Couple Costumes are for Blockheads

So we don't normally dress up for Halloween, but decided to go all out for it last year. The party itself wasn't until the weekend after Halloween due to how it fell on the calendar in 2013, so now seems like a good time to share the results!

Peanuts costume inspiration

I love old school holiday cartoons—from claymation anything to classic animation,—it is just not a holiday without them. At some point, I got it into my head that we could dress up as Lucy and Schroeder from Peanuts. I know people normally do Lucy and Charlie Brown but it's Schroeder that Lucy is so hung up on.

This is my "I just made an Anne of Green Gables-esque puffed sleeve SUCKAS!" face

I made my dress using the Kwik Sew K4002 tunic pattern as a base with some cheap blue fabric that I found on sale. I then added some length, raised the neck line to a crew neck, and  drafted a ruffled collar finished with bias binding as well as some puffed sleeves. To get the neckline just right, I traced the curve of a crew neck garment I already had and felt comfortable with. I completed the look with oversized black buttons (actually from a snowman kit on clearance at Joann's) and embroidery, hair dye, saddle shoes, and some bright blue socks from Target. Luckily, my naturally not contemporary 60's-esque haircut was just right. My husbands outfit was really easy as it was just a matter of finding a purple and black stripe t-shirt to pair with black pants and hair dye.

Here we are, looking like dorky 12 year olds. It was awesome.

I'd never done alterations like this before and just went for it after reading as much as I could find. I haven't done a lot of garment sewing so this was definitely a confidence booster for me. I would definitely recommend experimenting with simple silhouettes for Halloween costumes as a way to get comfortable with sewing clothes—it's very creatively freeing and doesn't come with all the pressure of having to get things just right since it's not the kind of thing you'll be wearing on a regular basis.

The Figure 8 Scarf

Figure 8 Scarf made from Anna Maria Horner Velveteen and voile from her "Innocent Crush" line
(the earrings are from CoffeeandCream, another lovely little xmas gift that just happened to match perfectly)

I'm kind of in love with these ridiculous big scarves. Maybe they are already cliche...I don't know, but my internship is in an unheated library basement where there is no heat and I love these because they instantly dress up any old outfit and help to keep me o so warm. Since I've always had low-blood pressure, I can get that icy feeling pretty fast and am always on the lookout for accessories and such that make keeping warm not completely unfashionable!

The above is actually the second one I made using Anna Maria Horner's free Figure 8 tutorial, having gotten the fabric for Christmas (you can get kits here of velveteen and voile). The tutorial is clear, quick, and easy to follow, especially because of all the helpful pictures. Just be careful on the part where you are joining the ends together and hiding the seam. It takes some visualization, but then the technique makes perfect sense and is such a neat way of doing it!

Figure 8 Scarf made from double cotton gauze by Nani Iro and a solid voile from Anna Maria Horner

This is the first one I made before the holidays and it is o so soft in the double gauze and voile. It's a bit lighter and with more practical colors so I will probably get a little more use out of it. There is something to be said for getting to wear your favorite fabrics in such an effortless way I think! I might need to make one in every colorway I can think up...maybe some plaids in a soft flannel next?

my lickety split bag

i know, the birds are upside down...the red birds on the other side are right side up but i don't like them as much.
go figure, i guess i just have a thing for turning convention on it's head...hardy har har.

i loved the pattern/tutorial for this bag from made by rae. it was really well put together, easy to follow, and produced great results! i definitely plan on making more bags with it, especially since she's got some hints on her blog about altering it to make a slightly smaller version with different closure/pocket details.

as soon as i got this lime echino 2009 fabric, i knew it had to be a bag. the abstracted green bits remind me of a marimekko bag my best friend from hs brought back with her from the year she lived in sweden during college and the lightweight canvas will certainly stand up better to wear and tear than regular quilting cotton.

then i got really brave and decided to pair it with anna maria horner's "mixed signals" print in striking from her new innocent crush line. i haven't completely fallen in love with this new line but i got a bit excited when i thought to contrast this geometric purple voile with the echino lime since they are perfectly complementary colors. it's a bit loud, i know, but to see just a peek of it as lining is just right. the bag is actually reversible so maybe next time i will pick something more suited to that.

the length is adustable since it ties at the top and instead of adding trim, i went with some purple topstitching
along all the pockets and edges (a wee bit wobbly topstitching since i have not practiced it that much i'm afraid).

for now i think this bag will be especially nice in fall/spring with a basic tee, sweatshirt, or even a basic brown coat since it would probably be way overwhelming with anything more than that. i'm glad to have a statement bag to tote around on days when the rest of me might look quite basic though and i'm definitely bring it with me to chicago this weekend, clashing or not!

A grin and a sigh of relief

my completed Heather Ross quilt top!

I think it was about 11:30pm last night when my sewing machine finally stopped whirring. I honestly could not stop grinning for a little while as I love love love how this came out and it feels better than I could have imagined to make something this large with my own two hands! I'm just completely floored to see my original design come to life!

I'm also particularly pleased with the way the purple cotton sateen looks to be slightly contrasting but it was only a matter of changing the direction of the weave when I cut the pieces. I was worried about having to use so much sashing but I think that will be a nice effect when it drapes over the side of the bed.

I'm going to start quilting it today if time allows. I've got to start packing and i'm doubtful that one day is enough time to quilt and bind this whole thing. I feel good knowing that I'll have something substantial to show and i can always take it back home and finish it up. I'll get to enjoy it a little longer that way plus I decided it's going to have to count as her christmas present too since I am not a rich aunt by any means!

make it mad men style

(image copyright AMC)

if you love vintage (or just good programming) than you most likely know all about Mad Men on AMC and are aware that just last week they announced that the fourth season will be premiering in late July....i was thinking i should have a, "please buy from my shop so i can afford to get cable and watch mad men this summer and not have to wait until it's on netflix to find out what happens SALE!
too wordy?
maybe a little obvious or pushy?
hahaha, yeah i thought so but honest at least.

the show is not like a lot of the popular network dealios with their rapid twists and turns and gimmicks (sorry, but i kind of hate that crap)....it's definitely a slow burn and doesn't pretend that there are good and bad people but that everyone is a mix of both, everyone with a finished public veneer and a host of private urges and motivations that allow the writers to tap into an intelligent, dramatic, and certainly entertaining commentary on the radical changes of the times. o yeah, and the vintage style is TO.DIE.FOR.

(the women of mad men, copyright AMC)

which brings me to my point. ahem, i do eventually get to those. see those dresses in the photo above? the shirt dresses with their belted waists, fabric with stripes and floral designs that are cut according to how they flatter the female form....for a while now i've been wanting to learn how to sew clothes such as these, dresses in particular, because i prefer the look and so does my "curvy" figure. the styles are just so much more flattering but i am also not a very tiny gal so i need to learn how to make alterations to these vintage patterns.

WELL, i did a lot of research this past winter and found two great books that were published in the same era that Mad Men takes place. THEN i found an extra copy of each to sell in the shop so that you could learn too! they show you all about how to do the tucks, godots, pleats, trims, plackets, and trims that make these vintage styles so alluring and that's just the beginning! they are also full of tips on how to put the outfits together, choose accessories, and color charts to match make-up and fabric to your complexion and hair....yes, very retro! check out these photos for just a taste of what the books include:





drool-worthy right?! and you can just click on a photo to go to my shop listing for that book!

i think it's great that in our time we are able to embrace the flattering styles and creative homemaking of the past without having to embrace the image of a timid and obeying little wife. It's OK to learn how to be creative at home (what's more it's environmentally friendly and smart!) and also be an assertive, intelligent, and powerful modern women.

movin' on up

i owe you a post on that very bodacious of birthday gifts, my new sewing machine! for you to get the full weight of the thing, i should back up a bit and first show you the machine i've had all these years:


a Singer 401A which my grandmother Donna Mae got when it came out in 1957. This is the same year she had my mother, the eldest of four children. My grandparents were not very well off and she made what money she could as a seamstress. i always loved seeing old pictures of the clothes she made for my mother and her siblings and hearing stories of her time altering gorgeous wedding dresses in the fancy department store across town.

i learned on this machine and i love it dearly so of course i will never get rid of her, what blasphemy! truly, singer sewing machines never die, they just get ornery and decrepit, haha. my grandfather rehauled the entire thing a few years back for me and it still runs like a gem, but, alas, it just can't handle the interfacing and multiple layers of fabric i work with for my shop. this has left me sewing everything by hand. i don't mind it actually, i just can't grow the shop any more at such a dusty little pace. which brings me to the Singer HD110 Heavy Duty Professional Sewing Machine (insert choir of arch angels singing the hallelujah chorus here)!


i've already whipped out a few projects on it that otherwise would have taken me several days each and i gotta tell you, it runs like BUTTAH ;)