Yes, I'm Still Sewing!

On the occasion when I have time to think, (such as when I was on a two week vacation to Michigan recently!) I remember when blogging and sewing up items for my etsy shop was quite often. Indeed, this summer has already proven to be quite busy, eventful, and productive however.

And yes, I am still sewing. :) I've been blessed to be able to work for/with the same local bridal alteration business as last summer. One of the biggest projects was working on a bridal gown (took it from a size 10 to a size 0), though the business owner did the major stuff while I worked on smaller details. There was a flower girl dress to alter, as well as four out of seven bridesmaid dresses; I did all of those.

I don't have any professional pictures for you yet, but here are a few small snapshots that I took along the way using my "new" iPhone. Yes, I have been using one of my Dad's first cellphone's (a flip phone, mind you) and I told myself that I was allowed to buy an iPhone when I graduated from college. Per typica of me, I bought a used iPhone 6s, but it was in next to new condition and a beautiful rose gold color. 

Oh yes, you're not here to read about technology...ahem.

The flower girl dress was darling! I took the picture more for myself to remember the company name for the future. :)

Love being surrounded by beautiful textures, fabrics, lace, and tulle!

I put this gorgeous lace on the hem to make it a smidgen longer, and it gave the dress an overall completed look. 

The bride wanted a custom veil (finger tip length) and once we made it using fine tulle netting and a hair comb, I added the lace appliques to an otherwise simple veil.

Outside of bridal sewing, I have two aprons to make for some friends of mine who are getting married this summer. One of them I'll be attending next month up in Maine (can't wait!!) and she's planning a coffee shop themed kitchen. The fabric I found for her will work perfectly. I'll post pictures when it's finished.

If you were hoping to read that I'd be making aprons for the shop, don't lose heart! I have three fabrics on my sewing table that were just cut into aprons this evening. I'd sneak in a little sewing yet this evening, but alas, I'm out of bias tape. Quite rare for someone who has made hundreds of aprons, isn't it?

Well, toodles for now and I hope to be back writing more often in the next few weeks!

The Beginnings of a 1930s Frock for Spring

For Christmas my parents had given me two 1930s patterns, one of them being a cute dress with all the fun details that often ascribe that of the 30s. The other was a slip pattern which will come in handy now that I have a few patterns in this era.

It wasn't that long ago that while thrifting, my eyes caught a cute print with enough yardage for a dress. There is no name on the salvage, and the polyester-feeling fabric is of higher quality than that of Wal-mart's, and it's not as heavy as JoAnn's silky prints, so I'm not sure if it's vintage or not.

Some vintage buttons from my stash should help give it a vintage vibe. Since when did Sears sell buttons? Note to self: check with google as soon as this post is finished!

Now if I can find the time to sew, that would be nice... :) It's almost as much fun to plan for something as is the fruition of it.

Waiting for the Forget-Me-Nots

Just the other day I noticed that the tips of my tulip and hyacinth bulbs are starting to poke through the seemingly barren stretch of garden. They give me hope that spring is on its way, and following will be the spring flora of late-blooming bulbs and the tender blue forget-me-nots.

Not long ago I discovered some vintage 35" wide yardage of a pretty calico that reminded me of the clusters of blooms that grow in one of my gardens. This week I made a couple aprons and might be able to squeeze one more out of what's left, but for now there is a Tasha Tudor style and a 1950s style with scallops.

Coming Soon!

What is black and white, with red all over?

An apron, of course! :) If you've been a blog reader for awhile, you will recognize this fabric and apron style. It seems to be a "signature" style over at Peasant Cottage, and unfortunately the fabric is very hard to come by since it's out of print.

Last week I snagged some yardage (okay, all that could be possibly sold…) of it and it came in the mail today. I will probably keep an apron for myself or use it for a gift, but the other one will go up in the shop.

Oh, and just a heads up, I'll be hosting an apron giveaway in the not to distant future. It's been awhile since I've done one of those...

Have a happy Wednesday!

Fabric!

This week I found some fabrics so I can actually sew something! My fabric stash is deplorably low (unless you want to count scraps that would easily make 3 quilt tops and nothing else...) and therefore the silent "absence" of sewing news on my blog or items in the shop.



 

 

I saw this fabric at Hobby Lobby and thought it'd be perfect for some Tasha Tudor aprons. Now I can't decide which of the two vintage laces to use. There is enough fabric for two, so maybe one of each?

You should read the caption on the zipper packaging. It made me laugh since you wouldn't find that on a modern zipper package! ;)

Then take a look at this black watch plaid houndstooth that I found only this morning. There is easily enough for me to use a vintage skirt pattern. This 1940s one seems like it will fit the bill, unless I use this modern pattern for a vintage-inspired look.

Who else is on a sewing kick this week?

Caving In & Other Rambles

Every year around this time, we keep telling ourselves, "No, wait until after Thanksgiving," to listen to our Christmas music CDs or watch our favorite Christmas movies (White Christmas, anyone??).

This year we sort of "cheated" that rule since my older sister was feverishly practicing carols for her new Christmas CD that she just finished recording. She is a wonderful harpist, for those who didn't know, and has produced four albums. Yours truly played the violin on one of them, though now I cringe at hearing myself since I've attempted to be more proficient on my instrument by way of studying violin performance at college (two more years to go!)

The other day I was browsing one of my favorite thrift stores and I bought a John Rutter Christmas CD for $2 in like-new condition. And yes, I caved in and have already been playing it in my car. :)

Snow will be here tonight, Lord willing, and as much as I wish to bring out the Christmas decorations, I must content myself with hot chocolate, thick sweaters, and sewing.

Here are a few sneak peeks at what I have on my table:



The ingredients for a perfect Christmas apron to sell in the shop. I'm thinking a simple Tasha Tudor style, but if you must have this fabric in another style, leave a comment or send me a note through etsy, and I'll try to accommodate you!



I've decided that I'm going to make myself a Christmas dress out of this pretty deep teal cotton/poly/rayon (???) blend. It's not red or green, but then I can sometimes be somewhat "original" in nature. ;P I briefly mentioned it in this post of historical patterns and will be doing it in the 1933 Vintage Vogue pattern. Right now I can't decide which button to use. Any ideas?

Modern McCalls meets 1930s Inspired

Finding cute skirt patterns can sometimes be a challenge. When I saw an unused pattern of McCalls 4924 (now out of print) for sale and in my size, there was no hesitation to purchase it.

 

 

My favorite views were A and B, and knew that my vintage woolen yardage would be perfect for this pattern. For days I was trying to decide if I wanted lace insets. Part of me liked the idea but then I wondered how modest it would be. I thought about doing solid fabric like this cute dress features, but my sister suggested that it might make the skirt look more "homemade." I came across a picture of this 1930s suit on pinterest, and thought that it wouldn't look so bad using the same fabric, so that's what I ended up using.

Since I avoid alterations if they can be helped, I made view B as is and love it. So onto the pictures... :) These pictures were taken this morning after church.

 

Maybe it's my imagination, but the buttons above the pleated insets really add that vintage touch to the skirt, don't you think? Excuse the wrinkles. After all, I was sitting in church. ;)

Etienne Aigner herringbone oxford-styled heels match wonderfully!

And like I said I would, I used the lace seam binding on the inside waistband. Sorry, no picture of that. ;)

 

There is about 1 yard left of this herringbone wool, and when my Dad saw it he said it would make great speaker covers (ie. sound speakers for a living room). :P Unless he really wants it, I think it will be tucked away in my stash bin for something else. Perhaps made up in a men's vintage style vest?

Vintage Herringbone Wool

Blame it on my old-fashioned upbringing, my love for vintage fashions, or maybe it was seeing an oversized chair at the furniture store in a similar fabric (finely trimmed in leather) that got me fascinated with this timeless design.   I was delighted to find a large piece of vintage wool in a herringbone pattern on etsy not long ago.

The thickness and drape is perfect.

The kind seller even sent a package of brown seam lace trim along with the fabric. You'd think that with my love for vintage things I would have used seam binding like this by now, but no. I'm thinking it will be used with this fabric in some way.

Some vintage buttons from my stash are begging to be used, too.

And I have the perfect pattern to implement all these things. Can hardly wait to get started! It will look, shall we say, vintage. ;)

A "love-hate" relationship

Today I am in the sewing room working with the most dreadful and horrid of fabrics you can imagine. Even the lady at the fabric store, who was cutting the ivory silky stuff (don't recall the name, but I'll find out what it is) cautioned me of it's atrocious nature.

Despite the crumminess, they are indeed pretty! Already mentioning the light colored fabric (and I paid dearly for it!) I got away with a steal of only paying a dollar or two for the vintage print. I'm not sure if it's rayon or not, but it sort of feels like it. When I washed it though, it didn't shrink much; for which I was very glad since it was 35" from selvage to selvage.

Here's hoping the final results will be worth it!

When working with such materials, it makes me oh-so-happy to sew with cotton. In fact, my wardrobe use to consist entirely of cottons for awhile. One spring we girls and Mother-dear made matching blue calico dresses to wear on Mother's Day. But that's not all. Our friends had the exact same print made up into dresses. Imagine the fun 10 women and girls had walking into church with matching dresses. ;) We probably have pictures somewhere, that should probably stay right where they are. Haha! While the dresses are long gone, it's the memory of them that made me smile when I made up a Gracie apron yesterday using that exact same fabric.

The color reminds me of the blue flax that grows on the wild prairies of Colorado, hence its name: Blue Flax

Calicos in the Shop

Yesterday I spent most of the day in the sewing room (when I wasn't, I was teaching violin) and had fun cutting into new fabrics. When Mother-dear and I went to JoAnn's the other day, I was horrified to see how much fabric has gone up in price! Why it seems like just yesterday we all of us girls were buying blue calico to match family friends of ours for Easter Sunday and only paid $3.99 a yard (and probably used a 50% off coupon!). The cheapest price I saw was $6 a yard for ugly and cheap feeling yardage. Feel special that I didn't change the price on these aprons even though I used premium cotton.

 

I finished two aprons and listed them yesterday in the late afternoon/evening hour:

 

This one in the 1930s style reminds me of the springtime in Georgia when the the skies are often grey with a cool drizzle, but the pink and white dogwoods trees bloom on in profusion.

This one just seems like a classic 1950s calico apron that you'd find hanging from a cabinet in a antique store. The fabric almost looks like a vintage print.

Now I'm off to start baking our Christmas cutout cookies. I have a whole entire post in the works designated just for the baking endeavors I've done since I've been home. Stay tuned!

A Pinterest-Inspired Skirt

I've been contemplating starting a new series to the blog, kinda of along the lines of my Dress It Up series that I had this past spring, but different in the way of putting together an outfit drawing inspiration from a picture from Pinterest and utilizing items from my closet without focusing on one item or piece of clothing like before.

Until (or if...) I get that going, I saw this picture the other day while browsing maxi skirts and while I'm not a personal fan of orange or burnt orange no less, I found myself liking this simple outfit: a basic white tee and long skirt with minimum accessories.

It reminded me of some burnt orange (used) tablecloths that was given to me several months ago. Obviously I knew from the beginning that I'd never use them as tablecloths, curtains, or anything that would pertain to home decor!! So yesterday I cut into it and today I finished it into my favorite biased-tiered skirt pattern.

I think there will be just enough extra fabric to make one for myself, but until I need another skirt, this one is available to you here! :)

Back in the Sewing Room

The past two days have prevented me from spending very little time out of doors. We have had unseasonably warm weather for a good month and all of a sudden it took a turn into the 30s and 40s. I really can't complain because we need any and all moisture we can get.

So instead of spending my time out in the flower gardens like I planned, I got back into the sewing room to re-organize my fabrics, notions, patterns that I no longer need, thoughts, and the like. Not to long ago I happily discovered that I still had a bit of some cotton-sheen lilac fabric left. Of course out it came as did the scissors!

No lace or extra frills on this one. The fabric is quite beautiful in and of itself.

Wouldn't you agree?

I'm Dreaming of a 1914 Dress

Several years ago my parents bought me Anne Shirley's Wedding Dress pattern, and just this spring I've pulled it out with some fabric and started dreaming. I've had the gold silk duponi in my stash for a year or so now (shh...I only paid $2 for the yardage, thanks to one of my wonderful thrift stores!), the vintage buttons, and very recently picked up the lace fabric (also from the thrift store).

I'm thinking of making the underskirt with the silk, and then the whole dress out of the lace, but line the bodice with the silk also so it would be underneath the lace. Make sense? I'm not going to make the sleeves like the pattern, but I haven't come up with any other ideas yet.

After I publish this post, I'm going to look up what those buttons are saying. Here's hoping it's not anything to crazy! ;) Am I the only one who finds vintage metal buttons fascinating?

Do I have an occasion for this dress? no...

Why am I making it? um...for fun?

Maybe it's because of Downton Abbey? maybe...

Perhaps you like the Edwardian era? oh yes...

Or you grew up with Anne of Green Gables and always longed for a kindred spirit? most definitely...

The Loveliness of Toile

According to Wikipedia: Toile is the name of a fabric that entered the English language around the 16th century from a French word meaning "linen cloth" or "canvas" — particularly cloth or canvas for painting on. The word toile can refer to the fabric itself, a test garment (generally) sewn from the same material, or a type of surface decoration (traditionally) printed on the same fabric.

Mom likes to decorate with toile by using it in accents around our home, as you can see in this picture of the lampshade and clock on the antique end table in our living room. But there are other things that we have in toile prints. Mom has me looking for a toile settee when I'm out thrifting. :)

So as I mentioned in my post earlier today, I'd have a couple items in the shop that were toile, though I'm quite tardy in listing them. One looses the time quite easily when moseying around in antique shops.

I was originally going to sell them as a set, but at the last mintue decided to list them separately. If you'd like to purchase both, send me a note via etsy, and I'll send you a $2 off coupon code to use when checking out.

Something to Keep

Many times a week I search for Laura Ashley fabric. The winsome, old fashioned, and sweet prints are often just my tastes, and the fabric is always high quality. Several days ago I found this piece of yardage on etsy for a good price, and it arrived with today's mail.

As all of my other Laura Ashley fabrics, this one will be made into an apron of sorts. But unlike every single one I've sewn before, this one will not make its appearance into the shop. I like it to much to part with it. ;)

If you're sadly disappointed, perhaps if I hint of three *adorable* fabrics that include peonies, lilacs, and butterflies - you'll know to watch for items in the shop early next week!

A giveaway every seamstress should enter!

Take a look at this giveaway that a lady is hosting! It is a gift certificate for $100 towards marie-madeline studio! Imagine being able to spend that much money on patterns and fabric. T'would be like a little slice of heaven, I think! =)

The Old-Fashioned Way

Yesterday I was lamenting to a friend of mine at church how I've gotten some pain and soreness in my wrists and forearms from all the sewing I've done lately (I know, because I took a day off, and as soon as I went back to it, the pain came back).

But stop sewing for awhile, and especially after being inspired by gowns worn by Elizabeth Bennett of Pride & Prejudice, Elinor and Marianne Dashwood of Sense & Sensibility, Emma Woodhouse of Emma, Anne Elliot of Persuasion, Catherine Moreland of Northanger Abbey, and Fanny Price of Mansfield Park?

And then this fabric?

I think it would look delicious made up into a Regency dress, don't you? I suppose I could go the old fashioned way and hand sew it up. T'would be more so authentic too, I think! Perhaps I'll give it a try.

If you don't hear from me for the rest of the week, it probably means that I'm lost in stitching, tea drinking, and watching Jane Austen films. =)

Spring, Fabric, Chemisette, & Pretties

On my morning walk, I spotted my first robin this season. Spring must have arrived! It shows in other areas too; crocus' are blooming along the front path, hyacinths aren't to far behind, and the tulips are slowly inching their way up too.

While I was away, without any consent or mentioning the idea, our sewing room was painted. Perhaps you've noticed in some of my pictures? (My poor sister picked out a lovely name on a card; "Morning Sunlight," and indeed on the card it was lovely, but some in our household dubbed the room "the baby nursery" while others say the color reminds them of lemonade.) Either way I'm learning that it is rather cheery, although I may have to find another spot in the cottage to take pictures of my sewing things -bright yellow just doesn't go with some things!

But around us there are other touches too that remind us that spring is on the way. Going through drawers or closet shelves are areas that I like to tackle. While mine hold "hope chest items," it's fun to freshen them up a bit. Somehow I'd like to create a little library in a certain area of our abode. The room would suit perfectly, but I just need to convince other people that it is a great idea too. Speaking of books, this afternoon I pulled out my Patterns of Fashion book and my eyes fell once again on this lovely chemisette.
Somehow I'd like to combine it with these lovely items, and come up with something pretty. I've had the vintage laces and buttons for awhile, but the fabric was recently taken up when it was $1.50 a yard.

Perhaps a Regency gown, another Romantic or a late Romantic dress, or just something that is simply historically inspired? What does it seem like it would look best in?

Family Heirlooms

Grandma is doing her spring cleaning, and the other night she handed down two treasures to one very grateful recipient. The pair of scissors were her mother's sewing "shears" as Grandma fondly calls them. They've been back in a storage container, and rather than it still being stored away, Grandma asked if I'd like them.

The other lovely piece is my Great-Great-Great Grandmother's hanky with hand-tatted lace. It was pulled out a number of years ago, and when visiting us several years ago, Grandma had given it to me because of knowing that I did tatting. Somehow it found its way back here, and went missing for several months. Upon cleaning out drawers, it was found and once again placed in my possession.

Isn't it lovely? The fabric itself I think must be that long-desired-for cotton muslin that they used to make decades ago, (oh to have a Regency dress in this gorgeous material!!) unless someone more knowledgeable than I says that it is something else. The embroidery is definitely done by hand, and for years it has baffled me as to how they could getting tatting onto a hankie. "It must be needle tatting" I have thought, but this looks like shuttle tatting to me, and upon close observation, it looks like it was sewn on because of the uneven spacing of the lace. How it was done, I still haven't figured it out. Any ideas?

Though not in the sewing/hand crafts department, Grandma asked if if I would like these juice glasses that she has had in her closed hutch. They were to pretty to pass up!

Another picture looking down into the glass. I like the wheat pattern. Grandma didn't mention how she got them, or how old they are, so I need to ask.

Of course, by the time I get married and will put them to use, they probably will be antique!

Two Heart-Warming Things

♥ Getting some beautiful fabric in today's mail. Take an easy guess of what it's going to be in? I can hardly wait to skip over to the store and pick up some corresponding bias tape!

♥ Playing the hymn "It is Well With My Soul" with a friend (she on the piano, and I on violin) for the offertory at church this Sunday, and then being asked to play for a funeral which will be on Monday. The funeral isn't exactly "heart warming" but knowing that this man is in Heaven, and being able to minister through music is a joy to my heart.