A Beauty So Rare: The Seamstress and Cover Shoot

Meet the Woman Behind the Dress! – Tamera Alexander

Dear friends,

Have you ever wanted to meet the woman who sewed the dress on a novel cover? Then please allow me to introduce you to Beth Schoenherr, the ever-so-talented seamstress who sewed Eleanor Braddock’s dress for the cover of A Beauty So Rare.

I’m thrilled that Beth was willing to share about her experience in making the dress, and I love the behind-the-scenes glimpses she shares. I hope you will, too!

Tamera: Where did inspiration for the dress for A Beauty So Rare come from (both the style and color)?

Beth: The style, of course, was determined by the post–Civil War timing of the story. I believe the cover designer and editors talked about a garden setting and felt pink would look lovely against the backdrop of the green foliage and other flowers, which it does! I then had the fun of finding the right shade of pink to keep it a believable color for the time. Hot pink or neon pink, of course, would never do!

Tamera: Um, no. LOL! Not even Adelicia Acklen could have coerced Eleanor into neon pink! ; )

Tamera: Have you made dresses for photo shoots before?

Beth: I started doing period costumes for men, women, and children in amateur theater in 1999 and then had opportunities in the following years to progress to working in the costume shop of a professional theater. This is my first costume for a photo shoot, however.

Tamera: How cool, Beth. I’m so grateful for your work on this dress. Well done!

Tamera: Do you have an appreciation for period clothing? And if yes, what’s your favorite style of women’s dresses from history?

Beth: I do enjoy period clothing. I don’t think I can pick one favorite style though. I just enjoy the various and changing silhouettes and fabrics throughout the history of fashion.

Tamera: Understandable. I have many “favorites,” too!

Tamera: What’s the most challenging dress you’ve created for a cover (and what was most challenging about it)? Also, what has been your most challenging sewing project in general?

Beth: As I mentioned, this is the first dress I have made for a cover. It has been really fun and exciting to create this dress from scratch and then see it on the cover of this book. A new experience I had when making this dress was the cartridge pleats at the back of the skirt. The pattern called for the front and side pieces of the skirt to be pleated to fit into the waistband and left only a five-inch opening in the back of the waistband. Then I had to fit the 50-inch-wide piece of fabric for the back part of the skirt into that five-inch opening. I thought, “There is no way I’m going to get that much fabric into that little space.” But the cartridge pleats worked fabulously at neatly pleating 50” down to 5”.

The most challenging costume I worked on was a waistcoat designed and then cut out by someone else and given to me to sew. Not a single piece matched up in size to its coordinating piece. There was no extra fabric to work with so I had to just rework the pieces I had while making sure the finished garment would still fit the actor it was designed for. Definitely a “make it work” project!

Finally, probably the most thrilling dress I got to make was the first complete dress for a play at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis. Many of my costumes prior to that had to be remakes of existing dresses or costumes due to tight budgets. But I was graciously given the opportunity to sew, from start to finish, the schoolteacher dress in Little House on the Prairie: The Musical, which premiered at the Guthrie and then went on to tour nationally. It was so exciting to see the professionally-designed dress come together step-by-step and then to see it on stage.

Tamera: Wow, Beth, I bet that was a rewarding experience with Little House on the Prairie: the Musical. Congratulations! I’ve always admired people who know how to sew, and sew well!

Thank you for sharing your talent and time with us––and with the cover of my latest novel.

~Tamera
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LegoLand #WW w/linky

I don’t know about you but we have huge Lego fans in our home!

Our boys can’t get enough and to be honest neither can we! I love creating castles, houses, farms and so much more. So the boys were super excited to visit Legoland Discovery Centre at Vaughn Mills, Toronto.

Lego is the theme of this week’s Wordless Wednesday post (review to come!). Check out the teaser of our visit to Legoland.

Don’t forget to link up below so that I can visit you too! Have a lovely day!

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Maybelle in Stitches #review

Maybelle in Stitches by Joyce Magnin is the story of Maybelle Kazinki whose husband is serving in World War II. Maybelle is a strong young woman but so unlike her mother – she can not sew. She was the only girl in her seventh grade Home Economics class to sew the zipper in the neck hole of her A-line dress. After her mother dies leaving her alone she finds an unfinished quilt in the attic of the house and she decides that the quilt needs to be finished. She gathers a group of friends to help her fill her loneliness and bring hope to each one of them.

The quilt is a “crazy” quilt made with scraps of material from Maybelle’s mother and grandmother’s childhood. She decides to add Holden’s (her husband) stripes to the quilt. Suddenly life changes quickly when she receives harsh news from overseas. Maybelle’s faith falters and it is the quilting group that help brings back her hope and faith.

Maybelle in Stitches is a wonderful story of faith and friendship. Maybelle’s story was probably quite common during this era and I can imagine how many of these women and families felt alone and scared. It is only through their friendships and faith in God do these women make it through day to day. It is the power and hope in the quilt that helps them keep moving forward until they meet their husbands again. The story was believable, open and honest – I loved every moment. Each character was very real with normal faults and shortcomings. You kept praying for everything to be okay for Maybelle! I had a hard time putting the novel down because I just wanted to know what happened to Maybelle and her Holden

You can find more reviews on the Litfuse blog tour here.

Rating: 4/5

Disclosure: I received a digital copy of this book in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.

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Easter Pop Up Card with Cathy Thinking Out Loud

Cathy from Cathy Thinking Out Loud has been at it again!

This time she has created cute Easter Pop Up Cards for your kids to send to family. Our boys made cards for both of their grandparents and their Aunts and Uncles. Their Mom kind of failed at making the beak pop up but you can always do the craft without making the beak move.

Materials

  • Blank white paper (as many sheets as cards you would like to make)
  • Pencil crayons or crayons
  • Scissors

Instructions:

  • Print out the easy template on blank white paper

 

  • Colour the egg and chick – including the reverse side of the page where the mouth will open (or if you chose to not have the mouth open you can leave the reverse side blank).
  • Fold the template in half both ways and then leave it folded length wise and cut the mouth of the beak. Fold the triangles up going in each direction. Alternatively you can just leave the beak closed with no pop up for the crafty challenged (like moi!).
  •  Place the card into the folded shape and bull beak up inside card so that the beak will pop up as you open the card.

And Voila! Enjoy!

Happy Easter!

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The Queen’s Handmaid by Tracy Higley #review

Betrayal, power, politics and religion. Powerful topics that are examined in the backdrop of the historical time period that brings Cleopatra and Herod in to play in The Queen’s Handmaid by Tracy Higley.

The Queen’s Handmaid takes place in Alexandria, Egypt 39 B.C. and the story of Lydia. Lydia was orphaned at birth and raised as a servant in Cleopatra’s palace. She works hard to please those around her while keeping everyone at arm’s length. She has been rejected and left with a broken heart too many times.

When her mentor dies and entrusts her with the secret writings of the prophet Daniel and charges her to deliver the scrolls to those watching for the promised King of Israel. Lydia must leave the only place she has called home and flee to Jerusalem. Once in the Holy City, she attaches herself to the newly appointed King, Herod, as a handmaid to Queen Mariamme.

Trapped among the scheming women of Herod’s political family – sister, wife and their mothers – and forced to serve in the palace to protect her treasure, Lydia must deliver the scrolls before dark forces warning against the truth destroys all hope of the coming Messiah.

This was an incredibly interesting novel in a very intriguing time period.We have all grown up learning of the powerful political figures during this time period, Cleopatra, Mark Antony, Herod and eventually Jesus Christ. It is with these great figures that this story unfolds and it is extremely interesting to see how each of these figures played a role in the lives of each other. With all the betrayal and mystery in this novel it keeps you turning the page wondering what will happen next! I still find it shocking all of the events in history and how people were treated and Tracy Higley gives an excellent portrayal into life during this time period especially through the role of Lydia. The idea of human life being disposable is still so shocking to me but that is life in those times.

Rating: 4/5

You can find more reviews on The Queen’s Handmaid here. You can purchase a copy of the book here.

Disclosure: I received a digital copy of this book in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.

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