Dresses, Film Costume Recreations, Historical, Jane Austen, Movies, Sewing, Vintage Fashion

Recreating Lizzie Bennet’s Brown Frolicking Frock

June 11, 2022November 27, 2022by Simply Megan Joy2 Comments

“First, I must tell you how ardently I love this dress. From the moment I saw it, I never wished to be parted with it from that day on.”

If you’re as big a fan as I am of the 2005, Pride and Prejudice starring Keira Knightley and Matthew MacFadyen, you’ll recognize the above quote, though it is slightly altered. 🙂 There are a few films that I can play all the way through in my head, scene by scene and this is one of them. The other two are The Wiggles Magical Adventure, and The Apple Dumpling Gang. Take that information as you will.

Here’s my recreation of the opening title.

Fun Fact: the book Lizzie is reading as she walks in the opening scene is actually text from the last page of “First Impressions,” the original title Jane Austen put down for today’s Pride and Prejudice. The book I’m holding is a 1903 edition of Pride and Prejudice. I recently discovered that walking and reading at the same time is a skill yet to be acquired.

Keira Knightley, *Pride and Prejudice*, 2005.

Out of all the beautiful gowns in the film, this one is my favorite, and I instantly knew I had to make it for myself. After a LONG time researching and looking for the right materials (I went to so many fabric stores to find this exact fabric, and finally found it at a random Joann’s) I started to self-draft the pattern. As with any of my recreated film costumes, I always watch the movie it appears in as I sew. It’s a cool experience! Until the movie is over and there’s only half a bodice completed because Mr. Bingley is having a ball, Lydia has run away, and Charlotte Lucas is engaged to be married!

I looked at a LOT of still shots of Keira wearing this gown, and attempted to replicate (almost) every pleat, seam, and detail visible. The most important thing for me was getting the silhouette right. Long live trial and error. I also had the white blouse to figure out. I was about to start drafting a pattern when I realized that I already had a white blouse exactly like this. It even had the overlapping shoulder seams like the original. All I had to do was make a wider collar and hand sew it on, which I must admit, is already coming loose. That’s something I’ll have to fix.

A little disclaimer: this dress is not historically accurate to the era in which Pride and Prejudice occurs. It was designed by Jacqueline Durran, (who also designed the dreadfully inaccurate costumes for Little Women, 2019 which I despise and ranted about in this post. . . but let’s overlook that). As long as it is duly stated that this gown is not accurate to the regency times, we may continue. I may be a bit of a hypocrite, but I do believe Durran’s work in Pride and Prejudice proves much more historically accurate than in Little Women. Speaking as someone who has studied Victorian fashion, and not Regency.

This was absolutely the most fun day, running around in fields with my sister until sunset, playing the soundtrack to the film along the way, and saying almost every quote we could remember. I felt like I was in the movie. Although dressing like a fictional character from another century can definitely deliver you some odd looks, finger points, and quiet conversations as people walk away, it wasn’t as bad as I had predicted. Even in the mall afterwards, I didn’t seem to notice too many people questioning my attire, (yes, I went into a busy mall in this dress to pick up my other sister, and yes it was pretty fun).

I’m definitely not the first to recreate this design, nor the last. There are multiple YouTuber’s videos/tutorials out there that show the whole process of creating this gown, if you’re interested in making one of your own. Here are some of my tips for recreating this gown:

Make sure your fabric is correct (I used a thin linen.) I’d also recommend buying it in person and not online. Photos and descriptions can be deceiving.

2. Make it a wrap dress. I’m not sure if this is specific to the original, but I think it’s a lot easier not only to make, but to put on and actually use as a functioning dress. I added ties to both the inside and outside flaps. The buttons aren’t really doing much.

3. Wear proper undergarments. I wore a cotton chemise, regency half-stays, and a white petticoat under the dress, but by all means you don’t HAVE to. (After all it’s not even a historically accurate dress). Putting on any ankle length skirt underneath should be good enough to fill out the dress properly and help with the flow of the fabric. But you definitely need something to help with the fullness of the skirt.

4. If you don’t feel comfortable drafting the pattern yourself or just hand draping it as you go, find some paper patterns that are similar to this design. Maybe you can find a separate one for the skirt, one for the bodice, and one for the blouse. Having a dress form really helped with draping; it’s nearly impossible to make a fitted garment without one.

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Which did you experience first: the book or the movie (or the 90s series in which I do not find favor)?

Who’s your favorite P & P character?

When was the last time you ran around in a field? If it wasn’t yesterday, my sincere condolences.

Tips and Tricks

Six Things to Do Instead of Being on Your Phone

March 18, 2022by Simply Megan Joy4 Comments

Our phones. They do so much for us. They’re our alarm clocks in the morning, they allow us to check on a late family member or friend when they don’t come home on time, and they make it possible to capture special moments with just one press of the screen. It’s never been so easy to watch a video tutorial on how to replace a driver’s-side car shock that was destroyed by an unavoidable pothole exactly five-hundred feet deep; a pothole so stealthy and evil, it maliciously calls your name every time you have to drive by it again, a pothole that will now and forever haunt you in your dreams. . .

But this post is not about potholes. . . back to the original topic: our phones are capable of so much that they can easily become a main focus in our lives. We can depend on them way too much and eventually think of them as a necessity of life. The reason they were created in the first place was to allow easier communication between people, but in the cellphone’s journey to 2022, its purpose seems to have changed.

I don’t know if this happens to you, but I’ve noticed that any time there’s a lull in the day or when I’m just sitting and waiting for something (like in the car or a waiting room), I open my phone to waste time. Apps like Instagram, Pinterest, and YouTube (among many others) are specially designed to keep its audience’s attention from the first moment we open it, and we often end up giving them too much of our precious time. It’s hard not to automatically use our phones to distract ourselves, whether we want to be distracted or not. It just becomes a habit, a way of going about our day. We open our phone and who knows what time it will be when we finally look up again. Today, smartphones are created to be addictive and there’s never been a time in history when so much of the population is just sitting, distracted by such a large amount of fruitless digital content.

So now that I’ve ranted and raged over the problem, I offer an easy solution (insert Professor Harold Hill singing “Ya’ Got Trouble”). The first step to spending less time on your phone is simple: move your icons.

For the app your finger most often gravitates toward when idle, just move that icon to a different place on your phone, even onto another page if you want. This way, you can’t, through muscle memory, open it. You’ll have to make a conscious effort to find the icon, and this is your new signal. Each time you go looking for that one app, you can stop yourself and decide to spend some time OFF your phone.

Personally, I switched out my icons and put my Bible app where I usually keep Instagram. I was amazed at how many times I mindlessly opened it because it was in that specific location. Every time I would go for Instagram, I’d click on the Bible app in its place, so I’d read a few verses instead. It really worked, to just move or replace those most popular icons.

Step 2: turn off your notifications.

Go into settings and block the notifications that are most likely going to get your attention. Of course, you can choose which ones you want to leave on, ones that are actually helpful and not merely a distraction. The idea is just to limit the number of possibilities of you seeing something enticing and clicking on it. It’s the “out of sight out of mind” deal. A lot of apps have detailed settings that allow specific/custom notifications to go through, but not all of them, which will definitely lower your chances of mysteriously finding yourself on your phone again.

Step 3: find something else to do with your time.

Once you’ve already eliminated some notifications (step 2), moved your app icons (step 1), then gone to press the icons and realized they weren’t there anymore, that’s your cue to start breaking an old habit (step 3). Below is a list of six things you can do instead of spending time on your phone. All of them can be done while just sitting, waiting, at home, in the car, indoors, outdoors, anytime and anywhere. Instead of falling into that tendency of receiving input, these things are “output,” things that will get your brain to work differently than when it’s just staring into a little screen.

This one is a bit obvious and the most common alternative. Books are easy to transport and there are about one hundred million to choose from. Now technically, reading is still “input,” however much easier on the eyes than a phone. Also, books can’t run out of battery. My family has this thing about not leaving the house without a book to read, just in case. You never want to be stranded someplace without a good book nearby.

I know some people just don’t like to read, and that’s totally fine. If that someone happens to be you, then what you need are puzzle books! Sudokus, crosswords, and trivia puzzles are great options. A whole book of them can cost only 99 cents and you can find them at almost any store, not just bookstores. They’re even sometimes stocked in the magazine section in the grocery store. Puzzle books are “output” and thought-provoking things to do and they’re actually pretty fun. Sudokus are my favorite since it’s all about deducing. Just easy enough for me to do and tricky enough to make me feel smart 🙂

This is a favorite of mine. All you need it a pen and paper (a napkin works if necessary). Spend your time making to-do lists for today, tomorrow, next month, or next year. Big goals or little tasks you know you need to get done. Write it all down. Meal lists, errand lists, a list of your favorite films, it really doesn’t matter. You don’t have to have something extremely important to write down to make a list, it can be something as insignificant as a list of all the times you visited “blank” or the days you were the happiest you’ve ever been. It not only gets your mind motivated to think, but it can also bring back some special memories. A grocery-list or the best-moments-of-your-life-list, either one is sufficient. Choose your fancy.

My portable hobbies are knitting and creative writing. Perfect for waiting or traveling. Both only require two different items each: knitting needles and yarn, and a pen and a notebook. Both hobbies are creative and productive and to me, very enjoyable. They’re not too difficult to carry around and when stuck in a waiting situation, they both keep my mind occupied and content. If two knitting needles and a ball of yarn are too bulky to carry, try crocheting, which only uses one small hook. And the yarn you can always wrap around a piece of cardboard so that it’s flat and transportable (and can’t roll away, which can be very embarrassing when in public, speaking from experience).

I’m terrible at drawing, the most I can do are pine trees on a hilly horizon, maybe some snowy mountain peaks in the background, and a full moon hanging above. Or stick figures. I’m pretty good at those. No matter your skill level, drawing is a highly creative activity with which to amuse yourself, and no, it doesn’t have to be a masterpiece. If drawing scenes or people is not your forte, then draw floorplans. You can design a new floorplan or try to put on paper the blueprints of your own house. It will definitely entertain you, trying to imagine the layout from above. You can draw it how it is now, or how you might want to try it in the future by moving the furnishings around. Again, all you need is a pen and paper.

This one might be tough, but super fun. No pen or knitting needles required, only perfectly square pieces of paper and a fantastic memory. Putting it that way makes it sound difficult, but really all you need is a small pocket-size origami book with the paper already included. Inside, half the book is filled with rip out sheets and the other half with directions to make the origami. Even without square paper, you can still make origami with any other kind (including dollar bills). It’s also fun to see what you can make without directions. (I could probably make a swan by memory if I really thought about it, but then again it might just come out as a paper airplane).

And lastly. . .

This is for when you’re bored, alone, have none of the above resources, and only have with you your trusty smartphone. If you need to occupy yourself, but can’t think of anything else to do, not a single thing, then you can stay on your phone. BUT, you have to be productive. Clean up the device storage space and memory, organize those rogue photos that could easily be put into categorized files, delete old stuff you don’t want anymore, change your lock/home screen, get rid of unused apps and old voicemails, anything that is productive and beneficial to your life. If you finish that within a few minutes and you’re still bored, call or text someone you haven’t talked to in a while. Check on them, see what they’re up to. Use your phone for its first intended use, communication. Talk to another person. That way you can still be spending your time wisely and with someone you enjoy being with, even though they’re not physically with you at the time.

I think we can each try to be more meaningful with how we spend our time, especially when it comes to those pesky handheld distraction devices. Now, let’s see if I practice what I preach and spend my time more wisely when it comes to getting distracted by my phone. . .

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What are some ways you like to spend waiting time, without being on your phone?

Do you like drawing floorplans for fun?

Have you, likewise, a hatred for relentless potholes?

Writing

12 Ways Get Your Book Started

February 28, 2018December 29, 2021by Simply Megan Joy12 Comments

To write a book is to be inspired by something and then transferring that inspiration into words, sentences, and chapters. There is something that sparks our imagination and urges us to begin writing in fury, typing down the story that we so much want to tell. But what happens when you’ve no idea how to begin your story and have no inspiration to get started?

Now, I’ve never had trouble starting a book, but instead my dilemma is with finishing them. I write out the plot, get more than halfway complete, and suddenly a new story pops into my head. It seems as though there will never be enough time to write down all the stories I want to tell! Nevertheless, I do get stuck in my writing sometimes which calls for inspiration. So here is a list of twelve ways to find inspiration when you want to begin writing a book (or finish one!).

Go on a spontaneous walk or plan out a long adventurous trek. Either one is sure to spark your inspiration. Let your feet take you to an unknown destination and enjoy your time venturing.

Sometimes, reading a classic work of fiction can help pull us into the world of writing. It inspires us to mold our own stories and put together a plot of our own. Little Women, Anne of Green Gables, and The Secret Garden are some great classics to read.

Yes, I’m sure we can all go back into our distant memories to recollect a time when to find someone’s phone number, you had to look it up in an object that was mailed to you once a year, called a telephone book. If you still have one laying around today, you may not be able to use it as it was originally intended, however it is very possible to extract some inspiring ideas from it. Open it to a random page and point to any last name. Turn to another page to find a first name to go with it. Do this over and over, and soon you’ll have a whole book’s worth of characters to write about!

Playing a musical instrument can be very inspiring, whether it be a piano, violin, guitar, flute, ukulele, or yes, even a harmonica or kazoo. Go outside and play; see if the birds sing along (although this will be tricky if you play piano, although it can be done and is very fun once you get it out there!) Listen to nature and hear what it says! You’re bound to have something to write about when you come back inside.

Create a story-inspiration board and pin any photo you come across that looks interesting. The pictures that urge us to know the stories behind them are the ones that give us inspiration for writing, so be on the lookout for those. You can always make those boards private if you don’t want to share them with your followers.

Get onto Spotify and play your favorite instrumental track. Listen to your favorite movie scores or find something new! I’ve found it helpful to create a separate playlist for each of my stories; it definitely helps to get you into the world you’re writing about.

It doesn’t matter if you aren’t an artist. (I am limited to sad sketches of pine trees on hills, they’re my specialty.) The point isn’t to create a masterpiece, but to create something that will get your mind flowing and open to new ideas. Draw a mountain, a dog, a person; it really doesn’t matter, as long as it gets your mind into a creative flow.

Pack snacks, pens, and a notebook, and take a trip into the nearest bustling city. Roam the streets, people watch, or find a little café to write in, and just take in everything that you see, and use it to propel you into your writing. You don’t need to spend a dime other than the gas in your car. Think of it as a free fieldtrip to stir the brain and to collect new ideas.

I’m not kidding about this one. Not only are you doing something profitable but cleaning out your closet or workspace can also provide you with tons of inspiration. You could come across old letters or memorabilia hidden away that spark ideas for writing. If not, the cleaning will bore you so much that you begin daydreaming about anything other than cleaning, giving you ideas for a book!

Visit any thrift shop and look around. I’m sure you’ll find something old and inspiring. Go with a list of things to find, like a book dated before 1900, a vintage jewelry box, or old ice skates. Anything you find that interests you can be the starting point for a book.

For me, some of the most inspiring moments happen when watching a really good movie. If you want to write a story set in the 1810s, watch Sense and Sensibility; not so you can copy it, but to draw ideas from it; how they spoke, dressed, and acted. There’s something so motivating in seeing a movie set in the era in which you intend to write.

Talk with other writers and aspiring authors in person or through blogs. Sometimes just reading about what others are writing will get you thinking about forming a plot of your own. It’s always fun to know what others are doing in their writing. Below you can find a list of writing blogs to visit for more writing tips and stories!

Reveries // Ruffles and Grace // Once Upon an Ordinary // Charis Rae // Invisible World // Claire Rachel // Liv K. Fisher // The Writing Writers // Forever and Everly // Peeking Beneath

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Do you enjoy writing?

What are you working on right now?

Do you think any of these 12 ways would be helpful?

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Megan Joy

Quote of the Week, Writing

Quote of the Week // 43rd Week

October 24, 2017December 29, 2021by Simply Megan Joy15 Comments

Quote of the Week - 43rd Week Simply Megan Joy Blog.png

Beverly Cleary, born in 1916, has composed nearly fifty fiction books for children and young adults. Though most commonly known for her “Ramona” series, she has written two other crowd favorites, “Henry Higgins” and “The Mouse and the Motorcycle.” During her long life, Cleary was given The National Book Award, The Newbery Medal, and The Laura Ingalls Wilder Award. Today, at age 101, she has retired from writing, though she still hasn’t lost her good humor. During an interview for her 100^th birthday, she was asked if she was excited about her age, to which she replied, “Well, I didn’t do it on purpose!”

After Clearly learned to read in the second grade, she found that she wasn’t interested in many of the books she found at the library. She thought of them as boring and drab. She wanted to read something with character and spunk! Forty years later, she published her first book, one that checked every box of what she would have wanted to read back in grade school. She was determined to write something that would change the options children had when choosing a book to read, and she succeeded!

To every writer; one of the reasons we write is because we want to tell a story, not just any old story, but a different story. We write the books that we want to read, something that is unique, special, and inspiring. Like Beverly says, if you don’t find the story you’re looking for, write it.

This doesn’t just apply to writers. It’s good advice for every musician, filmmaker, artist, and designer. If you don’t find what you’re looking for, create that thing, enjoy it, and share it with others. Sing a new song, shoot a new movie, paint a new picture, or design a new room. We shouldn’t be bound by what others have already created. Make something new yourself and use it for good. If you can dream it up, you can create it!

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Do you write fiction books?

Have you ever realized that you write the books you want to read?

What is your favorite Beverly Cleary book?

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Megan Joy

Anne of Green Gables, Writing

Five Writing Misconceptions

September 14, 2017December 29, 2021by Simply Megan Joy7 Comments

Being a writer, I’ve gone to seminars and conferences, read writing books and articles, and was given advice by real authors on how to make my books the best that they could be. I, at one time or another, believed a lot of what I was told, and altered some of my work to fit with “the right” criteria. That was a mistake. Here’s a list of five writing misconceptions that I was told to believe.

1. “You must begin your book with an exciting scene.”

I was once told that my book had to begin when everything is changing for my main character: “when their world is turned upside-down” so you can grab your reader’s attention. I found a few things wrong with this advice, the first being, if we all started our books the same way, they wouldn’t be special or unique. It would be pretty boring to read the same kind of introduction in every book you open, wouldn’t it? The second problem I saw was, if we began our story when the character’s world is turned upside down, how would we know what is normal for them? Without any background story on our character, how could we distinguish oddities from their ordinary life? We wouldn’t know their everyday standards. The reader must connect with the character before he or she can care or worry about what is going to happen to that main character. Creating a subtle backstory first can help the reader to recognize abnormal happenings from ordinary ones. Beginning your book with a calm opening about the character’s everyday life is absolutely fine; there are so many famous classics that begin with a simple scene, like Anne of Green Gables, A Little Princess, and Sense and Sensibility. These authors didn’t follow the rule of the “dramatic opening scene” yet they have all have become enormously popular, selling a few million copies of their books!

2. Your book should contain 70% dialog.

A published author once suggested that I didn’t have enough dialog in my books. I went on to learn that publishers sometimes determine your book’s success by the amount of white space on each page. Having a page of dialog will provide more blank spaces than a full page of narrative, therefore, I was told that more “talking” is always best. So I decided to test out this theory and wrote a short book mainly full of dialog. It was choppy and not well explained, might I say. I couldn’t elaborate on descriptions or explain the surroundings without having someone speak it aloud. This idea of “lots of dialog” is a modern concept, so I can see how it would work for books taking place in the modern world, but if you enjoy writing historical fiction like I do, then this “all dialog” theory probably won’t work. It’s just not realistic.

3. Tell your reader instead of showing (because it’s shorter).

I’ve heard this one a few times. Some say that a writer should tell the reader about something, not show them, to keep the pace moving. I however, disagree. I find it much more interesting if I am actually shown something and not just told about it. The difference can have a lasting impact on the reader. Here is an example I made up:

Telling Version: “The boy told his dog to stay. The dog stayed.”

Showing Version: “He held out his thin little hand like a fireman stopping traffic as he slowly backed away from his fur-matted friend. Oh, how those four dirty paws wanted to bound across the space between them and gift the boy with a thousand slobbery kisses, but being the keen and obedient dog that he was, he planted his feet in the dewy grass and vowed to keep as motionless as the statue he had seen in the park.”

Both versions were each made up of only two sentences, telling the same story, yet they are both extremely different. Which one provided the most information? Which one would you be more likely to continue reading if it were the opening of a book? Which one do you find more interesting? Probably, the second one is the answer to all of these questions. The second version let us know that: the boys was small, the dog was scrawny, the dog loved the boy, the dog was obedient, it happened in the morning (dewy grass), and they take walks in the park together. The first version didn’t tell us any of that!

4. End each chapter with a cliffhanger.

Many say that to keep your readers flipping pages, you must create a cliffhanger at places where the reader is most likely to put the book down, like at the end of a chapter. I find that this strategy just isn’t realistic. Yes, cliffhangers are exciting and can add a bunch to your book, but one in every chapter is a bit excessive. Besides, if you have to bait your readers with a constant strand of dangerous and uncertain situations to stay seated and continue reading, it may not be a very interesting book in the first place.

5. Reading will make you a better writer.

Now, parts of this phrase are true. Reading other books can definitely help you with writing your own book. But when people give this advice, they forget to mention that it depends on what you read! If you read a lot of terrible books over time, you may find that you morph into having those same writing habits and write terribly. While at the same time, if you read many great books full of beautiful words and brilliant plots, your writing is more likely to improve. It is like that saying, “You are what you eat.” Instead it’s, “You are what you read.” If you want to write inspiring things, read inspiring things.

Bonus misconception: The publisher is always right.

This is quite far from the truth. Many people I’ve met dream of the day when their book is accepted for publication. When they get turned down, they revise their work to fit the publisher’s standards. Then if their book is accepted they allow the editors to change whatever they see fit, slap a generic unenticing cover on it, and ship it out. Sadly, this happens a lot and many just accept it because they want their book published. But the publisher is not always right and you shouldn’t have to be forced to alter your hard work to please someone in order to get published. You don’t always have to submit to what publishers say, because they’re not always right. You’re the author, it’s your work, your special creation that no one can take away. Self publishing is a good way to ensure that your story is published the way YOU want it.

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Do you like to write fiction?

Were you ever told to believe one of these misconceptions?

Do you have any other writing myths or misconceptions to share?

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