Josephine the Spy

Wow, I am intrigued to learn that Josephine Baker, that iconic '20s Charleston queen, worked as an Allied spy in France during WWII. Fascinating! Here's a bit of info on how she strategically used her fame.

All that Jazz

I have been on the hunt to find or make a neon sign that says "jazz" but have not yet found what I have in mind. So in the meantime I have decorated a shirt to suffice. I found this cropped navy sweatshirt at the local thrift store. It originally had large white bell sleeves sewn under the sleeve ruffle. It was a cute design, but it looked absolutely dorky on me, and wouldn't be practical for working or dancing anyway, so I cut them out. I knew this navy was going to be the perfect background to have text stand out on, so I just needed to find some embellishment materials in the form of ribbon. In my stash I dug out some vintage poppy red lace bias and gold rickrack, both in their original packages. First I trimmed the sleeves with the lace, mainly to keep the raw edges of the knit from rolling, and to give the ruffle a highlight of the poppy red. Then I wrote with ribbon and sewed it on and voilà! As improvised and vibrant as the music itself. Off to spend the weekend dancing to vintage jazz!

Fibre Monday

These new designs in my shop are available as fabric, wallpaper, gift wrap, and homewares! 

Here's Chunky Knit

Nordic

Brass

Hot Daisy

Union Patch

Fab Eyes

Olive Cart

...P.S. here are some handy Christmas shipping deadlines! Happy ordering!

Culottes Forever

I'm working on my outfit for going to a 1940s swing dance this weekend! The past weeks have been filled with tucking and hemming and dancing in trial outfits. Special mention is deserved for these culottes--not only do these culottes have pockets, they have secret pockets, as well as the best care tag I have ever seen:

"Give 'em hell!"

Swing Era Collections

I've been constantly listening to 1920s to 1940s jazz music...this is what happens when I do!

Pssst! Ebony and Ivory is already available for sale in my shop on Spoonflower as fabric, wallpaper, gift wrap, cut-and-sew patterns, and homewares. Decollect is soon to be for sale as well!

Decollect

My Decollect design is up for voting in Spoonflower's Large Scale Art Deco challenge, previewed on a duvet!

1920s Charleston Costume Hunt

I'm scouring thrift stores, malls, and fabric stores for beading, tassels, fringe and all that jazz to piece together a flapper costume. Over the past year I have taught myself how to dance the Charleston (the most amusing form of exercise) and now, of course, need to be able to dance in the period appropriate attire!