Literary Sewing Circle Round Up

 

It's the end of this round of the Literary Sewing Circle, The Blue Castle edition! This was a fun one, with lots of readers weighing in, even if not everyone was able to get a project sewn up. I'm so glad that everyone enjoyed this Canadian classic from a century ago :) 

The winner of our random draw for the pattern from Blue Calla is (via random number generator)... 

#4 -- Silverdell! Thanks Silverdell for making your Brave Overalls inspired by Valancy's bravery in totally changing her life. 

You can see all of these projects by going to the original linkup post and clicking on the images. 

Keep your eyes on this space for the next round, sometime in late winter/early spring 2024! 

20s Inspired Talulah for The Blue Castle

 

I had many ideas for my project for The Blue Castle round of the Literary Sewing Circle - many of the suggestions I made in our inspiration posts were things I was considering myself. But as I was rereading some passages in the book, I came across this image from when Valancy and Barney were going to town to be married, and I just couldn't get it out of my head: 

Everything seemed more dream-like than ever. Valancy didn't know whether she felt happy. Or terrified. Or just plain fool. 

Then the lights of Port Lawrence were about them. Valancy felt as if she were surrounded by the gleaming, hungry eyes of hundreds of great, stealthy panthers. 

To me this felt like a dark rainy night with lots of blurred coloured lights shining and reflecting, showing Valancy's confusion at the life changes she was experiencing. And I had a fabric that made me think of this exact image, too. 

I matched up this light poly-blend knit with a dress that has a 20s inspired silhouette, the Talulah by Style Arc. I've been meaning to make this for a while, in fact it was on my 2021 Make Nine list! So I thought the 20s inspiration together with the quote made for a perfect duo.

So now on to the pattern! I traced off a size 12, grading out to about a size 14 at the hip -- I added on about 1/2" to each seam line, and bumped out the sections to be gathered by the same amount so that I didn't skimp on the gathered panels, which are the highlight of the pattern. It worked out well! I also shortened the sleeves by 3", so that they are full length, ending at the wrist. I have short arms. 

The neckband went in nicely, although do note that it is quite a narrow width; if you are thinking of making a contrast band as a feature, you might want to increase the width a bit. I basted it in first to be sure it was the right size and then attached it properly. Easier than picking out a zigzag to begin with. 

I didn't shorten this one at all. I measured the line of gathering so that it would sit right at my lower hip (although the stretch in the fabric has made it sit just a touch lower in wearing) and then measured down to where I wanted it to end. I didn't need to make any adjustments. The pattern as designed is fairly short, ending above the knee but I wanted mine to sit right at the knee. I don't think this pattern would look right if it was longer than mid-knee, the proportions would be off, at least to me. But I left it and it's mid-knee for me as is. I have quite short legs, so if you are making this be sure to measure your pattern well before deciding what to adjust. 

I really, really like this one! There's a shaped centre back seam to give it a nice fit and it really adds to the pattern. I like the fit a lot - in fact I think if I cut it to a length just above the gathers, this pattern would make a nice basic tee as well. I like that it's close fitting but not clinging, and the little swish of the gathered panels is just perfect. The fabric is light but also substantial enough to hold the shape well, and I think the print is such fun. 

I'm happy to be able to think of this as my Valancy dress, and will definitely enjoy it. The only tiny flaw with it is that there are no pockets -- not easy to put into this silhouette. But I will overlook that this time as it is such a fun and comfy outfit!

\

Literary Sewing Circle: Finale & Project Link-Up!

Today is already our final day of the Literary Sewing Circle focusing on LM Montgomery's The Blue Castle!

I hope you've had the chance to read the book, and both the first and second inspiration posts, and are getting lots of ideas for a project of your own.

The project linkup will be added to the bottom of this post: as soon as you are done your project, just pop a link to your post into the linkup and we will all be able to visit your blog/instagram etc. and explore your creation -- remember, it can be sewn, or knitted, crocheted, embroidered... any textile art that you practice.

And thanks to our sponsor Blue Calla Sewing Patterns! She will be giving a randomly chosen winner a free bag pattern from her shop. The project roundup closes on November 30th (LM Montgomery's birthday!) and I will draw a name from anyone who has linked up a project by then, whether on the blogpost or IG. 

I shared a lot of my thoughts on the book in our earlier book talk post. You can explore those for some of my thoughts; today I'll share an overview of my impressions of this novel. I hope you will too!

I reread this one fairly often, having been an LM Montgomery fan from quite a young age -- although this one is better appreciated as an older reader, I feel. On rereading this time around, I did find the first section, with poor Valancy oppressed and living as "Doss", to go on a little long. It was like an extended rainy day from the opening of the book until Valancy's shocking decision to leave home, and maybe because I was familiar with it, or maybe because real life is so dreary in so many ways right now, I was ready for the happy bits to start! 

This is a book you will read for the storyline, although all the characters are pretty engaging, at least for me. And the setting is just so lovely. If you like the writing style, you'll have lots to appreciate here; LMM is great at poking fun at pretension, using common adages to really give a flavour of her time, and of course at writing descriptive passages especially about nature. If you don't really like this kind of writing, it might not be as compelling to you! I love her style so did enjoy it even after many reads. I do usually skim the John Foster quotations by this time, however ;) 

Something I really enjoy in all LMM's books, and I hope it was clear in my previous posts, was how much she includes clothing, and homes, and food in her writing. I find it fascinating and intriguing to read those elements, and to see how she uses things like clothing to reveal a character. Valancy's movement from snuff brown silk and an old-fashioned pompadour hairdo, to pale green shift dress and a bob, shows a vast change in how she sees and presents herself. While Olive, so sleek and plumply satisfied in expensive clothing in the beginning, remains exactly the same at the end but has lost her aura of superiority in Valancy's eyes. And from stuffy, multi-course family meals for all occasions, to roasting potatoes with salt on a campfire in the woods, Valancy's way of living changes from stifling social norms to personal freedom. LMM wrote this at a time that she was finding life difficult, and maybe this was a way of expressing her dreams of freedom.  

The joys of a readalong are that you see new things even in a story that's familiar. In our last book talk post, reader Linda C. made a great point about Valancy running away from Barney at the end and going back to her horrible family home. It made me look at the conclusion of this story in a new way. What do you think about how it ends?

Questions for you: Were you already a Montgomery fan or was this book a new one for you? Did you find the character development satisfactory in the story, or would you like a little more in the main characters? Did you have a favourite side character? Did you enjoy the inclusion of so much description of the setting -- both the natural world and the homes that Valancy lives in -- and what people wear? Would you want to live on a secluded Muskoka island like Barney does? What is your Blue Castle? 

If you're interested in delving a LOT more deeply into The Blue Castle, I recommend the Facebook group "L.M. Montgomery Readathon". They've gone through a number of LMM books, but the most recent readthrough was The Blue Castle. Each chapter is examined, social issues explored, images shared -- and many of the posts are made by LMM scholars. It's a wonderful group and you'll think about this book differently as you read all their discussions!

Please share your thoughts on the book, its themes, characters, or anything you noted about it -- either in the comments here or on our first Book Talk post, or on your own blog with a link to your longer thoughts in the comments so we can find it. I love to talk about the experience of reading so feel free to comment no matter when you're reading this post; if you've read this I'd love to hear your thoughts.

What project have you made, inspired by your reading of The Blue Castle? Share a link to your project on this post as soon as you're done! The linkup will be live until Nov 30 --  you have another 2 weeks of sewing time to finish and share. Don't forget that anyone who enters a project is in the draw for a bag pattern from Blue Calla!

(If the linkup does not work for you please leave a comment with your project)

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Literary Sewing Circle: Author Feature!

 

Today's the day to talk about the author of our pick for this round of the #LiterarySewingCircle! L.M. Montgomery is a classic Canadian author and is very well known indeed! 

Lucy Maud Montgomery was born in New London on Prince Edward Island, Canada, on November 30, 1874. She is best known for a collection of novels, essays, short stories, and poetry beginning in 1908 with Anne of Green Gables. Anne of Green Gables was an immediate success & established her career.  She published 20 novels as well as 530 short stories, 500 poems, and 30 essays. Most of the novels were set on Prince Edward Island (except for our Blue Castle!) and those locations within Canada's smallest province became a literary landmark and popular tourist site. She lived on PEI until she married, when she moved to Ontario, but always wrote about the PEI she knew.

(mostly via Wikipedia)

But what many readers might not know about her is that she was also very interested in the domestic arts. She loved cooking, and was also an accomplished needlewoman. In 1903, before she was a published fiction writer, she contributed a pattern for a Netted Doily to the Modern Priscilla, a popular periodical at the time which included articles about craft, cooking and domesticity - and also some fiction in later issues. You can see some of that in a copy of The Shining Scroll, a newsletter sent out by the LM Montgomery Literary Society (this article was written by Christy Woster).

 I don't think the scan is clear enough to make the exact pattern, unfortunately but maybe you can find The Modern Priscilla is an archive near you ;) 

There is also heavy use of needlework as a way to illuminate characters and personalities in most of Montgomery's books. And who can forget Anne Shirley's gift of a dress with puffed sleeves? There is an interesting article called The Symbolism of Needlework and Textile Arts in the Anne series in the Shining Scroll newsletter, written by Pamela Hancock. (note it starts on p. 24 of the issue) While Anne never really takes to patchwork (and neither does Valancy for that matter...) there are other needlearts that they both find more to their taste, ie: Valancy's hooked cushions that she asks her mother if she can take to her new home.

There is also a master's thesis about clothing in LM Montgomery's work, which includes The Blue Castle as one of the books studied. Changing Clothes: Female Dress and the Widening Sphere in 

the Fiction of L.M. Montgomery by Sabrina Mark can be found online, if you are interested in reading more about this fascinating topic!

We can see from our own reading that Valancy's clothing changes her from a dowdy spinster to someone with bewitching eyes, who looks like a sparkling young woman, when Uncle Benjamin spots her in town, to his chagrin. 

Montgomery was also fond of nice clothing herself, something that she mentions in her journals and also included in her scrapbooks. She kept two colourful scrapbooks for quite a few years when she was young, between the years of 1893 and 1911. The Blue Scrapbook and the Red Scrapbook were collected into a volume called "Imagining Anne", where you can look at the bright fashion images and clippings that Montgomery had put together over those years. Part of these scrapbooks were images of beautifully dressed women from periodicals of the day. And there are a couple of pages where she attached circles of fabrics she had used for making her own clothing - I would love to see the originals! 

Montgomery discussed what she would wear to various events, in her journals, and paid attention to her outfits. She was happy to have money of her own to spend on lovely clothes once she started supporting herself. And her descriptions of beautiful clothing, or useful clothing, or the strange outfits on some of her eccentric characters, really flesh out her characters and their status in their communities. 

She also had strong feelings about other domestic arts -- she was house proud and liked to keep a clean and well appointed home. She noted that having their own house once Ewan retired and they were no longer living in a church-owned manse was a satisfying thing for her. And she was a noted cook. She enjoyed and was good at cooking, with recognized signature recipes. There was a cookbook put out in 1996, collecting her recipes, called Aunt Maud's Recipe Book. This was based on Montgomery's own ledger of go-to recipes that had been passed down to her descendants. It's well worth searching it out if you can - there are some interesting recipes and menu suggestions. It's a fun read! 

Because LM Montgomery is such a classic writer, there are lots of places to find out more about her! You can check out the following sites: 

LM Montgomery Institute

LM Montgomery Online

LM Montgomery at Dalhousie University

LM Montgomery at the University of Guelph

LM Montgomery at Toronto Metropolitan University 

Journal of LM Montgomery Studies 

Canadian Heritage Minutes 

Historic Places PEI

LMM Birthplace 

Lucy Maud Montgomery Society of Ontario

Canadian Museum of History: LMM and the Post

And always remember, as Anne Shirley once said: 

“It is ever so much easier to be good if your clothes are fashionable.”

 

Literary Sewing Circle: Inspiration!

 Time for a little more inspiration for your Blue Castle sewing project! Today we're going to be looking at some of the locations, imagery and themes of this book to see how we might pull them out to inspire a project. 

Let's start with some of the locations. Valancy grows up in Deerwood, a small town just on the edges of the beautiful lakes of Muskoka. In fact, Deerwood stands in for Bala, the real town that Montgomery visited and which inspired this setting. 

You could try the Deerwood Dress by Pollywoggles; this is a girl's dress and Valancy might have worn a pinafore reminiscent of this shape when she was a little girl. 

Or you could choose to be inspired more by Deerwood's source and make the Bala Wrap Top, by Meg Healy for Sew Daily. 

Of course there is always the Muskoka Fleece Dress for girls, also by Pollywoggles

Another "place" in the book is Valancy's "Blue Castle in Spain". You could use this literally and perhaps crochet a cozy afghan to cuddle up under in front of the fire, with a book and some apples, like Valancy and Barney do during winter nights - you'd have to choose this Blue Castle Throw by Lisa van Klaveren, at Ravelry, of course. 

Or if you want to try something a little different, you could tackle a cute embroidery project for your wall; stitch up this Blue Castle by DMCrossStitch on Etsy! 

Or you might just take the general feeling of being "up back" in Mistiwas, or even Chidley Corners, and make yourself a Hinterland Dress by Sew Liberated. If ever there was a setting for a Hinterland Who's Who, it's up back in Valancy's neighbourhood! 

Now on to some of the descriptions of clothing and outfits in the book. Valancy finally buys herself some modern and pretty clothes once she has left Elm Street. The one described most fully is her 20s shift -- the green dress with a low neck and short sleeves, with the red girdle. If you aren't completely taken with this exact dress, you could still be inspired by 20s fashion in general. What about a dress with this general silhouette in your own fave colour scheme? 

You could draft your own pattern for the One Hour 20s Dress, using the Closet Historian's tutorial. 

Or if you'd prefer something more ready-made for you, you can pick up this booklet full of original ideas from the 20s for making up a variety of styles for your simple frock.

Or you could just buy a pattern for a simple 20s frock from Mrs. Depew, and add a hat like Valancy's crushed green one with the crimson rose, maybe from one of the many millinery patterns also at Mrs. Depew  

There is glancing mention of Valancy's happiness at her freedom to bathe and relax up at Mistiwas. 

She got a pale green bathing-suit, too—a garment which would have given her clan their deaths if they had ever seen her in it. Barney taught her how to swim. Sometimes she put her bathing-dress on when she got up and didn’t take it off until she went to bed—running down to the water for a plunge whenever she felt like it and sprawling on the sun-warm rocks to dry. 

You could make your own bathing-suit, something with a bit of retro flair, perhaps in pale green (which seems to be Valancy's favourite colour). You could try the classic Bombshell Swimsuit by Closet Core

Or you might want to go really retro and try out this 30s inspired leotard in swim fabric, a free pattern, by SoulMatte. 

There are moments in Valancy's life that you could take on as a project prompt. At the big family dinner where she finally speaks her mind, Uncle Benjamin tries to put a damper on it: 

“Doss,” said Uncle Benjamin, thinking it might cow Valancy, “do you remember the time you stole the raspberry jam?” 

Valancy flushed scarlet—with suppressed laughter, not shame. She had been sure Uncle Benjamin would drag that jam in somehow. 

“Of course I do,” she said. “It was good jam. I’ve always been sorry I hadn’t time to eat more of it before you found me..."

Maybe as a nod to this escapade, you'll make a Raspberry Jumpsuit or Dress by CocoWawa Crafts - in red of course! 

 Or you may be inspired by Valancy's use of clover blooms as an accessory: 

It was the first time she had worn a pretty dress since the organdies of her early teens. And they had never made her look like this.

If she only had a necklace or something. She wouldn’t feel so bare then. She ran down to the garden. There were clovers there—great crimson things growing in the long grass. Valancy gathered handfuls of them and strung them on a cord. Fastened above her neck they gave her the comfortable sensation of a collar and were oddly becoming.

You could make the lovely Clover Blouse by StitchMaiden if you wanted something vintage-feeling, and maybe make it in crimson -- or organdy!

Once Valancy marries Barney, they have an idyllic life. Here's one moment of her glorious sumer:

Or they went after water-lilies. Barney knew where to find them in the creeks and bays of Mistawis. Then the Blue Castle was glorious with them, every receptacle that Valancy could contrive filled with the exquisite things. If not water lilies then cardinal flowers, fresh and vivid from the swamps of Mistawis, where they burned like ribbons of flame.

You could take your inspiration from this by making a Water Lily Tote from our sponsor, Blue Calla Patterns. It's a sturdy bag, handy for carrying all those botanical specimens home!

Or, you might decide to make the Water Lily Dress by Mood Sewciety -- a free pattern. 

Maybe you'll want something in scarlet, like the Cardinal flowers -- in that case, check out the Cardinal Blouse, also a free pattern from Mood. That ruffle looks rather ribbony, like the flower, too. 

Valancy's opinion of the seasons changes through her year in Mistiwas. Here's just one example: 

December. Early snows and Orion. The pale fires of the Milky Way. It was really winter now—wonderful, cold, starry winter. How Valancy had always hated winter!... But now she loved winter. Winter was beautiful “up back”—almost intolerably beautiful. Days of clear brilliance. Evenings that were like cups of glamour—the purest vintage of winter’s wine. Nights with their fire of stars. Cold, exquisite winter sunrises. Lovely ferns of ice all over the windows of the Blue Castle. Moonlight on birches in a silver thaw. Ragged shadows on windy evenings—torn, twisted, fantastic shadows. Great silences, austere and searching. Jewelled, barbaric hills. The sun suddenly breaking through grey clouds over long, white Mistawis. Icy-grey twilights, broken by snow-squalls, when their cosy living-room, with its goblins of firelight and inscrutable cats seemed cosier than ever.

There's so much to work with just in this paragraph! You could try out the December Dress by George & Ginger, a cozy outfit for cold nights. Make it in a wintery print with stars or birch trees or jewelled motifs and you will be channelling this description. 

Or make something inspired by starry nights, like the Stargazer Shoulder Bag by Blue Calla. 

Or maybe you'll make a simple Half Moon Zip by All Well to keep a few things in -- or add it to a Full Moon Bag also by All Well! (the Full Moon is a free pattern for newsletter subscribers) 

Maybe you'll get an idea from moonlight on birches, and try the Birch Vest by PatternScout.

Or maybe just something comfy to wear in front of the fire, snuggled up with cats, like this Birch Sweater by Sofiona Designs, available in child and adult sizes.

And just one more quote to work with:

The opening sentence—“Pines are the trees of myth and legend. They strike their roots deep into the traditions of an older world, but wind and star love their lofty tops. What music when old Æolus draws his bow across the branches of the pines—” She had heard Barney say that one day when they walked under them.

You could take this sentence and sew up the Aeolian Tee/Dress by PatternFantastique, or if you knit, you could try the delicate Aeolian Lace Top by Nicola Diggins, on Ravelry. 

Aeolian knit tee, also in dress length 

Lacy Aeolian knitted top

Or it could be that it's the Pine trees that catch your fancy. You could make the pretty Pine yoked blouse by Waffle Patterns

Or it could be the cozy Pine Cove Pyjamas by Itch to Stitch that interest you! 

You might just show your inspiration in the fabric that you choose, that relates in some way to the descriptions or the storyline. As long as you can explain why you made your choice, it fits! 

Whatever you choose to make as your project, I hope you've enjoyed the reading and are getting excited about your idea. Please do share in the comments if you have decided on yours, or if you have ideas about your own pattern pick. Is there anything in the book, whether description, name, location or mood that struck you right away for a project idea? 

Literary Sewing Circle: Book Talk!

 We have jumped right into the Fall 2023 Literary Sewing Circle round! Today's the day for some beginning book talk! How are you doing with the book? Have you started it yet? Finished it? Do you have any reactions you'd like to share? 

Here are a few questions to ponder today and for the next while -- whether you have begun reading, or you've only read blurbs & author interviews so far and still have something to say, join in! Although there might be a few spoilers in the questions and discussion below so if you haven't got too far yet you might want to come back to this post.

I'll add some of my own thoughts and you can reply to them or add your own impressions. If you want to hear other takes on a part of the book that you are curious about, leave your own questions in the comments, too.

1. If you decided to pick up this book and read it for this round, why? Are you familiar with LM Montgomery, or did the book just sound interesting on its own?

As I've mentioned, I've read this book many times over the years. LM Montgomery is a favourite author of mine, and I've read all her stories, plus many biography/critical works as well. I am really fond of The Blue Castle for its unusual (for LMM) setting of Ontario, as well as the more adult focus of the story. I think most people are most familiar with Anne of Green Gables, but there are lots of other interesting heroines to explore as well! Valancy is a good one, with some backbone, and humour to keep her relatable.

2. What do you think of the structure of the book? Is Valancy's family believable to you or over the top?

I like the way everything is dreary in the beginning then opens out into possibility (this reminds me a little of the way that Elizabeth von Arnim's Enchanted April starts, in a vague sense, anyhow!) Her family is just dreadful enough to make a reader cringe, but I can see how this is a realistic portrait - from Valancy's perspective anyhow. Maybe the irritating characteristics are a little bit enhanced to draw out the way that Valancy has just had enough of everything by this point. 

And it's notable how some of the relatives don't seem like they're intentionally mean or awful but their assumptions about Valancy and the way they treat her is just unbearable. I do find that each time I reread it I wish that the section with her being squashed by her family was shorter...

3. If you got news like Valancy's letter in the beginning, what would you do next? What did you think about her diagnosis?

The diagnosis sounds to me like a bit of a mcguffin -- it doesn't really matter what it is exactly, just that it electrifies Valancy and forces her to make a huge change. Once she stops caring what's going to happen to her in a penurious old age, and worrying about offending anyone that she might need later one, she can make actual choices for herself. 

I don't think she was afraid to do what she wanted because she was strictly tied to social norms (she certainly threw them off fast enough when she had the chance) but because of the fact that she had no agency, no way to support herself in life otherwise. Lack of money, or ability to earn it, is the root of her imprisonment in her family circle. If I found out that I had limited time left to me, I think I'd do something massively different as well, but there would be more choices to us these days than Valancy was able to access. 

4. Is there a particular character that you found especially compelling? Any themes  that really resonate with you?

I do like Valancy, and the way she decides to just grab what she wants once her fear disappears. She's a humble and funny heroine, with some sarcastic wit but isn't mean even to her family members. The whole thrust of the story, with Valancy taking her life into her own hands and making decisions to suit herself (and it all turning out marvellously) is always a rewarding arc to read. 

I also find Cousin Georgiana a really sweet character, and she's the only one that Valancy maintains any kind of emotional tie to. The little throwaway scene where Cousin Georgiana is hoping that Valancy is eating enough, and warm enough, in her remote home is the only time anyone in Valancy's family is shown to be thinking of her comfort and safety. It's oddly touching. 

I like Barney but never really felt he had magnetic appeal the way that perhaps other LMM heroes can be. And his gaudy father, at first glance quite terrible, turns out to be quite delightfully grateful for his son and new daughter-in-law.

5. What did you think of the relationship between Valancy and Barney? Was the development convincing? Do you think he rescued her, or did she also rescue him?

I always thought it convenient that Valancy had someone to dream about who was actually real, nearby, and nice enough to put her marriage plans to. He was definitely her escape route at the beginning, and she didn't let on that it was for any other reason that she came up with her plan. Barney seems mellow and footloose at the start, but as we begin to get hints about why he lives up back of nowhere, we see that there's a habit of cutting off emotional ties that is part of his lifestyle choices. And that Valancy unknowingly rescues him from his emotional deep freeze, too. It's a really nice balance there, for me.

6.  Is there anything specific  in the book that has sparked an idea for a project yet? Are you mulling over any ideas?

As noted in the intro to the Literary Sewing Circle, as long as you can point out what inspired you in the book, anything goes! This one has a lot of nature imagery, seasonal influences, domestic potential, varied locations, and of course the actual names and places in the book to inspire. You could really go any direction here, from the pine woods, vast lake or blizzards, to cats, firesides or Valancy's embroidered cushions, even to the cinema and Chinese restaurant they visit in town. Maybe Valancy's wardrobe will inspire you, or the colours of the sunset sky will give you ideas. Lots of options!

I'm still thinking about my potential project, trying to decide if I'm going to go with something quite literal, or something more influenced by a mood or image in the story. Hmm. Lots of options! I'll be sharing another inspiration post next week so you'll be able to consider how some of the more conceptual prompts in the story might give you ideas.