True confessions, Karen style: I like shoes. A lot. Yesterday, I posted a photo on Instagram of my shoe collection. Which up until yesterday, had been (embarrassingly) mostly stacked on one another on the floor of my closet. So I finally bought a shoe organizer at Target and put it together yesterday afternoon. I posted a photo once I filled it up with shoes, and then we went out to the side of our house to work on ... Read more »
Finished: polka dot dirndl for summer
Glad you like my new eyeglasses! Of course, you'll see I'm wearing my vintage ones in this post. I go back and forth. ;) By the way, I've had a few requests for a tutorial on my hairstyle in that post. I may work something up but in the meantime, you can watch this first part of this Lisa Freemont Street video for a 40s scarf updo to evening glamour to get the gist! I finished this skirt at least a month ago kind of ... Read more »
New spectacles
No, it's not vacation photos yet. Soon, I promise! Now you may recall sometime in May, I mentioned that I got new eyeglasses. A few astute readers noticed I was wearing them in my last post. And if you follow me on Instagram, they're not new to you at all, as I've been sporting them in photos for awhile. But this is the first time I'm introducing them on the blog. Meet my new specs! I've been wearing vintage ... Read more »
My guest post today on The Refashioners!
Hello my friends, it's been some time! We're back from our long trip to the UK. Lots of fun was had, I even got to meet a handful of amazing blogger friends, and pictures of our trip will happen soon once we've settled back in (and taken care of a few remaining bathroom remodel-related things). But most importantly today, pushing through the jet lag, I have something fun to share! Remember how I told you I was selected ... Read more »
In just a few short days…
... we'll be leaving for the UK! And so I'm packing. (Pay no mind to the wall color, we haven't painted our bedroom yet after a year in the house!) And despite my best intentions, I've not been able to keep up with the blogosphere, what with the bathroom remodel still going on and a long vacation looming in just a few days. I'll post occasional pictures on Instagram while we're gone and check email, ... Read more »
History is riding on my back: not-quite-Me-Made-May blouse & skirt
Thanks for all the nice comments about my last handmade outfit post! ♥ If you haven't noticed, there hasn't been a peep on here about Me Made May. Here's the deal. I've wanted to participate in MMM for the two years and thought finally, I'm ready to do this challenge! But then the bathroom remodel came up, so it seemed a bit silly to dress in me-made clothing in the middle of a construction zone. Plus, we'll be in the ... Read more »
My 40s gray wool skirt & feedsack blouse
As I mentioned in my last post, while I'm in bathroom-land I'm going to catch you up on some of the things I sewed towards the end of winter and beginning of spring! I think after this post I still have three things (with a possible soon fourth) left to show you, one of which may even result in a mini tutorial when I come back up for air in June after our trip. What can I say, sewing has really become a big deal for me ... Read more »
The subject of my radio silence
My apologies! As you may or may not have noticed, I have been mostly absent from my own blog, reading blogs, Instagram, Twitter (not that I'm on Twitter that much)... you name it, I haven't been there. This has been going on a couple of weeks now. But I promise it's all for a good reason and not bad: we're suddenly involved in a very exciting but somewhat stressful and very time-consuming home project here at the Golly ... Read more »
My birthday wrap dress
Happy Birthday to me! :) I wanted to finish up a sewing project in time for my birthday today! With my megaproject jacket complete, I was able to resume some regularly scheduled sewing. Which right now is all about filling in my spring and summer wardrobe! I pulled a pattern out of my stash that I'd been wanting to sew forever. It's a 1962 McCall's pattern for a wrap dress. But some of you who collect vintage clothing ... Read more »
And the giveaway winner is…
Well goodness, with the volume of entries on the Popina retro swimsuit giveaway, my plan of putting all the names into our ice bucket was quite a bit more of a chore than I expected! But dear readers, I plowed on, cutting tiny little strips of paper and wondering all the while if I should have devised a plan to have our paper shredder do it for me. Not-so-fine print: I actually used my hands instead of our silver ice ... Read more »
Popina Swimwear retro swimsuit giveaway!
Hi everyone, do I have something fun for you today. I was contacted by the husband-and-wife team that runs Popina Swimwear, a small retro swimwear boutique in Portland. When I personally am out in nature I'm more likely to be found hiking on a trail or camping than playing in the water on a beach, so I declined to do a review... and one of you lucky readers get to benefit from that! So what does that mean? You could ... Read more »
Now for something completely different… The Refashioners!
Well everyone, I am overwhelmed by all your wonderful comments on my Sew for Victory jacket on my blog, Twitter, and Instagram. It's really tickled me to have that project complete and share it with all of you. :) And today I have something completely different to share with you! You may have seen it on a few other blogs already, but the refashioner queen, Portia, is running another Refashioners challenge this ... Read more »
My finished Sew for Victory jacket
Oh yeah! I introduce to you the best thing I've ever sewn. That's right, my Sew for Victory jacket is complete! Can you believe it? Be prepared for a bucketload of photos. Because let's be real here. Internally, I'm actually shouting, "HOLY SHIT I CAN'T BELIEVE I SEWED THIS OMG!!" It started over a month ago when Rochelle announced the 1940s-themed Sew for Victory sewalong, and with my crazy little idea that since I ... Read more »
40s jacket progress: the last steps
While you're not seeing it today, my Sew for Victory jacket is now complete! I'm super anxious to share it with you, but I'm staying on track so I can just share the remaining construction bits. I'm also being sneaky and going to show only up close photos until the final reveal (soon!). When I last left off, I showed you the lining. Once the lining was complete, the final remaining steps were to sew the band at the ... Read more »
40s jacket progress: the lining (sewing & attaching)
Well everyone, my Sew for Victory jacket continues! I have never spent so long thinking about and working on a sewing project, so I'm sorry my non-jacket posts are few and far between right now. ;) I am so close to being finished I can taste it! But today I'm going to catch up where I last left off. The last post was about sewing the shell, and today's post is about the lining. This is a really long post, you've ... Read more »
40s jacket progress: the outer shell
Last Monday I started cutting out all my pieces for my Sew for Victory jacket. And let me tell you, fabric, underlining and lining... that's a lot of cutting. Phew. So far things have been going pretty well, so I thought I'd catch you up on the assembly of the jacket shell. One thing you may find interesting is that I'm paying very little attention to the actual instructions in my pattern. Why? Two important ... Read more »