Hiatus
Hello!
I’ve decided to breathe some life back into this little blog. It has sat in the corner gathering dust for too long. To catch up on projects I’ve done in the meantime, I’ll post some photos:
I love this grey dress with ruffle on the bodice. It was fun to make, not that difficult, and I learned a ton while doing it. The dress is lined and has pockets!
This might be my favorite garment I’ve made (so far). I found this to-die-for navy jersey fabric at Mary Jo’s Cloth Store in Gastonia, NC. I fell in love with it the minute I saw it and this dress turned out exactly as it appeared in my mind. It has the most beautiful drape. I finished it just in time to take with me on my recent vacation to Cancun, and I wore it at least 3 times!
My mother gave me a few large remnants of some wool she had in her stash, and I had about a million ideas of things I wanted to make. I found this free tie pattern online and decided to try it out first. The pattern is a bit wonky, but overall I think it turned out great! This tie was for my boyfriend, Brett. He’s such a babe. Babes need rad ties.
Using a different wool from the stash, I made this cute little golfer’s cap for my granddaddy. It was so much fun to make!
And lastly, this is the gift I made my brother’s girlfriend for Christmas. She is a huge Disney fan. I found this Minnie Mouse skirt coffee cup cozy pattern on Ravelry and knew it would be perfect for her!
pants hater
I think I’ve nailed the reason why I can’t bring myself to spend money on a nice pair of jeans or pants. (I always buy the $11 kind from Forever 21).
Whenever I am prepared to spend money on clothes, a lot of things are going through my mind. Mostly I’m trying to work out if whatever I’m about to purchase is going to be a piece I can use in a lot of different awesome stylish outfits (duh, right?) Pants, to me, are boring. They are the foundation of a boring outfit. I wear cheap jeans along with a t-shirt when I’m running errands, on my way to & from work, walking down to get the mail, etc. I can’t bring myself to buy a pair of $300 designer jeans if I’m just going to wear them to take the trash out.
My boyfriend is trying to change my mind, however. He says that I need at least one pair of good jeans. I suppose I could see it as a challenge to make a non-boring outfit based on pants? Challenge accepted.
Latest Project
I’ve finished up my latest sewing project and I couldn’t be more proud! I made this Cynthia Rowley for Simplicity pattern 100% by myself this time. I definitely made mistakes, but I learned so much and I can’t wait to make the same dress in a different fabric.
What do you think?
The fabric is a pale pink linen that I fell in love with months ago. I saw it in a fabric shop but there were only about 1.5 yards…not enough to do much of anything with. Then my mother found it at a different location and the rest is history!
I am so pleased with the result. Can’t wait to begin my next project.
Alright, Easter’s over. My brain is telling me to just throw the rest of the candy in the garbage, but Peter Rabbit tastes pretty good and there are only a few jellybeans left….
Candy and milkshakes. No wonder I’m fat.
On a less depressing note…
I have recently decided to learn how to sew. My mother has been a seamstress my entire life, and is a very talented one. When I was younger she taught me how, but I dropped it at some point. Who knows why, because I believe knowing how to sew is one of the most rad and useful skills you can have. I can tell my mom was very excited that I wanted to learn because she bought me a killer new sewing machine and Rowenta iron! Score for me!
My first project was this dress (it’s the blue one with sleeves & buttons). If you’ll notice, there is a pink circle with the word ‘EASY’ inside it. DO NOT BE FOOLED BY THIS ICON. This pattern was anything but easy. My mother and I both worked on this pattern (she did most of it) and she even commented that it was pretty difficult. Anyway. It took a (really, really) long time, but I was mostly pleased with the result. The sizing was weird and despite taking it up during the process, the bodice ended up being way too big for me, and by this I was disappointed. I know I shouldn’t be, though, because we did a pretty good job on it (we=my mom).
This is the only photo I have taken of the dress. It’s not a very good image, but you get the idea.
The fabric is a beautiful navy linen, so dark it’s almost black.
Anyway, my point is to mention the probably-too-ambitious project I want to attempt this summer. It’s a swimsuit. I know that sewing with lycra will likely make me want to tear my hair out, but this pattern is so cute (and free!) that I figured I might as well try! I would want to alter it to remove the tie in the back and make it simply a scoop back, and change the clasp/hook thing at the back of the neck to longer pieces that tie. (I’ve never even dreamed of altering a pattern so we’ll see how that turns out.)
Bummed.
Somehow I have gained all the weight back that I lost a few months ago. (“Somehow”, like it’s a great mystery…) Well, I don’t technically know if it’s ALL back, as I’m too chicken to step onto the scale. I could weigh what I used to, I could weigh even more. I don’t know why I’m so obsessed with being skinny, but I am. I got close for a minute, and I’m so mad at myself that I let it get away.
I suppose eating milkshakes every day doesn’t do much for your figure. Who would’ve guessed.
Bloch
Bloch ballet flats.
Specifically patent leather. My imaginary dream closet is filled with them.
I’ve been drooling over this color for several months:
I have scoured the interwebs and cannot, absolutely cannot find this shoe anywhere. It’s disheartening, though I have found very pretty lemon & beach glass colors:
Oh, and a bright red one for something ridiculous(ly cheap) like $56, that I think I’m going to purchase.
Home Alone
Brett’s in gorgeous NYC for the next 4 days, and I’m at home bored out of my mind. I just ate a whole package of new awesome gummy bears I found at CVS, and I think that’s going to be the highlight of my day.
New (but not really) Obsession
I have always always had a thing for cup & saucer sets, and more recently creamer & sugar sets. Not too frilly, scrolly, or flowery… usually just pretty and a little plain. They are cute and little and I love all things cute and little. I couldn’t imagine much I’d like better than sitting down with a cup of coffee with matching saucer, flavored with sugar cubes and milk from my matching creamer and sugar set (I don’t really drink tea [but maybe someday!]) & a crossword puzzle.
I recently discovered there are probably millions of these sets to be found on Etsy. I have spent HOURS in the past few days poring over pages and pages of mostly ugly junk but falling in love with some precious sets. My favorites are turning out to be the 1940s-50s Fire King wares, especially the jadeite, and milk glass with gold trim pieces. My ‘favorites list’ is likely a mile long by now.
Being that I am not really a true adult yet, I don’t know how any of these pieces would fit into my yet-to-be-determined dream decor of my future I’m-a-real-person house. I think my mind is beginning to dream of a cute collection of pairs of cups & saucers & creamers & sugars, for all the lovely tea (coffee) parties I will host with my well-dressed friends in the future, and we all laugh and share cupcake recipes and wear lipstick.
So I guess in the future I don’t work, I just throw tea parties every day.
