Oh, this life.....

Well crap....it's been a few months (almost ten??) since my last post. This year has been CRAZY. My marriage ended, I moved back to Idaho and i have been busy doing theatre thangs....and sewing, of course. :)

Here's some of the love:

Vogue 1152

Butterick 5603

A vintage butterick...I will have to look it up. ;)

Vogue 8728

I will make a more thorough post soon. :)

My last post was in June?

How is that possible? :)

Well....time has been spent collecting patterns (at a *much* slower rate and this one is the new fave):

and sewing:

(Almost done---after major alterations, it still needs to be pressed, buttoned, and hemmed--with about five inches whacked off the bottom first!)

and whipping up simple skirts seen on other people's blogs...... :)

and baking bread! Mmmmmmmm....this is the year to really dive in and get the science down.

Fall is in the air.....and life is good good good. :)

Firstly,

I want these shoes.

I also need them in brown.

And coffee and cream.

And red.

But brown would probably be best, so they would go with almost everything, and I could wear them all the time.

Sigh.

How does two months pass so quickly??

I did a play, it was fun, I feel better.

But now it's time to sew!

Today I am making a t-shirt from my original SWAP plan and cutting out a 30's dress in this fabric:

So mote it be.

I also have some great plans in the works for my 4th of July dress.

The dress on the right.

And that's the fabric I am thinking of using.

With white revers and navy ric-rac....with a red bow.

Or maybe red ric-rac and a navy bow.

Or maybe navy revers with white ric-rac!

I just don't know!!

(Or maybe a NAVY dress with that fabric as the revers and trim. DRAT. Too many choices!)

However.....

The temptation to use that fabric to sew up a flouncy 70's dress is overwhelming.

We shall see.

Edit: I LIED.

I may have to use THIS pattern instead:

Not Dead Yet!

It's been awhile, but Mama has been busy......in a good, but stressful way. :)

The wardrobe overhaul was interrupted by preparations for our family visit from the UK. I quit my job on the 13th of March and spent the next two weeks scrubbing floors and organizing closets.

It's a good thing I'd already gotten rid of so much or there wouldn't have been any room for our guests :) .....HOWEVER.....because I got rid of darned near *all my old clothes* and did not have a chance to sew, I feel like I have been wearing the *same three outfits* over and over since February.

Now that the wee bairns are no longer sleeping in my sewing room, I am spending the next couple hours putting it back together so I can get some things put together this weekend......I hope.

As I said, life has been BUSY. I got cast in a show (hurrah hooroh hurreee) and have lines to memorize, I am in the midst of a nutritional overhaul (no shite sugar, flour, or processed foods for the next three weeks----you know, that was supposed to say "white" sugar, but I think I'll leave the Freudian typo) and doing some very interesting cognitive work with a kick-ass psychologist (speaking of Freud....).

Also....the highschool production opens late next week, so I am helping the kids this week with their makeup application, and I am sure I will be there before a few of the performances lending a hand and support.

Sooooo....sewing may have to wait a few. But we'll see. I've been known to sneak in a few stitches. ;)

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes.

Well, shoot. The last few weeks I have been a bit under the weather in the health/happiness department but it appears things have taken a wonderous turn. For the first time in a long while I feel hopeful and excited.

1. I've been dreaming again....which is awesome. What's the point of sleep if you can't play in dreamland?

2. I have been asked to pretty much assistant direct the after-school production of "Guys and Dolls" after a 6 year hiatus from theatre.

3. I have an *audition* on Saturday which scares the ever-loving-crap out of me, see above.

4. Career counseling starts Tuesday.

5. My yoga instructor told me she would extend the 100 bucks I put toward unlimited classes in November, to the NEXT 30 days, as I started my job November 2nd and have not been able to hit a single class SINCE. Until yesterday.

6. Our trees and flowers are blooming like MAD!

7. I finished a skirt, a pair of pants, and 2 shirts....one of which is pictured below.

The rest will be posted soon....the hubby has not been home to take pics of me---except for this one last night after I returned from my meeting with the drama teacher. He took three photos and my eyes were closed in all of them.

The sad thing?

There was no flash.

It's New Look 6816 and went together in under an hour.

Fabrique

Okey Dokey.

These are the bits from my stash.....the prints will be skirts (and maybe a matching blouse here and there to create a dress effect) and the solids are knit tops.

For the most part, I am working with rusts, various shades of olive green, brick red, mustard and purple.

I am not a huge pink fan, but I realized that some of the pinks on my fabric shelf would make fun bottoms to match the tops.

I also received a bright green blouse for Xmas from my hubby and need to make something to match it....so the pink and green burn-your-retinas-Kaffe Fassett below will serve that purpose.

A fine circle skirt it shall make.

I have other ideas for the rust woolen and green twill....probably more tailored pants or pencil skirts.

But the quick-sew patterns come first, so I can change out of my sweats.

And waiting on these coordinating knits from Fabric.com:

Not EVERYTHING will match, but enough of it will coordinate that I will never have to say,

"I have nothing to wear!"

Ever Again.

Dammit.

Swappish Part Two.....or, "Git a Move On"

I have decided since I seriously have no clothes, that the vintagey thang is going out the window entirely for the first installment of my new wardrobe. I just can't be bothered to trace a bunch of brittle patterns, make and alter muslins, and *then* sew them up in apparel fabric when I am living in ill-fitting jeans and baggy flannels (and working close to full-time).

I JUST CAN'T BE BOTHERED.

So the bulk of this first round is comprised of *very* easy-peasy patterns (that have a good review base from the pattern review website...and were purchased at the Joann's President's Day Sale) made with knit fabric that will continue to fit if my weight goes up or down by 10 pounds.
They are also designs that supposedly enhance my so-called "body type" as outlined by Kendall Farr in her book, The Pocket Stylist....more on this later.


Since I am horrible at sticking to the rules...this will not follow an official "SWAP" to the letter. I am just gonna make a bunch of garments that match.


I went thru my stash and found a couple of blouse knits and a few bottomweight/flirty-skirty fabrics to work with. Then I ordered yardage of various inexpensive knits from Fabric.com to make tops to match said bottomweights and flirty-skirties.

I'll post pics and swatches of the fabrics on Tuesday.


Until then, here are the patterns:
(not *all* of the renderings--just one or 2 from each...click the images for info):






After these are done (couple pairs of pants, 6 tops, 4 or 5 skirts) I'll think about whipping up a vintage dress. :)