names meet with faces

Names + Faces….

Apphia— pronounced "uh-FEE-uh". Apphia's name is New Testament Greek. It means Heart of Wisdom. The name Apphia is only mentioned once in the Bible, in the book of Philemon.

Achaia— pronounced "uh-KAY-uh". Achaia is a province in Greece. The name means Shining Light. Paul visited the province of Achaia during one of his missionary journeys (found in the book of Acts).

Abigail— pronounced "ab-i-GALE" (pretty easy, huh?). Abigail is a Old Testament Hebrew name. It means My Father Rejoices. In the Bible, Abigail was King David's wife.

Abiah— pronounced "uh-BYE-uh". The name Abiah is Old Testament Hebrew. It means My Father Is Jehovah. Abiah is the name of a King (spelled "Abia"… the feminine form is spelled "Abiah"). You can read her name in Matthew 1.

One of our faithful readers recently asked for a little help pronouncing our unusual names…. we thought you'd all like to know! Time to get back to organizing our little studio (pictures probably coming soon!).

Happy fall, y’all!

Isn't it nice to say hello to fall? We Long ladies love it… the crisp, cool air, the foggy mornings, the changing leaves. It's all too lovely! And we praise the Lord for His goodness to us.

A lot's been going on around here. After last week's sale, we had to stop (well, kind of!) to catch our breath for a day or two. The summer shade jumper pattern is getting closer to being ready to ship out– next week, maybe? Isn't Achaia's new jumper cute? Purple corduroy for fall, you know. This pattern is so fun! We can't wait for you all to have one too. (You can still preorder, if you want free shipping…)

Ellie's little ruffle skirt was recently featured in an eMagazine, full of good ideas for this Christmas season! It's a really cute downloadable idea book! You can find it over here.

And we hope you like this little hat. It's a design-by-Abigail, so if you love it, we'll post a tutorial!

xo~ the Long ladies

Visit….

… the Veater Family blog to enter a giveaway for a marie-madeline studio custom made apron or gracie ruffle skirt!

Hope you all are having a happy Tuesday!

xo~ the Long ladies

Happy birthday, Mommy! (And a special surprise…)

Dear Mommy,

Happy, happy birthday! You are the most wonderful mom in the whole world. Really and truly, you are. We are incredibly thankful that the Lord gave us to you! We feel so blessed to be able to spend another year with you, and pray that this will be only one of many years to come. Thank you for loving us unconditionally, Mommy. Your girls love you more and more everyday! And we'll love you forever and ever.

Hugs and kisses from your loving daughters,

Apphia, Achaia, Abigail, and Abiah

(Here's the surprise part…)

So, in honor of Mom's 45th birthday, we are having a special birthday bash! That means, we are offering two different fabric lines at 45% off for one day only… but that will go on every single day next week, with new fabrics every day, starting on Monday! Now, how's that for a nice surprise?

Check back each day for updates on the new sales. Because we plan to post about them here. (We'll send out a newsletter, too!) After all, it's hard to resist any 45% off fabric sale– don't you think?

And please wish our lovely Mommy a very happy birthday, too!

An Interview!

Hello everyone~

We hope y'all are having a splendidly wonderful Thursday! Yesterday was primarily spent working on the summer shade jumper pattern… it's coming!

But, right now, we just had to drop in and let you know that you need to head over to Miss Kelly and Miss Andrea's blog. They interviewed us, and you need to go read it! While you're there, look around— they've got some wonderful stuff.

Have a happy day wherever you are~

xo, the Long ladies

festive posies

Now really, does it get any cuter than this?! We don't think so. That's why we want to show you all how to make these sweet & festive fabric posies, too!

Festive Posies…

Here's what you'll need to get started:

~fabric scraps from the Darla collection (find the exact pieces here)

~scissors (for cutting out circles)

~a yo-yo template (or a regular old drinking glass… something with a perfectly circular shape, about 3 1/2" in diameter)

~a needle and matching thread (a thimble, too!)

~some fun, sparkly buttons (we found these faux rhinestones at JoAnn Fabrics)

1. Using your yo-yo template or glass, trace circles onto the back of your fabric scraps using a soft pencil; cut the shapes out. You'll need exactly 5 fabric circles per posy. (We like to make our posies all from one fabric… but be creative! These would be really cute with multiple monochromatic fabrics as well.)

2. Fold your first petal (one fabric circle) into quarters. Repeat for four more petals.

3. Thread your needle and tie a knot, knotting both thread ends together. Using a running stitch (a rather long one), start sewing along the raw edge of each petal, through all layers. Thread on petal after petal until all five are on your thread.

4. Now, pull 'em up tight! Attach the first and last petals with a few hand stitches, and knot off your thread.

5. Position your flowers on the shirt you're embellishing. (And we'd just like to add that these little posies would look equally adorable on your own cardigan. Or jacket, or tee, or bag, or… well, you get the idea. They'd make cute bows, and would look smashing on a headband!)

Tack them on by hand, stitching down through the petals and up through the center of each flower securely. Place your button in the center of the "hole", and stitch that onto your shirt as well. For extra button stability, add a tiny piece of interfacing behind your shirt and sew through it too.

Ta-Da!

Oh, and we put a posy on the back of Ellie's little shirt, too! These are so fun and easy to make… once you start, it's almost impossible to stop. As always, we'd love to see pictures of your creativity! So send us some shots of your own festive fabric posies, okay?

emerson skirts are for big girls, too!

We were so happy to find this in our inbox a couple of days ago!

Katrina was gracious enough to share this lovely picture of her adorable daughter wearing a skirt she made using our emerson pattern. Here's what she said about it…

"I made the skirt in a size 14 and my daughter has plenty of grow room. She is rather tall for 11 years old and I don't have to worry about her out growing this length for the school year. She shot up like a weed over the summer. Praise the Lord for your dedication to helping us find modest clothing."

Thank you so much, Katrina! We are really thankful to see our patterns being used by other families who want to please the Lord with modest dress!

And we love to see photos of your creations. Send them to us any time!

We hope you all are having a happy September. We'll be back soon, with some good sales and such…

xo~ the Long ladies