Circle Skirt Sew Along Progress

So, today I finally got started on my circle skirt for Casey's Circle Skirt Sew Along. I had another project I had to finish up first. Today I drafted my pattern, which was easier than I thought it would be, and cut out my fabric. I was really excited to do this sew along because, while it is a pretty simple pattern, it was the first pattern I would be drafting myself.

 I am super excited to finish this skirt. I got just the kind of fabric I wanted - a novelty print, and it's notical, which I love! The background is navy though it looks a little black in this picture.

Are any of you participating in this sew along? How far along are you?

A Little Hair

So, I meant to share this last Tuesday but I got violently ill and just didn't get around to it so... here we are. I just thought I'd share my hair from Tuesday of last week. I really like the way it came out. I had experimented with "bumper bangs" the day before and so this is what I did with my next day hair. :) Have a blessed day!



Home Maker's Guide

One of my very good friends gave this little book to me a while ago and I decided it would be fun to share some of it with you guys. :)

It's called the Home maker's Guide For Modern Brides and it was published in 1946. It is full of fun and now, funny bits of advice and knowledge for the new housewife. 

Here's an excerpt I thought was funny. It's an introduction to the pamphlet:

"SALUTE TO THE BRIDE

"The whole world salutes the Modern Bride... the little woman who takes the future in her own two hands, and in spite of world upheavals, makes a 'go' of matrimony.

"Marriage is a business. When the first excitement of the wedding, the gifts, the attention and adulation are over, then begin the realities of marriage. The chores, the demands, the sacrifices, make themselves felt. Success or failure depend largely on those early days of adjustment. The bride who gets into the tempo of living, who finds a deep and profound satisfaction in her home, her husband's love, and the peace and serenity attendant to marriage is on the high road to matrimonial success!

"Remember the old fable? 'It isn't the pack on the back, but the pebble in the shoe that destroys.' Temember this and eliminate as many 'pebbles' as you can from daily living.

"A good hot breakfast, a well groomed bride, a parting kiss, do much to make a man's day a successful one and his home a sanctuary.

"Never let the sun set, and a new day break with a quarrel in your heart... start each day anew - with happiness.

"Smiles, good food, a pretty frock, a good dinner well served, gracious entertaining, thoughtfulness and loyalty are the ruffles you can add to good living.

"Good luck!

"Kathrine Kerry - Home Economist, San Francisco."

-Home Maker's Guide. Edmund Kiessling and Staff. 1946.

Hope you guys enjoyed this little excerpt. I'm not married but I find this whole thing so interesting. This little book has everything from interior design tips (which, as an interior designer myself, seem rather lacking), to fashion, to necessities for your pantry, to recipes and the proper table setting. Very fun to flip through. :)

Have a sunny day!

Finger Wave and Pin Curl Attempt

Hey everyone! I tried finger waving and pin curling my hair this week and while the waves turned out well, the pin curls did not. Here's a little video for ya'll explaining some of my upcoming projects. :) Enjoy!



Watch it on YouTube here. I'm still figuring out how to use this thing. :)

OWLS!

All of the sudden, I have this love of owls. I don't know why or where it came from but they're so cute and there are so many cute crafts based around them. I recently took up embroidery and I found these owl drawings so I decided to have my first project be an owl wall art piece for my good friends. Here it is:

 I'm really happy with how it turned out and what's more is my friends loved it too! :) These little guys are so cute!
                             
                                                         Some close-ups

I got this frame with the matte for $2 at a thrift store and I painted it black and it was perfect. :) Ready to be hung!

Circle Skirt Sew Along!

Hey everyone! I am so excited to join Casey's Circle Skirt Sew Along over at Elegant Musings. I've always wanted to make a 1950s circle skirt and here is my chance. Plus we'll be drafting our own patterns, so that will be cool. :) I encourage you all to join in the fun!



Success!!

So I tried victory rolls again yesterday and they turned out much better than my last attempt. Yay! I just worked with my day old hot rollered hair and it worked fine. I just made sure to put the rolls on top of my head and then more forward than I put them last time. So, yay! And I got a compliment from a customer at work on my "vintage look". That's the first time that's happened to me and it was so cool. :)



Vintage-y cell phone cover! :)

So, I recently got an iphone aaaannnnnd I love it. But because I am pretty broke, I couldn't afford the super cute cover I wanted so I decided to buy a super cheap one and decoupage it. :) I went to Save Mart grocery store and found an iphone cover for 3 bucks so I snatched it up and decoupaged it and here is what it now looks like:

I've got screen shots from favorite movies of mine as well as Betty Grable just because I love this picture. I just printed these pictures off of google. I'm really pleased with how it turned out and I definitely couldn't buy one like this.

Have any of you decoupaged a cell phone cover?



Victory Rolls!

So I tried victory rolls yesterday. I followed the instructions in Vintage Hairstyling by Lauren Rennells. I think they turned out pretty well for my first try. I used hot rollers and I'm really please with the curl it gave my hair now that it's a little longer. I did learn that the trick is to position them on top of your head instead of on top but slightly to the side.

One question for you Victory Roll veterans: How do you hide the bobby pins but keep your hair in? I have really thick hair so I need to secure it well but this -^ is unacceptable. Haha. Thanks!



What have I been up to?

Wow! It has been quite a while since I last posted. Worst blogger ever is what you are probably thinking. Well, I was on a mission trip to Romania for two weeks in July - awesome. And I've got a few things in the works on the craftin/sewing front.

Today, I am going to share with you a dress I made that was basically free. It's made from Cynthia Rowley for Simplicity 2215.

 ...and my "go-to" pose:

 Detail shot of the irregular pleating at the waistline - I LOVE the pleating. :)

Me with my 8 year old cousin who was visiting from out of state. We sewed the whole time she was here! Barbie clothes; teddy bears; you name it, we made it. :)

We already had the fabric (my mom bought it years ago to make a dress for me and never did) and the buttons were in our stash still on the card. The only thing I had to buy was an invisible zipper. Score! Cheapest sewing project ever! :) I love how it came out. Next time I make it (cause I'm already planning part deaux) there are some fit issues around the waist that I need to fix before I finish the dress instead of having to take it apart and fix the fit issues after it's completed. Haha, live and learn.

Coming up: I have taken up a new craft and I am super excited. It is way addicting (although my fingers are killing me). More on that in the next few days.

Radio Silence

Hey all! Sorry about the major lack of posts this last half of May. I have been very busy working on my 1952 dress from the Butterick pattern I got off ebay last month-ish. I am almost done - just got to hem it and finish the belt... which I've been working on all day today and last night. You will hear that story when the time comes. The belt buckle I was going to use is not going to fit so I need to alter this one or find another one. I will let you know when I finish. :) Looking forward to it!

Outfit Post

I really liked how my outfit/hair turned out today. It was warm so I got to wear my cute new blouse. :)

 and my super model face...

 Kind of a feaux victory roll look. I like how it turned out. Blouse: New York and Co.; pencil skirt: JC Penny; shoes: Unlisted

On a Mission

Today at my church, we held the annual Women's Jubilee. Every year we have a luncheon complete with a boutique with a bunch of venders that women would enjoy - cause let's face it, most gals like to shop. :) This year, my good friend and I got a booth at the boutique to sell handmade items in order to raise money for missions trips we are going on this summer - she is going to Tanzania and I am going to Romania. I just wanted to share pictures of our cards we made as a group and the frames I made that I am quite proud of. :)

 We have a ton of different card designs but here is just a sampling.

Decopaged and painted frames.

 And close-ups of my four favorites:

I really like how everything turned out and we did pretty well. All in all a fun day. :)

Vintage Knitting Supplies!

I was recently given a bunch of knitting supplies that belonged to my employer's dear mother who passed away recently. She was a young adult in the 1940's and a champion knitter. As no one else in her family knits or wanted the supplies, they were bequeathed to me and I was deeply honored. In the lot there are basically every size needle you can imagine and then these great pieces. Totally vintage knitting supplies!

Judging from the picture of the woman on the package, I'm gonna say these circular needles (of which I now have two) are from the 1930s which is pretty awesome in my opinion. Abel Morrall's New Circular Twin-Pin was made in England and the package was printed in Great Britain - it says this on the package and for some reason I just love it! :)

Question: What are these?

I'm not an advanced knitter and so I have never seen anything like this before. Does anyone know what these are called and how they're used? Thanks!

Jewelry Making 101

So, I've made it through my first foray into jewelry making. For a craft swap on Craftster I decided to make a long necklace and some matching earrings for my partner for the One Tiny Doctor Who Thing Swap. This is the result:

 Inside the locket (double hearts just like a Time Lord, ou favorite Doctor, and Gallifreyan designs):

I've decided that jewelry making is the next craft I want to learn. And I want to learn the right and proper way to do it, not my own figuring it out.

Sorry for the lack of posts lately. I've got some new projects cookin' that I'm really excited for.

The Royal Wedding

I was one of those crazy people up at 1:00 in the morning to watch the royal nuptuals of the dashing Prince William and the beautiful Kate Middleton. I didn't go to bed until 5 am and I still didn't get to see the kiss on the balcony of Buckingham Palace until today after I slept for a few hours - I was just too tired to wait. I did get to see the entire wedding and journey back to Buck House after the ceremony. It was beautiful. And her dress...

...was gorgeous. Absolutely beautiful.

I have loved seeing Kate's style in everyday and recent public events and I was so anxious to see her dress for this magnificent occasion. I was not dissapointed and she was lovely.

I wish them all the best in their life together and look forward to what the future holds.



Good Friday

It's been about a week since my last post. Sorry, I bought fabric for a project and now I am completely out of money. Haha. It will be a couple weeks until I can get started on it, too because life has gotten busy... oh life! :) But I just wanted to say that things are brewing and I will have more posts next week. Have a great Friday and a very happy Easter Sunday.

~Dana

Solution Skirt!

The Problem:

These amazingly awesome shoes I got on sale at Macy's a YEAR AND A HALF AGO! I had this skirt envisioned in my head to go with them - kind of a 1940s look. Needless to say I couldn't find it.

The Solution:

Make myself a skirt!! This was an obvious option and a great way to break in my new sewing machine (no more having to use my mom's machine that she's had since before she was married... 25 years ago).

I finished this a week ago but finally hemmed it last night. This is the most I ever spent on fabric ($25 a yard) yikes! But it's really nice fabric (a wool weave with many shades of brown and rust).

And here's the finished product (I wore it to work today):

Have a wonderful weekend! :)



Epic Hair Fail

So, today I decided to try another 'do from the Vintage Hairstyling book. It didn't really turn out. Here's my hair in pincurls:

My arms were shaking by the time I was half way done from them being up over my head for so long while pin curling. It looks very messy in the back but I have a lot of hair and it was only like my second time doing pin curls! haha. I had heard that if I allow my hair to dry partially and then put it in pin curls, it will dry faster and not take so long (cause I have super thick hair) so I tried that and... it failed. I ended up having to curl pieces with a curling iron and I took it out when it was still a little wet even though I let it dry for like 3 hours.

Here's what I was going for (it's called "Silent Film Star" so it's a 1920s inspired hairstyle):

And here's what I got:

The whole ridge around the top layer of curls - ya, that didn't happen. I've decided to start growing my hair out so once it's a little longer and my layers aren't so short, I'll attempt this again... maybe. :)

Any suggestions on pin curls? Have you guys tried any styles similar to this? How did it go?

Latest Ebay Win

I am super excited about this pattern I recently won on ebay. I don't shop ebay often but I had to have this - it was my size and the price was right so I went for it. Eek! I can't wait to make it!!!

Thrifty Finds

So, inspired by Casey at Elegant Musings, I have been trying to get into this thrift store across the street from my place of business but it is always closed when I am off and I don't live in the same city I work so I can't go over there on the weekend - especially with gas prices these days. But yesterday I didn't have to be in till the afternoon so I left a little early and I am so happy with what I got in about 10 minutes. I need to go back cause there's a lot more to look at.

Here's what I got for $2.33:

I'm going to use the belt buckle for a belt I'm going to make for a future project. They had tons of fabric and it was all half off so I got this beautiful seafoam green silky georgette type fabric (not really sure what it is) - I'm gonna make a 1940s blouse with it I think. Now I just have to find the right pattern. :) Then I went through all the patterns they had (not that many) and found this great early 1960s skirt, blouse, and vest pattern. It's too small but for 50 cents, I'm gonna try my hand at grading a pattern (using this tutorial) - a useful skill when working with vintage patterns. I'll let you know how it goes. :)

Blast From the Past...Really.

I wanted to share with you a project I did last year. I have been going to the Dickens Christmas Fair in San Francisco for years and I've always wanted to go dressed up in historical costume. I was just getting into historical costuming at the time and this was my first big sewing project. I mean, this dress took a lot of fabric and a lot of time to complete. Plus I made all but two of the undergarments. I think it turned out great.

I used Simplicity 3727 for the skirt, bodice, undersleeves, and bustle. I omitted the collar and opted to put black lace around the neckline instead. I also made the sleeves into one piece of fabric instead of two and I made them a little smaller so they weren't so giant they would be dragging through stuff everytime I reached over something.

Getting Dressed:

I used Simplicity 9769 for the chemise and drawers. I made these two years ago in preparation for my eventual 1850s dress. :)

This is one of the undergarments I didn't make. We bought this at the 2009 Dickens Fair. I didn't feel like putting in all the effort and work for a corset - I was a bit intimidated by the thought of making my own corset - plus this is so pretty! :)

This is the other undergarment I didn't make. I bought this at the 2009 Fair as well. It is NOT historically accurate but I didn't want to spend a lot of money on loads of fabric for a bunch of petticoats no one was going to see and that would add weight and bulk under my skirt. Also, I was going for an 1850s look, so I needed the bell-shaped silliouette but no hoop skirt (which I didn't want to deal with anyways).

I made this flounced petticoat to go over the tulle one I bought. I just made it out of all the leftover ivory and white fabric we had. I bought eyelet for the bottom two flounces but I really just wanted the bottom to look nice because it would probably be seen under my skirt a little as well as add width to the hip to achieve the bell sillouette.

the back with bustle (in the dress pattern)

side view with the skirt on

At the Fair:

Queen Victoria smiled at me!

I had a lot of fun at the Fair. I can't wait till next year. I would love to find another place to wear my costume. It took so much work (and money) and it's a shame to wear it only once a year. :) I would love to see some of your historical costumes. Leave a link in the comments.