Pumpkin Satin

I have finally come across some pumpkin-hued satin in my second-hand perusing! The texture and colour are dreamy. My plan is to turn this scrap into a spaghetti strap shirt with a ruffle neckline. 

Grey Goddess

Here's a detail shot of my latest sewing success! I'm wearing it to a wedding this weekend. This is one of those projects where I really wish I had remembered to take a before photo. This dress started as a voluminously large skirt from the local thrift (less than $1) that I chopped up and concocted, using every last scrap. As per my impulsively creative norm, I busted straight in to trial-and-error sewing, though that error was seemingly non-existent as this project was the most delightfully smooth, seam ripper-less sewing endeavour I have ever experienced. I just kept stitching along, chunk by chunk, and everything worked. The fabric was a dream to sew--it is the softest, flowiest, rayon-like cotton. I love the subtle sheen of the pattern over it. Creating that quilted bust panel, the puff sleeves, and the satin-meets-silk convertible sash were the highlights. In my mind I was imagining '30s/'40s glam meets Classical statue, and voilà, that's how it's sewn up.

Strawberry Shirts Forever

As per June tradition, the strawberries outside are flowering and I'm working on various strawberry themed creative projects. Here's a dress from Joe Fresh I found at a thrift store, shown partially deconstructed. I already own it in blue, so I decided to turn this pink version into a shirt. It will likely be a peplum crop top with puffy sleeves. I wish I knew the name of the surface pattern designer, as it is the fabric I love. It's like a fusion of my Strawberry Blonde and Splashy in Watermelon! Thank you, anonymous creative!

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!

Minxy Vintage

I found this book (or it found me), rather appropriately, at the local thrift store along with some clothes to repurpose. I highly recommend! It was exciting for me because there were so many moments of "Wow, this lady crawled inside my brain!" in terms of fashion philosophy and winging it to produce some sartorial statements. Here's a particularly well-expressed tidbit of fashion philosophy I have to share: "I can attest to the importance of finding clothes you can integrate into your existing style. I'm not about stridently holding up the ideals of other eras--the modern world is grand. It's precisely the mix of old and new that I love...And who wants to be, or slavishly replicate, a woman in the pre-feminist 1940s? Certainly not me...Long live our love for cherry-picking the best bits from the past, and making them new again: reinvention, rather than nostalgia. Whatever you do, just make sure you own it. Individuality is a quality to be admired."--Kelly Doust, intriguing point.

Forsythia Façade

With these May flowers slow to unfurl I am particularly glad about the sweet yellow cheer of this faux-sythia! At long last, the real deal has just burst into bloom, but in the meantime this house knew how to improvise with its reliable curb appeal of seasonal joy. 

Solemates

Behold these shoes. 

Sturdy Italian leather oxfords, peanut butter hued, equally smooth, with pretty perforations.

I have stalled on this post because there is so much to say. Conveyed poorly, it could seem like materialistic worship, but oh the depths of how much these shoes and I have gone through. I will keep this as concisely explanatory as possible because my real tome is going to be an epic tale crafted through much praise and reflection. This is actually pair N°2. The original pair now looks like this: 

Now, I found these well-loved beauties at Value Village for $13 in fall 2013. They carried me through 6 solid years of constant use, innumerable adventures and places and monumental life events. The irony of ironies is that a week or so after buying them I was at the very same Value Village and saw the very same pair, but, not having worn them yet, I smiled and strolled on, amused by the thrifty happenstance of seeing the same item I had just purchased. Little did I know I would fall head over heels in love with these shoes and spend the next 6 years kicking myself for not buying that pair that got away. I wore these shoes with everything and walked everywhere in them. I have hot glued their toe seams at least 3 times, and, for the past couple years of their life, the left heel has been entirely supported by gravel that packed itself into a hole in the rubber sole. Amusingly, the sheer laces I replaced the original laces with stood up to all that constant wear! Who knew sheer ribbon was so indestructible?! Anyway, I even recently took them to a cobbler to see if they could be resoled and all that jazz, and he said they could, for $60, as he lovingly admired the quality leather. So I contemplated facilitating a shoe resurrection as I simultaneously kept kicking myself for not buying that second pair when I saw them. Rationally, in their current state, I have had the urge to flat out chuck these shoes in the garbage on several occasions, but as oddly materially sentimental as it sounds, they truly are like old friends and I just couldn't. These shabby suckers deserve a proper burial if and when they leave my closet. I actually started a massive memory document, a shoe narrative, the aforementioned epic tale, about all we have been through, complete with photographic evidence of those past 6 years. Until that is complete, they shall stick around for inspiration. 

So the other week I was at Value Village and my jaw dropped to the floor when I saw the shoes, MY shoes, MY solemates sitting on the shelf in my size in perfect condition. No more grief about the demise of pair N°1 or regret about the pair that never was! I picked them up in amazement and said a laugh-filled prayer of blissful thankfulness about how beautifully life is weaved together. God never fails to circle things into life right at the perfect time, at the end of an era, to seamlessly blend one beautiful phase into another. So here's to chapter 2 with pair N° 2 and all the adventures we will, stroll, frolic, and bound through together these next 6+ years!

Apricot Lace

I found this pretty cotton dress at a thrift store, originally from Forever 21. Though it is contemporary, it has the perfect structure to be transformed into a gloriously Edwardian gown that would fit right into a Downton scene. I love the pale apricot fabric, mesh neckline, low square back, and lace details. It is a costume project in the works for whenever I next discover an outdoor tea or the like to attend! It shall be lengthened and embellished. 

Steed

This handsome horse head was a casualty of work. Apparently he had enough gusto to leap off a table I was merchandising, but not enough to remain whole, so I scooped up his pieces, glued him back together with some PL and Chalk Painted him from brown to grey to cover his scars. Quite the elegant fella now! Note: if you are Chalk Painting over PL, I found it does create a crackled look in some places, which was to my advantage for this stone-look statue. Just a little heads up for your DIY knowledge!

'40s Military Dress

This past weekend I attended Swingfest and swing danced surrounded by tanks and planes! This is the WWII inspired dress I tweaked and wore for the event. I found the original dress in the summer for mere cents at the local thrift haunt. I love its military green cotton searsucker fabric with the bit of stretch. The original dress was basically sleeveless so I spent months keeping an eye out for similar coloured fabric whenever I was thrifting, so as to have some material to make sleeves out of. Nothing turned up. Then one day I was trying it on again, and while taking it off it flipped inside out and I realized it had a slip! Glorious discovery! So I promptly ripped that slip out and started chopping it up to make the sleeves and lapels you see here. I also swapped out the buttons for these brassy ones. Lesson: always look under the dress' skirt for extra fabric!

Sewing Patterns

Guess what? I don't know how to sew using a pattern. At least, I've yet to sew a project using one from start to finish without assistance...and quite frankly, I have no desire to! For whatever reason, instructions on how to be creative just don't fly in my brain. It's much easier for me to look at the final garment, and then start chopping up existing garments or fabric chunks and sewing them together, and seeing what happens. The results are usually pretty cool. So I have a nice collection of vintage sewing patterns, but admittedly it's more for inspiration and ephemera appreciation than for actual use! Though I do like to keep a variety around as a last resort sewing weapon in my back pocket, should my usual drape-and-stitch method flop, or demand precision.

Deco Table

I ordered my Deco Diamond design on linen cotton canvas and satin fabric to update this black powder-coated metal c-table magazine rack. The sling used to be a black faux leather, but I wanted to make it a little more interesting. The canvas is on the inside so it holds up to the books sitting in it and the satin on the outside to give it that black and gold gleam. I love the clean lines and airiness of the glass writing surface. 

Festive Fleece

This is my Christmas gift (project) to myself: I ordered my Nordic, Chunky Knit, and Bubblegum Calico designs on Fleece to sew up into some cute neckwarmers. Time to use the snowy weather to get to my pile of sewing!

Button up your Overcoat

Check out this fashionable ornament, complete with mittens, lovingly hand-stitched by my crafty mother!

Polka

With chillier weather I withdraw to my sewing machine, so lately I've been tending to my pile of clothing items to alter. At the top of the pile I have been tweaking and embellishing this dress. In the original condition it looked awkwardly short on me, so I am adding the black eyelet sleeves and coordinating trim on the hem to balance it out. I also removed the red sash from the back and added on the collar rickrack. Dances await!

Frankenstein Cat Eye

I have been looking for gold cat eye frames for a looong time. While trying on my other new pair of glasses at the local glasses shop I was lamenting that fact, and the ingenius optician proceeded to dig out three boxes of vintage glasses parts. Creative people unite! We rummaged through the boxes and found two arms, the body, and the tips to create my dream pair of pearly and golden tones. I affectionately call them my Frankensteins. 

While putting the tips on the frame there was an accidental hole punched, so we filled it with a rhinestone. Nothing like covering up a mistake with a little sparkle!

Pssst! You may have noticed that the arms cross in a funny way. That's because they are actually two of the same side of arm! A little bending fixed that problem, and now the glasses have some (inconspicuous) quirk.

I'm so thankful for this fellow outside-the-box thinker! Ta-da!

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!"

Spool Palette

Behold these lustrous hues of vintage mercerized cotton thread on wooden spools. Which is your favourite?

Scandinavian Princess Shirt

I absolutely love to see what people create using my textiles! A friendly note from Suz Pozzo recently made my day. She ordered my Scandinavian Princess design on Modern Jersey fabric and sewed it into this shirt!

Cardboard Hearts

Snip, snip--time to make some valentines! These cardboard templates have been a part of every crafty valentine session since I was little. With each passing year there are more scribbles around their edges from veering pens and pencils. That hand template, which is a tracing of my 7-year-old hand, attests to their longevity. I love making people's days through the papery pink and red goodness of this holiday.