Kindred Stitches: Exclusive Embroidery Pattern

The new issue of Kindred Stitches is now available and it features a hand embroidery pattern by yours truly!

Kindred Stitches is a new digital craft magazine available for download exclusively via the iTunes store for the iPad and iPhone. Because it is digital, it includes live links to this PDF pattern (and all the other projects featured therein), video tutorials, and places to shop for materials. I love how interactive and convenient that is. Just download the free Kindred Stitches app in the iTunes store and then choose a subscription or individual issues to purchase and download right to your iPhone or iPad.

I was thrilled to be asked to contribute to this, their second issue, and had a lot of fun drawing the "Vintage Bowls" pattern to coordinate with their "retro vintage" issue theme. It brings to life the retro lines and designs of mid-century kitchenware in a handy printable PDF that you can apply to a simple tea towel or any other embroidery project you have in mind. Also included in the magazine are step-by-step how-to photos for each stitch and a floss color guide so it is beginner and intermediate friendly. Feel free to stitch it up in the same colors I've used or customize it to match your own kitchen or a friends—the choice is up to you!

"Vintage Bowls" hand embroidery pattern WIP

This issue also includes an interview and gallery of my work—I'm flattered to have been asked by the lovely ladies at Kindred Stitches and really hope you all enjoy the magazine and my little contribution!

some peeking is allowed:

(dress by kirby of button + boo)

my wedding dress finally arrived in the mail this week!!! it is more than i could have hoped for, i am so thrilled with the outcome and just had this huge feeling of peace and happiness upon opening the box up!


i love how beautiful it is in its simplicity and sweetness with the little pearl buttons and lace details, especially the lace peeking out from the skirt which feels so ladylike. i couldn't help but share a peek at it but i'll wait until we get photos back from the ceremony to show the whole thing...something about bad luck, right? ;)

The Vintage Look Book: Poirot's Lucy Crale

(screen capture from Five Little Piggies, part of the Agatha Christie Poirot series)

one of my non-crafty passions is watching A LOT of old movies and modern-made period pieces. i really can't get enough of them...big and small, forgotten or treasured i seek them out and devour them. i've always enjoyed the glamorous looks featured in these films so i thought i'd start trying out a new feature here on the blog once in a while which catalogues and celebrates these vintage and historic styles from the everyday to the completely lovely in every way! using tediously captured screenshots by moi, we'll have an abundance of fresh material to drool over and might just learn a bit along the way about specific looks, various vintage style components, fabrics, and cuts.


i'm starting with these screen captures from a poirot film as they are a particular love of mine (but only those with david suchet!) and i think i might own all but a couple of them...there's a ton of them so yes, i am obsessed. these particular screen captures are incredibly striking i think and are of the character Lucy Crale as portrayed by Aimee Mullins in this 2003 A&E production of Five Little Piggies with costume design credit going to Sheena Napier and make-up design by Carol Cooper.


the beading on the blouse is kind of fabulous, but for me there's really only the hat and with such a hat as that, what more do you need? it's incredible! and fitting since, "Throughout the war and on both sides of the Atlantic, elaborate creations brightened dreary utility fashions, brought about by rationing. In fact the only items not rationed were hat materials. Explosions of feathers, veiling and artificial flowers were popular. They were dubbed in France as 'piece de resistance' or 'resistance piece' against Nazi occupation" (VintageFashionGuild.com).

it's such an elegant statement that is just right for setting the tone at the beginning of this wonderfully done murder mystery. as an owner of not just a couple vintage hats, i've done a little research and can now identify this one—to the best of my knowledge—as a fez, or "tarboosh" style hat made in the moroccan style. instead of the customary tassle though which is common in the version we see shriners wearing here in america, this one has been lavishly embossed with a stylized floral motif in a silvery velvet and the tassle has been replaced by an incredible netted black veil.

now all that's left to find out is where can i get one?! and where would i not look silly wearing it??

my foray into sewing vintage

well, i am between custom orders at the moment so i have a little window to start on my first clothing project which i've had waiting in the wings for a while now. i keep having to psych myself up: i am ready for this! there's the pajama pants with the elastic waist i made in high school and i managed to help (or at least i thought i was helping) my granny make my 50's style prom dress so it's about time i tried something completely on my own.

now i've decided on this robe for specific reasons that will make it an easy (easier?) first project. i figured the robe isn't too structured, doesn't have pleats or difficult closures, and if the fit is just a smidge off, no one is really going to notice on a loose fitting garment such as this. of course it's for john and he helped to pick it out so it's not like i'm forcing him to wear my garish creations, ha. all we need to do now is get him a pipe, a stalwart canine companion, and an edition of the saturday evening post to complete the look...if i can get him to model the robe when it's done, you better believe i'll do my darndest to set that up!

it took us forever to find a flannel plaid that we liked and after looking every single time at joann's for months we finally found the above fabric on sale! the plaid does add a dimension of difficulty though as one must be sure to cut all the pattern pieces the same way so that the stripes match up on the final piece. luckily these vintage sewing books that i have a copy of tell all about this!

if you are thinking of working with a vintage pattern i have another great resource to share which i stumbled upon at casey's elegant musings and it's all about preparing and tracing your vintage pattern so that you can use it and preserve it!

with that, i'm off to get started and i'll keep you posted on my progress...assuming that progress and not hair pulling is what actually happens ;)

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.

the makings of my wedding dress!

well it's not the best photo (i've had so much to share lately but the light outside has not been cooperating for photo ops, blurgh), but here are the swatches for my wedding dress that kirby, of the etsy shop button + boo is making for moi! i can't say it enough, if you want a beautiful dress that is just yours, then she is your girl! this talented and wonderful lady has been so patient and kind and hard-working in designing the dress from scratch, going all over nyc to find just the right fabric, and now we have finally found the right one so soon the dress will actually exist (omg!). i'm not the type of girl who squeals about things really but one is beginning to eek out of me right now and it is completely beyond my control!!!!


this is the pattern i sent her as the inspiration for what i was looking for: vintage look, simple and knee length, not quite that flouncy a skirt, but with a little peter pan color and those great 50's sleeve lines. she's added some of her own signatures to it which i'm afraid you won't get to see until we get the ceremony photos back (sorry to be such a tease).

the dress will be made of the creamy polka dotted silk there in the photo and the blue satin is for a sash that i'm going to make which i really hope turns out ok. i've also got the little mother of pearl buttons from a friend's grandmother to use on the front placket, just the right touch i think! to go with it, i've got these little blue ballet flats which you saw here and now i just need to find a birdcage veil and some little white gloves...maybe a clutch but i just haven't found one i like yet.

you will love this.

I've always dreamed that someday a room full of people around me will break into synchronized song and dance. Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel with their silly dance moves will certainly suffice for now though.