Tuesday, November 1, 2016

Happy Halloween!


 I made the executive decision to do a 101 Dalmatian theme for our family this Halloween, and it was a hit! The kids loved dressing up as puppies.


It was a very light sewing costume year for me, and I am okay with that! I sewed the faux fur white wrap that I wore and I tried to sew red gloves, but they were a major flop! I bought my wig, baby's costume, and three white shirts. I painted spots on the shirts for my girls and made them masks out of felt, elastic, and glue from my hot glue gun! 

We had a blast this Halloween and hope you did too, if you happen to celebrate it of course!

Friday, October 28, 2016

Latest Projects

 Hello! It has been awhile since I posted, not because I didn't want to, I have just been SO BUSY. Being a mom is no joke. It's completely worth it and I ADORE my babies, but that also means sometimes life gets a little fast paced and non-essential things get left in the lurch.


 However I am so happy that I sewed a swimsuit! Good thing I got it done in September when it was starting to get cold and all the pools closed (I never seem to get something done in time for the right season)! Sewing a swimsuit was definitely a goal I was excited to check off my bucket list and I am pleasantly surprised by how much I like it! I used the Bombshell pattern in case anyone was wondering. A gingham vintage style one piece is a must in my opinion!



As I have posted before I adore holidays and I got a crazy idea to make a shirt for each one! I decided to give the Sorbetto top a try (it's from the Colette blog and it's free!). I added sleeves from another pattern and I love it so much! The fabric was a lucky find that I think is perfect! I love a cutesy, vintage Halloween look.




Years ago a friend wore and adorable Minnie Mouse-like top to a party and I thought it was amazing. She told me where to buy it and of course it wasn't there by the time I went looking for it. I never stopped thinking about how I could make it and I hoarded fabric for it for years. Well I finally decided to try a similar look with the Sorbetto top and I love it! I drafted the Peter Pan collar myself and now I want to make twenty more in all different colors! Also can I give a shout out to fashion fabric! Yes, I have finally grown up and discovered how fantastic it is to use fabric meant for clothes on clothes! I'm using fashion fabric from now on and not looking back (for the most part)! ;)


Have a great week!


Monday, August 29, 2016

(Belated) Fourth of July Shirt

 Everyone has a strange quirk right? One of mine is the love of celebrating every holiday to its fullest, at least the major ones. Like Buddy the Elf for Christmas, but also Halloween, Easter, Valentines, and don't forget St. Patrick's day! Anyways, I always see these adorable seasonal fabrics and want to use them but really don't feel like making a quilt. So then I had a brilliant idea to use one of my favorite patterns, The Sassy Librarian Shirt, and make a subtle or not so subtle (depending on the cuteness of the fabric) shirt to wear!



 I really tried to get this shirt done in time for the Fourth of July, which is kind of like the Christmas of summer (I would know, being a holiday connoisseur). I thought this "Sommer" fabric was a nice nod to the red, white, and blue and would be a good summer shirt. Then life happened and I could not for the life of me make any progress on it, simply from a lack of free time.


 Then the Olympics rolled around and I thought maybe I could get it done in celebration of that!

Nope.


 Finally, the planets aligned and I got this blessed shirt done! I surprised myself and made the shoulder seams larger.


 I also made the executive decision that although this pattern is precious and lovely, it is a time consuming one. Free time is something I don't have a ton of so I am going to stick with my crazy holiday shirt plan, but use a less complicated pattern.


 Happy Fourth of July! I love my home country.



Tuesday, June 28, 2016

Lemon Dress


 It's summer time! That means I finally have some time to sew.
 


 When I saw this fabric I fell in love! The lemons are perfect and the teal color is so fun. Then I saw a dress on a "Dapper Day" photograph that looked like the Simplicity 1459 pattern. I decided to try and copy it! I love how it turned out.


 I did French seams and a full lining inside. I have never made anything so nice (even though it is not perfect).


One has to have a drink of lemonade with a dress like this! It all makes me feel so summery and happy.

I'm linking this dress to the 2016 Vintage Pledge and Allie's Social Sew.




Friday, June 3, 2016

A Belle Dress and other Happenings


It's birthday season at our house! I always try to make a "dress up" for each of my kids. I usually try to make something I would've wanted as a kid, which isn't always something a parent should do, but it's worked well for costumes so far.



 This dress is like buttah! I think I want one in my size! To wear to the live action Beauty and the Beast next year! I'm not a nerd or anything.


 I found a dress I really liked for $3 (yeah!!!). It was just a bit too short for me so I bought another dress just like it and then cut off the skirt from one to add to the other. Voila! Magical longer skirt!


 Me Made May was difficult for me to be apart of this year. My body just doesn't want to snap back from having a baby! So therefore I don't fit into many of the clothes I have made in the past. I did my best to get this simple, loose top finished but it didn't until June 1st! Waaa! A day late. :(



I had to take in the sleeves, but otherwise this is an awesome, easy pattern!

I have lots of birthday sewing to do but man, I need to do some more selfish sewing soon! ;)

Thursday, May 19, 2016

Wardrobe Architect Week 10: The Capsule Pallette


Of course, I had a hard time narrowing down my colors. I thought for sure I needed more staples in black, white, and navy, but I want more greens, yellows, and blues in my wardrobe. Hot pink and red are also favorites so I want to incorporate them too!

Wardrobe Architect Week 9: The Capsule Wardrobe


I've made a list of a few things I'd like to add to my wardrobe this summer. My plate is pretty full, so who knows what I'll actually be able to get to, but I'd like to sew some of the following, and I could use them in my wardrobe:

Loose fitting shirts


Full Skirts (especially a chambray one!)


A vintage style one piece swim suit


A shirt dress


And I couldn't find an actual photograph of this, but a two piece wiggle dress



Wish me luck!

Thursday, May 12, 2016

Wardrobe Architect Week 8: Hair, Makeup, and Beauty


When it comes to beauty and hair, I want something pretty and classic, yet easy and minimal. I'm enjoying having long hair right now and intend on keeping it. Someday when my life calms down I want to try bangs! Yes, big Zooey Deschanel ones! Probably when I do it'll be out of style!

Wardrobe Architect Week 7: Exploring Solids and Prints


I love prints! They can add a lot of interest to clothes.


I am such a sucker for a fun novelty print! They can be really fun on kids clothes but they can also look really busy and overwhelming on an adult, in my opinion. I feel kind of childish when I wear them, depending on the print. Also, too many novelty prints can be hard to match with other clothes.


I do think that less is more and a good polka dot may look more plain on a bolt but it is adorable once made into a garment!


Same goes for stripes (and yes, I am including a chevron as a sort of "stripe")!


Plaids are another favorite! I think the tartans look great on fall/winter clothing and the gingham looks great in spring/summer apparel, but again, that's just my opinion.


I love love love florals! They are so feminine and I can't believe I haven't incorporated more of them into my sewing! That needs to change.

I did leave out geometric prints. I think they can look nice on others but I really don't like them on myself. It probably has something to do with my aversion to math!

I love this wardrobe architect project and I am really starting to get inspired! This slow, week by week set of posts helps me think about what I really want to do, even when I don't exactly keep a weekly pace up! ;)

Wednesday, May 11, 2016

Week 6: Organizing Your Palate (Revised)

Following the outline of this post I took into account all the colors I like wearing that would look good with my skin tone.


The first line are the neutrals I love. This made me realize I should say good bye to my brown skirt I never wear!


I am not an expert but I would say that these colors could be considered "near neutrals"


 Oh glorious pinks and reds, you are the accent colors I love!

I'm excited to go through this process and figure out how to improve my sewing/wardrobe!

Friday, April 29, 2016

Wardrobe Architect Week Five: Your Color Story


I was just reading in The Fashion File (by the costume designer on Mad Men Janie Bryant) about the colors she gave to each character and how they fit in with their personalities. Betty wore a lot of icy pastels because they looked great with her fair complexion but also matched her "coldness" and Joan wore a lot of strong jewel tones to match her strength. I'm not sure what I want to say with the colors that I wear other than I like those colors, but I'm sure subconsciously there is something being said!

That being said I did my color homework with the exercises mentioned on this blog post and I thought it was interesting. I decided to look up a few of my favorite colors on pinterest and see what I could find.


Ahhh....these colors are just so beautiful and soothing to me! When I looked through my wardrobe however, I didn't see a lot of this (I did start getting rid of a bunch of things that I realized were not my style/color though!). 

Marie Antionette is one of my favorite movies and I love the colors on it too!


After doing some more research I discovered that I am a "bright winter". I've always kind of rebelled against the idea that I can only wear certain colors because often times I haven't had a choice, but I can see that sometimes certain hues make different individuals look better or worse. I remember making a bright orange dress for myself and it looked so wrong with my skin tone! I put some brown dye on it and it turned a lovely wine/rust color which was much better for me. I think I just needed a reminder of that!

 image via Cardigan Empire

After looking up winter color palettes I found a few I thought were quite inspiring!


I really like the subtle color variations. It's not something I see often in a wardrobe and I think it would be interesting to pursue.

I really love this bold red mixed with blues and neutral colors. I think this would be a more achievable color scheme for a wardrobe.

   
These colors seem very romantic and pretty, but perhaps a bit young. I find myself very drawn to them though so maybe I will go for it!

Wardrobe Architect Week 4: Proportions and Silhouettes


Trying to narrow down all my ideas for a capsule wardrobe is hard! I have so many thoughts about what to sew/wear and I'm not sure how to make them all work. However, doing the Wardrobe Architect "work" has helped me focus on what I really really want to do, and that has been very helpful!

 This week has been about silhouettes and thinking about that made me realize yet again, I am a hopeless romantic/vintage/feminine style lover! 


I'm really digging the shirt dress right now. The silhouette with a smaller waist and fuller skirt seems so comfortable to me! 




I LOVE this dress! A modest, not too tight "wiggle dress" is another silhouette that seems attractive and feminine to me. The color and the radishes on the fabric are awesome too! Just the right amount of whimsy.

 

As much as I LOVE wearing dresses and skirts I don't always do it because A)Sometimes I have a lot of work to do that would ruin a dress and more importantly B)My husband doesn't always like dresses and prefers when I wear jeans. As much as I would like to wear skinny jeans, I don't like the way it makes my derriere appear and I don't find them comfortable. A boot leg jean is my favorite, with a loose fitting top.

If you'd like to see it I made a pinterest board for this Wardrobe Architect challenge.

Saturday, April 23, 2016

Wardrobe Architect Week 3: Exploring Shapes




Week Three of Wardrobe Architect was fun for me. There was a great form from the blog that helped me a lot, but I won't bore you with all the answers from that. 
I've got simple taste when it comes to shapes. I don't want anything too tight or loose (except for tops...I did just have a baby!). I don't want anything too long or too short. I like a rounded neck line. Maybe this is too boring for some but I think these simple shapes could look different and interesting with different colors, patterns, and details. 



Thursday, April 7, 2016

Wardrobe Architect Week 2: Defining a Core Style


Using the Week 2 Worksheet from the Colette blog, I will try to identify my own core style. Follow along if you'd like to!

When you are wearing your favorite clothing, how do you feel? 
I feel pretty, comfortable, happy, fun, and at ease.

When you are wearing something not quite right, how do you feel? What are the feelings you want to avoid about the clothes you wear?

I feel frumpy, awkward, conspicuous, boring, homely, ragged, uncomfortable, out of style, garish, cheesy, cheap, and poor (I know one can still dress nicely and be poor, but I don't like looking impoverished if I can avoid it).

Who do you consider to be your style icons? What is it about them that appeals to you?

I love the style of Zooey Deschanel, Lauren Conrad, and yes, Betty Draper on Mad Men (pretty much everyone from that show actually). I think their clothes are fun and feminine. They are fresh yet have an old fashioned feel to them. 

What are some words that describe styles that you like in theory, but are not quite you?

Ultra-modern, bohemian, rustic, and simplistic styles I admire but don't like on myself. I hate neons and geometric prints on myself but think they can look nice on others. I would love to have light blonde hair and pale skin and wear pastels all the time, just because I love pastel colors, but that's also not quite me. 

 
  Look over your answers from last week. List at least 15 words you associate with your answers. Think about descriptive words, moods, and feelings you associate with these things.

Feminine, old fashioned, modest, comfortable, flattering, pretty, stylish, unique, subtle, happy, attractive, age appropriate, fresh, fun, and practical.

Are there other words that you would add to the list? What other words describe your core style?


Vintage, retro, sweet, demure, understated, classic, and a touch of whimsy?


Look over the answers to all the questions above. If you had to narrow the list to only 3-5 words to describe you, which words would you choose?

 Feminine, demure, classic, and pretty (at least, those are the goals).
 
 Visual Exercise- Collect 15-20 images that represent these 3-5 words for you:




Pinterest inspiration board here