I was flattered awhile back when Megan Neilsen asked if I'd like to try out her Brumby skirt pattern. She was right on the mark in thinking I'd like it—Brumby is totally up my alley. source: Brumby Skirt by Megan Nielsen Out of the envelope, perhaps it wouldn't necessarily scream "me", but if I can look past modern styling and see a bit of a vintage twist, then I'm in. So a gathered skirt and big ol' pockets? Not much ... Read more »
Vintage Shetland blog tour stop (help the project, pre-order the book & more!!)
There are a lot of things I love in this world. Knitting is one of them. Vintage is another. History, yet another. When all of these things come together, it's magical. Such is the case with Susan Crawford's latest project and upcoming book. It's called The Vintage Shetland Project. If you're a fan of vintage knitting, then you know Susan Crawford. She's a renowned vintage knitwear designer and one of my knitting ... Read more »
A new vintage fashion staple with Emmy Design’s señorita top
Recently I had the pleasure of being contacted by Emmy Design, a small Swedish retro clothing company, to work with them on a review of something from their Spring/Summer 2015 collection. They make truly beautiful and quality items that fit in wonderfully into a vintage wardrobe, and I'm thrilled to have had the opportunity to collaborate with them! I love that Emmy Design's focus is on quality wardrobe pieces ... Read more »
Rock n’ roll Ginger jeans
I'm so happy to say I've tackled the ultimate wardrobe staple: jeans! Yep, my Ginger jeans are finished. And honestly, they might be my favorite thing I've sewn. I LOVE THEM. All caps kinda love. Actually there's a lot of all caps in the next couple of paragraphs, I'm that excited! :) They're not mistake-free, nor a completely perfect fit (is anything ever?). And I've done tailoring, and sewn jackets, but ... Read more »
Ginger jeans progress report
I thought I'd do a little progress report on how my Ginger jeans are going! Okay, actually a long one. Mainly for those of you who, like me, haven't sewn jeans before, or maybe you're scared to, or on the fence, or perplexed about the idea in general. Or otherwise just want to read some boring sewing nitty gritty about jeans. There's a lot of "these are awesome!" finished posts out there but I thought I'd give you a ... Read more »
Wait, sewing jeans?
Hello everyone! I'm back from our trip and once I have photos all organized, I'll be regaling you with a few tales of waterfalls and remote Midwestern lands and such. :) But in the meantime, I thought I'd share what's on my sewing table! You already know my current knitting project, which saw a lot of progress while we were gone. I'm going to sew the Ginger jeans pattern! Me a year or two ago would never have believed ... Read more »
Forlorn and forgotten
I have a habit with knitting sometimes, and it's a habit that does not cross over in the slightest to sewing. I temporarily abandon projects. Maybe for a month, sometimes 6 months, sometimes 2 years or more. It happens for lots of reasons. Generally speaking, I'm a fast knitter. But sometimes my mind is racing faster than my needles, and off to a new fancy project before I finish what was the new fancy project 2 ... Read more »
Why I love (but am not doing) Me Made May, AKA it’s a Me Made Life
Happy Friday, my friends! I got up early before work to take some quick photos to talk about something that's been on my mind this month. You get lip balm, an un-ironed dress and possibly unbrushed teeth. Aren't you lucky. ;) As we near the mid-point of May, I thought I might spend a few minutes explaining why I'm not participating in Me Made May 2015, because you might expect me to. And the best way to sum it up ... Read more »
A very basic 1950s sleeveless top
I have my next Vintage Pledge item of the year to share! I believe I pledged to sew 5 things from vintage patterns, which I figured would be easy for me, since I sew with vintage patterns quite a lot in general. Though I haven't been sewing as much this year, so it's taken until May to hit #2 and #3. Soon you'll see my second item, a wrap dress, as soon as I finish up the jewelry that'll go along with it. In the meantime, ... Read more »
6×4 chartreuse cardigan for a tiki night
I'm happy to share my latest knitting project! This is a little vintage-style short-sleeved cardigan or bolero, however you'd like to think of it. I came up with the design for this cardigan myself. I knew wanted a fitted little vintage cardigan or bolero. I knew the yarn I was going to use. I knew roughly what I wanted to do, but I couldn't for the life of me decide on a stitch pattern to use! I kept waffling and ... Read more »
Plastic fanatic
There are a lot of things I love about vintage and retro styles. It hits all the fashion high notes for me... the clothing, the purses, the shoes, the jewelry, and other accessories. Swoon! When it comes to jewelry, while I love lots of different styles and types of jewelry, the plastics have long been my favorites. New, old, I love and collect it all! Source: LIFE Magazine, April 28, 1941 found via Pinterest, original ... Read more »
An outfit for doing something and going somewhere
Hello hello! First off, thank you for all the sweet sweet birthday wishes! ♥ ♥ It was a wonderful birthday and a great weekend spent celebrating with friends. Just perfect! I have to say, the longer I go not blogging as regularly, the easier it becomes! It's been a struggle to try and get back the desire to hang around these parts, write, and catch up on all my favorite blogs lately, I have to admit. :) But today I ... Read more »
Victory Gardening birthday dress
Hello hello, my friends! Lots of things to say today! And it's my birthdayyyy! I don't usually go three weeks between posts, but I've been extraordinarily busy lately. We were already having a very full early spring and then about the same time as our friends who moved to Wales have been in and out visiting for the last couple of weeks, I've also been unusually swamped at work, which has meant I've had very little time ... Read more »
My tweed Cascade duffle coat
Wee heeeee, my Cascade duffle coat is complete! And this is a big post, because hello, I sewed a coat and it took me from January to March, so there's a lot to share! Right off the bat let me apologize these aren't the greatest photos... it was as bright as could be the day we went up to northern Illinois to walk around and take pictures, and honestly it was such a beautiful day (omg spring came for the ... Read more »
Knitting pattern release: Sprigs and Berries
I'm very happy to announce that I've just released my latest knitting pattern! It's a unisex mitten pattern in four sizes and two color palettes, and it's called Sprigs and Berries. You can buy it and read more about it on Ravelry (you don't have to be a member!). I actually did a lot of the work for this pattern over a year ago, and only recently brushed it off to iron out some details and finish everything up. ... Read more »
Sparkling up any ol’ winter day
As I've mentioned on occasion, I mostly work from home. This is something that developed slowly over time at my job to where, several years later, we work remotely 99% of the time. The few of us from my department that are actually located in the same city sometimes pop into the office to be reminded what each other look like, for the Christmas party, etc. So I went from thinking a lot about business-very-casual clothes ... Read more »