#addy's surprise

[americangirlstar]

Addy's Surprise, illustrations by Dahl Taylor.

[desertdollranch]

It's a quiet evening at Mrs. Ford's dress shop. Addy is putting the finishing touches on an apron she is embroidering. Mrs. Ford gave it to her to encourage Addy improve her sewing skills. It definitely worked; Addy learned a lot about needlework along the way! Momma helped her with some of the more complex decorative stitches.

Addy realizes needlework is fun when she gets to make something pretty and practical for herself.... and of course, when Momma is nearby.

She stores her sewing needles in this elegant little book, also given to her by Mrs. Ford. It ties closed in a dainty blue bow.

Working by bright lamplight instead of candlelight makes sewing easy as well as fun. Addy still remembers the nights she and Momma lived in the cold garret above the dress shop, and how Momma had to sew by the dim glow of a small candle. How blessed her family is now to have so much.

Addy's apron, needle book, and lamp were made by me, modeled after the original set in Addy's retired collection.

In Addy's Surprise, Mrs. Ford does indeed give Addy an apron to practice her stitches on. This set was sold as a kit that could really be embroidered. And the oil lamp also figures into the story.

I did all the embroidery on the apron without a pattern. I looked at a picture of the finished product, and just hoped for the best and started stitching! The needle book is a printed image of the actual item. I cut around it on the fold, so it does open, and there's a slit on the opposite side of the fold for it to be tied shut with a piece of ribbon.

The lamp is a combination of a few random bits.

I found the glass jar at a thrift store, while I was specifically looking for small glass containers to be the bulb of the lamp. The wick inside is a small piece of cotton. I put superglue on the end and used tweezers to put it inside. The base of the lamp is three container lids (from a jar of yeast, a baby food jar, and a prescription drug bottle) glued to each other and painted gold. In the above picture I removed the aluminum can lid that serves as that circular thingy at the back. It's attached to the lamp base with a paperclip.

Like the original, my lamp does not actually light up! Instead I just edited the pictures to make it look lit.

[nostalgiavoid]

It's black history month, which means I need to focus on finishing up Addy's main line books.

Addy has been dressing up for the occasion.

[historicalfictionsims]

When Addy returned to the dress shop, she was prepared to go up to the attic to wait for Momma. But Mrs. Ford stopped her. Because she had proven herself to be reliable by making deliveries, Addy was now welcome to sit with the women while they worked. Mrs. Ford handed Addy a needle book and apron to practice on, and she sat down next to Momma. The shop was much warmer than the attic, so Addy was determined to do a good job on her stitching.

A few days before Christmas, Addy was tidying up in the shop when a woman barged in followed by a young girl, clearly upset. She was holding the tartan dress, so Addy knew it was Mrs. Howell. The woman claimed that the dress had been made too small, as the side seams were split and the buttons popped off. Mrs. Ford was quick to defend Momma, stating that the dress had been made exactly to measurements and that Isabella must have just grown. She would give Mrs. Howell a refund because she was dissatisfied, not because the dress was poorly made.

On Christmas Eve day, Addy finished making her last delivery. Momma had gone upstairs to rest and Addy was going to join her, when Mrs. Ford called her over. She told Addy that there was one more package to take care of. It was for her! Addy opened the brown paper and couldn’t believe it when she saw the tartan dress looking good as new. Mrs. Ford explained that this was a gift for being such a hard worker. She had taken it in to fit Addy and all that was left was to shorten the length.

After Addy tried on the dress, Mrs. Ford cut material from the bottom and draped it around her neck as she finished adjusting pins. This gave Addy an idea and she asked if she could have the extra material. Mrs. Ford agreed, and gave Addy permission to stay in the shop as long as she needed, since she could also practice by doing her own hem.

[winningheartsandminds]

[americangirlstar]

Opening illustrations for each Addy book, by Dahl Taylor.

[desertdollranch]

Christmas in 1864 brought a lot of nice surprises for Addy. One of them was this beautiful dress that Mrs. Ford gave her, to thank her for all of her hard work making deliveries for the dress shop.  

[desertdollranch]

Hey AG fandom. How have we never discussed the fact that Samantha’s friend Ida Dean

nearly shares a name with Ida Bean?

This is either a coincidence, or was written into Addy’s series by Connie Porter as a nod to Samantha’s friend. Or maybe (my favorite theory) they are connected in-universe. Ida’s mom was a student of Miss Walker in the 1880′s, and became very close with her teacher. She somehow learned that Miss Walker’s childhood doll was named Ida Bean. Then when she grew up and married a man with the last name of Dean and later became the mother of a daughter, she named her Ida. Maybe grown-up Addy was informed that her former student’s daughter is named after her childhood doll, and she was utterly delighted by that.