What's blue and tan with birdcages all over? My blouse! And it's another Vintage Pledge item! Sometimes, I really love the terms used to describe various elements of a garment in vintage sewing patterns. Today's treat was Butterick 6223, a pattern from the 1950s, featuring a "small rising collar" for the view I sewed. It's a perfect description—says exactly what it is! This is actually a blouse I've sewn up twice ... Read more »
Slash-neck winner
Before fall hit here, Jennifer Lauren (of Jennifer Lauren Handmade) contacted me about her latest pattern release, the Gable top, a cute 1950s-inspired tee with a slash neck. Little did she know, but it was the exact same type of top I was hoping to try and backwards architect from my favorite Vivien of Holloway slash neck tops, as I hadn't found a similar sewing pattern out there yet. She wondered if I'd be interested in ... Read more »
True bra-making confessions: I finally found a retro bra sewing pattern I like!
It's a Friday confession, my friends. Pull up a chair and a beverage! I've never wanted to sew lingerie. A slip yes (not that I've ever bothered getting to it). But bras and panties, nope. (Incidentally: I cannot stand the term "panties", I call them underwear whenever possible.) In fact, I have to be honest and say that most of the bra making posts and photos I see online have kind of annoyed me. Here's why. I wear ... Read more »
Love Cats: Last things sewn for summer
We've really had kind of an extended summer here. It's late September and I still have roses and a few day lilies (?!!) blooming, and the tomatoes are going crazy. This week, the temperatures have cooled, and so the projects I'm sharing today are assuredly the last things I'll have made for summer this year! Rounding the bend on my third pair of jeans in a row, I hit a wall a few weeks ago. I don't typically stop ... Read more »
Rockabilly Morgan jeans for Mel
I made something—something big—for my spouse! Jeans! I sewed Mel jeans! This is the Morgan boyfriend jeans by Closet Case Files. I finally got up the gumption / nerve / desire / whatever you'd like to call it to sew Mel some jeans. And since I'd never actually sewn for Mel before, this was a big place to start. But hey, sometimes I like a good challenge! I looked at men's jeans patterns first... all like, 2 ... Read more »
Safran jeans
I have a special treat today! I was very flattered to be contacted by Deer and Doe to see if I wanted to try their latest pattern and give an honest review, and that pattern is the Safran jeans that just came out today! Grab a beverage for a long post, I always get chatty when talking about jeans! Now I've known about Deer and Doe but hadn't sewed any of their patterns to date, because their general aesthetic is ... Read more »
A vintage cotton finally becomes a skirt
If you blog, and you blog about things you make, do you ever make something that has no interesting back story, wasn't that complicated, and you basically just want to share because it's pretty and you like it? Yep, that's today. This is just a simple gathered skirt I sewed, I don't even use a pattern for these. Just go selvage to selvage for the width of the front and back, insert a lapped zipper, and add a ... Read more »
Confession, pink leopard print cigarette pants, and a Vintage Pledge guest post
Today's blog post will be in reverse order of the title. I know, it's a teaser! ;) But first, here's a bit about my guest post! If you follow my blog and you're into sewing, then you know about Marie and Kerry's Vintage Pledge. This year, they jam packed all of July with guest posts from tons of bloggers, and I'm honored to say that my guest post was this weekend! I sewed up a cute ruffled eyelet blouse from a pattern ... Read more »
Going out for a small joy
Saturday, Mel and I both woke up supremely cranky. There's just so much heart-wrenching, close-minded madness going on in the world, so much to make you feel hopeless or despondent or pissed off or numb any number of other things, and too many people with their heads screwed on poorly or just not even paying attention at all. And so we were cranky. Really cranky. We needed a distraction. Sometimes you have to at least try ... Read more »
Pops for champagne dress
I wanted the first thing I sewed after setting up my new sewing area to use a particularly fun piece of fabric, because it featured champagne! What better way to celebrate a new space than literally celebratory fabric? Not that I reserve champagne for celebrations, because I do not. I am totally on board with drinking sparkling wines any day of the week. But I digress. This is another version of Butterick B5748, a ... Read more »
Blistering orange capris
There's a lot of really ugly things going on in the world right now. It's been an especially crazy whirlwind of a few weeks in politics, with some truly dark happenings (mixed in with a couple of good and important ones). I haven't felt much like blogging, but in an effort to do something normal with myself, I remembered Mel had helped me take photos of a few things I've made and I hadn't looked at any of the photos yet ... Read more »
Creating my dream cutting table for sewing
Hello! I'm back from a relaxing vacation in the Southwest, where it was so relaxing, in fact, that we spent more time enjoying ourselves than bothering to take photos! But I may be able to cobble together a post from phone photos, so possibly stay tuned for that in the future. Now I'm continuing my basement makeover posts! When last I left things, you got to see the planning and build-out phases. And today *drumroll ... Read more »
Basement studio makeover: planning and “build-out”
I thought I'd continue my basement studio makeover posts (catch up with the first one here) with the planning and the "build-out" phase where we actually assembled and moved everything around, both of which took ages! Not necessarily the most glamorous topics, either. But I feel like many people just do "before and after" shots and you don't actually get to learn much about the nitty gritty along the way, and how they ... Read more »
Clowning around in the park
Remember how I said it went from marginal spring to summer in about 10 seconds flat? Right. One week I was wearing wool sweaters and the next shorts, scrambling to rotate my closet before I blinked and it was fall again and I'd be back to wool. (I mean, I'm already getting "pre-fall" promotional emails. Really?!) When I wore these shorts it was the first time I got to bare my thighs this year! They were sent to ... Read more »
Basement studio makeover: dirty little “before” photos!
Hello, everyone! Boy, have I been busy these last several weeks! We've been knee deep in giving our basement studio spaces a BIG makeover. And suddenly the weather went from marginal spring (great to seclude yourself in the basement) to summer (oops, would rather be out doing fun things) in about 10 seconds flat, and I feel like I'm behind on literally everything. With a vacation coming in mid-June I suspect I'm going ... Read more »
A little Friday giveaway treat
Happy Friday! As promised, I have a little treat for you. Hopefully you've checked out my guest post for Mood Fabrics, and yesterday's post here on my blog with more details about my jeans. I'm so pleased with that outfit and now I get to share my joy with one lucky reader! So here's the fun part for you: Mood has given me a $50.00 give certificate to give to one of you. Hot damn, fabric shopping time, right?! ... Read more »