouse. I'm having trouble picking the kind of fabric, do you have any suggestions?

Brigid wrote- This is a tough one. It really depends on how much you want to pay, and if you want it to be very dressy, or everyday kind-of wear ( frosting, or cake?). If you want it to be dressy, expensive, and somewhat stiffish, you could go with silk organza. If you want it to be fluid and draping, definitely go with silk chiffon, or a good man-made imitation.

If you want it to be slightly cheaper, and like a more substantial fabric, you could use cotton voile. It comes in a variety of lovely prints and colors, as well as solids, and is so lightweight and breathable. Beyond these three, I do not know of much else.

Just overall, when you are shopping for fabrics, look at the description, and if it says extremely lightweight, and it is sheer, go for it!

Do you buy your fabric online? Is it cheaper or does it have better quality? Or is the bonus the fact that it gets delivered to your front door?

Brigid wrote- Yes, we do buy most of our fabric online, for two reasons:

1. The closest fabric store to us is Joann's, and is about a half hour away (in other words, takes a lot of expensive gas to drive there).

2. It is sometimes (most of the time, actually) of better quality and selection then the stuff you can find at the above store, though Charlotte and I have discovered the boon of their red tag section. :)

In answer to the second question, it can sometimes be cheaper and/or of better quality.

As to the last question, no we don't do it for the surprise factor, if that's what you meant, but we do choose to buy online because it gets shipped to us, rather than us have to drive.

And, if you want to know where we shop online for material, here are a few places that we shop at:

Fabric.com

This place is awesome, with their selection and customer service.

Fabric Shack

This store is actually in our area (so we actually buy the fabric there, not online), closer than Joann's, but a bit pricier. They sell mostly quilting cottons, the prints are so beautiful and fun, though sometimes they do have wool and linen fabric.

Fashion Fabrics Club

This place has an excellent selection, though a hard to navigate website, and not the best customer service (better to call, than order online).

When you girls sew clothes, what kind(s) of seams do you use? Because everything I make always seems so fragile, like it's going to rip if I move my arm too fast or something. (the paticular thing I'm thinking of isn't even a fitted blouse)

Brigid wrote- Ummm... we just use regular seams with a straight stitch for wovens, and occasionally, a zig-zag for knits. If your seams are, ahem, "busting" per say, you might want to check the tension on your bobbin

 (Here's a link on how to judge if your bobbin has the right tension) and upper thread. Two more possible reasons for your fragility problem could be that (1) your seam allowances are too small, and/or (2) your seams are not finished properly, A.K.A ravelly-fabric syndrome. Here's another link to all the possible types of seam finishes if you have the latter problem.

I hope this solves your dilemma!

What are your favorite kinds of materials to sew with?

Quilting cotton, rayon, and linen.

How did you learn to sew? 

It all started with Kathy, who taught Brigid basic hand sewing and some machine sewing. Brigid, really adoring the hobby, was allowed to go to a sewing camp for a summer where she learned many more techniques and methods. Brigid taught Charlotte basic hand and machine sewing, and has continued to assist both Kathy and Charlotte with her accumulated knowledge on this subject.

How long have you been making and sewing your own clothes?

Brigid- About 7-8 years.

Kathy- Around 5-6 years

Charlotte- About 3-4 years

What was your first sewing project?
Brigid- Probably a doll dress
Charlotte- Ditto

What is your dream sewing project?
Brigid- My wedding dress :)
Charlotte- My wedding dress, or my first child's christening/baptism gown.

Vintage

How long have y'all been interested in and gathering a vintage wardrobe? 

For about 3-4 years now. It really started with our lifelong interest in historic fashion married with inspiration from various blogs that we follow. Influence from blogs like Elegant Musings and Vixen Vintage planted a seed in our minds which would blossom into the styles you see us wear and admire today. 

How do you know if a piece of clothing or shoes are vintage or not? 

We typically go by a few pointers to figure out if an article of clothing is vintage:

• If there is a zipper, is it metal? If so, then you can probably determine that it is vintage.
• What material is it made out of? Though this is more of a looser guide, it is important to know what fabrics were made when. A few important facts to keep in mind when determining whether an item of clothing is vintage, it that Polyester did not exist around the 80's, and dresses made in the 1940's were typically rayon.
• What is the silhouette? Does it have a full, circle skirt? It's probably 50's. Does it have broad shoulders accentuated with shoulder pads? Then it's either 1940's, or if it's new looking, 80's.

If you had to choose one decade of clothing to wear for the rest of your life, what would it be?
Jessica- 1950's
Brigid- 1945-1955
Charlotte- 1950s

Fashion

For Brigid: I have been very interested in starting a modest clothing store, I was wondering if you've come up with a business plan or formulated ideas for manufacturers and suppliers of modest clothing?
Brigid wrote-Wow! To be blunt I have not come up with such a business plan, since, if I ever did start up my own modest clothing store, I was planning on making all the clothing myself, until I realized that wasn't feasible. If I was to start up my own modest clothing store on a largish scale, I would probably look into doing a cottage industry style of production, rather than having the clothes made in a factory, since, even though they are more expensive that way, you can help support Moms and Daughters with a job that they can do at home. That's just what I have thought of, and I really have never gone beyond that.

When you buy things from Forever 21, do you go to the store, or order online?

Charlotte wrote- Typically we like to try on or examine the article of clothing before we purchase anything from F21, though ordering has occasionally come to mind as a way of purchasing an item from that store. I would suggest if it is your first time shopping there, that you actually go in person (if you can) and look and feel the pieces yourself.

Do you have any tips for more 'dressy' styles for shoulder length straight hair?

Charlotte wrote- I used to have thick, straight hair before I got it layered and trimmed above shoulder length about about 6 months ago (you can see the style here.) I have grown it out since then to about shoulder length with my shortest layers being about 2" shorter than an average bob. I don't have the most curly hair- it's a bit more wavy than curly- but all the same, the styles and tips that I am going to suggest will hopefully apply to both straight and wavy/curly. Since growing out, I really wanted to style it more, and play with various methods of putting it up (we are hoping to do a post soon that covers the various style that all of us ladies have come up with.)

• French braids are very easy, once you get the hang of it- and fixing one on each side of your head really works with the shoulder length type, and I either tuck mine up inside each braid, or band them together in the back and pin them up. It really helps keep the hair out of your face, and with a pretty flower, you'll find you have a very easily fixed- though fabulous and complex in appearance- dressy 'do!
• Another thing that I like to do, which has a bit more of a vintage/40s edge to it; is to take pieces of hair on each side of my head and twist them, picking up more hair as I go, and pin in place, crossing two-three pins at the end of the twist, and placing more bobby pins along the edge/inside of the twist in the opposite direction in which the twist is going. I don't know how well that would work with straight hair- but with wavy/curly, it definitely works!
• A very simple, and versatile look is to simply pin back a little pice of hair with a pretty flower- and that makes for a darling and dressy look! Here is a link to a tutorial for making your own flowers that my sisters and I have found very, very helpful in making little accessories for our hair.

I hope to goodness this has helped! My sister Jessica will be picking up behind me soon with even more tips, as she is the master-mind with hair in our family, and has come up with many, many fabulous styles! Oh, and be sure to keep your eye out for the post on our hair styles which we hope to put soon!

What are you tips for staying warm in skirts in winter? I get cold REALLy easily, and don't like wearing boots so much. Any tips for feminine warmth, in a very casual style?

Charlotte wrote- We've actually found that skirts are actually warmer than pants in the winter! It's because of the air circulation going on underneath that keeps you warmer. 

A few tips to stay cozy while wearing skirts in colder weather would be to wear (not all at once, of course- unless you really need to!) long underwear, tights, petticoats (not crinolines- unless you want your skirt to really poof out), and bloomers (the latter two we've actually made ourselves using patterns that we've borrowed/purchased. You can probably get away with one of those elastic waist pant patterns-just as long as you shorten them for bloomers) If you don't mind adding a bit of bulk to your waist band, and if your skirts are rather full- bloomers and petticoats are awesome! Personally, however, I prefer just some leggings that I purchased from Target- and though I am not warm blooded, that suits me fine. If we're going out to a football game, or some other outdoor activity during fall/winter, I typically whip on a petticoat. I have found too that wearing my leggings along with tights keeps me warm and cozy.
Another tip is to tuck in your shirts. It may sound odd, but it really traps the heat and keeps you nice a cozy! 
I am the same way with wearing boots! They're just not me- so you'll typically find me bedecking a pair of high-heeled oxfords, and the like ;) 
Slippers can really help keep warm around the house, and my Mom has found that her Ugg-like boots really assist in trapping heat! The biggest places to cover are your feet and neck/head. As long as those are kept warm, you'll find that your in pretty good shape during the more mildly cold weather!

What are your opinons of High Heels, i.e. how high will you go, what occastions do you wear them at, where wouldn't you wear them, et cetera.

Charlotte wrote- For me, it mainly depends upon the occasion that I will wear the shoe at. I am fine with wearing heels to a casual occasion, as long as the style of shoe is not too dressy. As to how high we go, we typically stay under 4", though as we grow older, our boundaries in this area grow more flexible.

What type of shoes would you wear to the following places:
Church (summer and winter)

We typically would wear a nice, dressy heel or flat, depending upon the outfit we are wearing that day. When buying shoes, we usually purchase certain types of shoes for dressier occasions and Church, like heels that are on the higher side, or more impractical colors or styles that would easily scratch up in causal wear.  

Friends house for a farm day

Probably just muck-boots (aka rain boots), or garden clogs.

To town to buy milk at local grocery store

A casual heel or flat, like loafers or oxfords.

Mall to buy whatever you buy there

Same as above.

Resturant such as Mcdonalds

Ditto

Any other prominent places you can think of!

For our singing events, we typically have a certain pair of shoes that we reserve for only performances, which are simple black heels. Though we do typically sneak in a wear or two elsewhere, we do try and keep those shoes nice and as scratch-less as possible.

Do you wear Sperries, if so/not, what do you think of them?

No we don't, as those shoes don't exactly fit into our style very well. We think they are a wonderful shoe for those who find they fit into their style.

Was your decision to dress in mostly dresses and skirts a spiritual conviction or just a preference?

It was actually both! We love wearing skirts and dresses, as we find they retain more feminine characteristics as apposed to pants (we are NOT against pants, by the way), and they can be very modest and practical.

As far as spirituality goes on this topic; when we first moved to Ohio (about 6 years ago), Jessica was going through the stage in life (aka, getting a more 'womanly' figure) where it was more vital that she be modest to a greater extent in her dress than in her girlhood years, which really opened us up to alternative ways of covering ourselves. We were exposed to the realm of wearing skirts through various conferences and Bible Studies, much more than back in our home state of WA. We were especially convicted and influenced by by Stacy McDonald's "Raising Maidens of Virtue" study, by various references to femininity and wearing skirts in that book, which really set us on the track to wearing skirts and dresses more and more. 

What kind of a budget do you use for buying fabric, patterns, and clothes? It seems like you have such beautiful clothing, but the clothes I see in stores that are actually modest and pretty can be quite expensive! 

We typically go with what money we have at the moment for buying clothing and sewing supplies. Thrift Stores are the way to go for us as far as clothing shopping goes, as we always find beautiful, well made garments for very inexpensive prices. When we shop for fabric, we rarely spend over $40 for a dress, and are always looking out for sales.

What do you think of jeans? For home-wear and casual occasions?
We think jeans are a wonderful item of clothing when worn in the right way. We personally have certain regulations that we go by when purchasing or making a pair of pants or jeans, such as the trousers not being to tight around the rear and legs, as those factors can be quite tempting to our brothers in Christ.

Personal & Spiritual

Have you all had singing lessons?
YES! We have been blessed by the training of our voice teacher Mrs. Lynette Sharp for about five years now. We couldn't ask for a better voice coach and mentor.

Do you have a dog?
Yes, we actually have two dogs. One of them is a big akita, while the other is a small and fluffy Lhasa Apso. We love them both, and no they do not get along well. ;)

What is your favorite time period not fashion wise?

Jessica- The late 1700's

Brigid- Late 1700's and also the 1800's

Charlotte- The 1940's

What are your favorite things to do outside of sewing?
Jessica- I don't typically sew, but the other things that I typically do include working for Dad as a copy writer and artist, helping around the house in cooking and food preservation, taking care of my dovies (aka homing pigeons), and cultivating my artistic talent.
Brigid- Studying fashion history, make anything chocolate or Asian, and blogging.
Charlotte- I adore photography, and really enjoy creating the graphics and photos that you see on the blog. I am also a graphic designer in training.

Who is your favorite singer/band/group?

We enjoy the following:

Imagine Dragons

Mumford & Sons

Young the Giant

Josh Ritter

The Andrews Sisters

The McGuire Sisters
Deanna Durbin

Do you guys ever work out? And if you do, what do you wear?

Yes we do! We have found and stuck to certain workouts like Walk at Home, 10-minute Full Body Workout, and Ashtanga Yoga. Typically we exercise at night, so we don't have to worry about what we wear (which usually consists of PJs.) Jessica and Charlotte took up running for a little while, and wore homemade "britches" and a grubby, breathable shirt for that exercise. 

What do you girls want to do when you grow up?
Jessica- I hope to help my Dad in his marketing business as being his copyrighter. I love to explore many, many hobbies and occupations, so I haven't quite thought out all my ideas to establish a firm passion. One of my ultimate desires is to be a wife and helpmeet, if God wills me to be married, and fulfill God's command of being a homemaker, and being fruitful and multiplying.
Brigid- I am desirous of assisting Dad in his business in doing research and planning his business travels. Aside from that, I have a great interest in fashion and clothing, and hope to somehow fulfill that passion through starting up my own ladies' clothing line based off of vintage and modest fashion. I have the sincere desire and hope to be a homemaker and helpmeet to my future husband, should God allow me to be married, and have as many children as He wills me. 
Charlotte- I hope to cultivate my skills in graphic design, and also perfect my skills in photography that way I can aid in those areas for my Dad's marketing business. It is my hope and prayer that God should will me to be married, and that I will be a faithful helpmeet to my husband, and Godly mother to my children, should God bless me with any. 

What kind of church do you attend?
We attend a reformed Presbyterian Church under the PCA Denomination.

How do we talk to guy friends?

Jessica wrote- This question can be answered simply with a few words: Never flirt, period. To give you all a lengthy answer: I have found in my readings of this subject from books like, Joyfully at Home - by Jasmine Baucham, So Much More - by the Botkin ladies, and various lectures, that if you try to put yourself in a guy's shoes, and try to understand that flirting is tempting, talking over what he is saying is damaging, and saying smart things just to get his attention away from his other friends is stealing. Communicate on his level. Think of how you talk to your father, and use that knowledge to help guide your thoughts as you speak.

I must humbly admit to you all that I have suffered the temptation to try all of those horrible things I mentioned on young men before. I have been succumbed by them too (however, it was a while back). And you all must know that this behavior can bring your good name down, but more unfortunately, it can tear up a young man's heart and fill him with temptation as well. Not to mention that this is in no way loving, or edifying to him, or anyone! 

I have also learned that if I try very hard to read a young man's natural behaviors from the very beginning, I will be able to know how to interact with him and other guys as well without getting into messes. I also no longer try to enter into a one on one conversations with a young man. That is where the greatest danger lies. Even if we are surrounded by a gathering of good friends and family, it doesn't matter. Because if we seclude ourselves with a young man, other people are often times interested in their conversations, and take no notice. That, for some reason, can feel like a ticket to us girls to snatch a bit of "innocent" time with this or that guy. And as soon as the thought passes through our heads, it only takes a split second to let the tongue fly; perhaps leading into something that we didn't necessarily want, but it nevertheless happened because we sought out this situation from the beginning. This is very dangerous. Believe me.

The tongue is a powerful tool, as we know it from the scriptures. It can be used like a knife for evil, or as soothing oil for the good and benefit of others. The tongue can be used to speak wisdom in the presence of our brothers in Christ, however we MUST refrain from preaching to them! It is not our place. Our tongues can be used to spread joy, and fill others hearts with good thoughts in which to contemplate. Do not use the tongue for frivolous occupations, but use it for good, that we might support others in righteousness!

When does a Friendship with a guy go too far? 

Jessica wrote- When the temptations become too great. I would encourage all of the young ladies who read this, to unfold your hearts to your parents in matters like this. I have done so many times and this (however uncomfortable or embarrassing it is) will be the saving act of the advanced friendship. In fact, it has always been my practice (from reading the books I mentioned above) to go to my father and confide all of my messy situations. And because of his loving wisdom, and words of comfort and hope,  I have gotten through the hard times. My Dad knows my heart very well, he knows that I need to be protected from sticky messes. If things get too rough, he usually steps into the scenario to sort things out with the father of the young man involved, as well as the young man himself. 

(Right now it might sound like I have had many episodes like this. Thankfully I have not! I learned from the very start of becoming a young woman, the dangers of this sort of thing, and thus have kept myself far from them! Please try to do the same dear friends! We must keep ourselves pure before God, before our fathers, before our brothers in Christ, and pure for our future husbands.)

Having flushed all that out, I must free you from thinking that it is wrong to converse with guys. Far from it! We can have so manny good conversations with them so long as we put their interests first and foremost!That is loving. And both we, and the young men take good things away from healthy conversations! Guys naturally like to get attention, and they love to talk about their interests. Ask them what their life occupation is going to be. What do they think about the politics being batted back and forth by our politicians? Are they interested in hunting? Is there anything that you might have in common with them? Having things in common is good for conversing, however, just don't sing them to the tune of "Oh, we're just perfect for each other! We both love the same exact things!" Let God be the rudder of your thoughts, not the handsome young man's interests.

How to deal with a crush on a guy, who to your knowledge, does't like/care for you? 

Jessica wrote- This is hard. If your heart has been tempted to have feelings for someone who really may not like you as much as you do him, then all I can say is: go back to sleep. Don't awaken these feelings when they are not needed. The Shulamite exhorts the daughters of Israel to not awaken love until it is needed! These overwhelming feelings are natural, and many girls go through them all the time. Believe me. I have too! And when we entertain such thoughts, our hearts run away with our imaginations, and we tear ourselves up over something that is not for us! It's such a silly thing in a way; but yet, when we have these emotions they are very real and important to us! And dare we think of saying, " No. I can't think this way anymore!" can feel like we have killed something inside us that looked to us beautiful, amazing, and it couldn't fit in any better with our plans! "How can I say, No."? You have to. It is not our Heavenly Father's plan for us to play with these feelings which are detrimental to the purity of our hearts. Remember. We must remain pure before God, our fathers, our brothers in Christ, and our future husbands.

How to deal with a guy who has a crush on you that you don't care for?

Jessica wrote-This is by far the easiest to deal with. Bring your Dad into this scenario! Tell him all about how uncomfortable it is to be around the young man who is noticeably attracted to you! Tell him everything! When we try to deal with situations like this on our own, the end results can be worse than how they began, and terrible things can happen for you and the questionable young man. Also, pray for the heart of this young man. He is a person too. And no matter how much we dislike the attention they give us, we need to love them just as Christ loves them. I have had experiences of this kind in the past, and the best advice I can give is to tell your Dad, and let him figure out how to fix the issue, pray for the young man's heart, and if it is too hard for you to be around him, stick close to your girl friends, and stay away from him for a while. But please don't make him feel unwanted! The last thing that you want to do is bring a young man down by acting in a prideful way when he is looking at you, or is talking to you. Young men can be easily damaged by this sort of behavior, and it is our duty to uplift them in every possible way. The world is filled with men nowadays who have no backbone, and I fear it is because we women (generalizing) have the greatest part to play in this. For the last century we have striven to lift our own heads out of the "confining" duties of being submissive housewives, submissive anything really, and in doing this we sought to bring the men down around us! We need not bring this horrible behavior into small, silly situations like this one. Its not worth it! We will only tear down what God has brought up. Be careful, and love our brothers in Christ. He love us first, therefore let us use that love as He has taught us, and see the wonderful things that come from it!

Blogging

What are your hopes for this blog?
Our hope for this blog is to bring glory to God in all that we put up here, and the effort that goes into it behind the scenes. We want to encourage women in the topics that we blog about as regards their lifestyle. We would love to grow into a bit of a more well-known online journal, like Bramblewood Fashion, or Elegant Musings (now Casey Maura); though our soul desire is to do whatever God wills us with this blog. 

What would your ideal amount of followers be?
Whatever the Lord sends our way. 

What type of photo editing software do you use?
Charlotte- I use Adobe Camera Raw 6 and VSCO presets to edit our photos, and Adobe Photoshop CC  to add text and special effects.

What type of design software do you use?
Charlotte- I use Adobe Illustrator CC to design logos and more detailed "print" design, and Photoshop for image-related projects.