Something like 3 months ago, I finished making a pair of jeans. When we went on a vacation to northern Wisconsin in October, we took photos of them. Finally today, I'm sharing them. Let's have a little sewing, shall we? These are my third pair of Ginger jeans. I sewed them immediately after sewing Mel's Morgan jeans and my Safran jeans, and by the end of all that I was totally jean-ed out. I'd been saving some Cone ... Read more »
Hate has no home here
I've been trying to come up with a post for a couple of weeks. The election changed everything in this country. I have no pretty images for you today, I just have my words. This is a frivolous blog about things I mostly do for fun and pleasure, so politics don't come up much. But this isn't politics, not now it's sure not. This is humanity. This is (slightly less than) half of my country voting for someone who is the ... Read more »
Prepping for my Clare coat project
I have a lot of creative things floating around both in my head and in my hands lately. Behind-the-scenes, I'm working on my next knitting pattern release. Not-behind-the-scenes, I have lots of things on my list. Too many. Ugh! But right now, one of the main ones is the Closet Case Patterns Clare coat! I went gaga for it the second Heather released it around this time last year. For Christmas, my mom and step-dad ... Read more »
Black cats on parade!
Happy Halloween, my friends! There's a couple of holidays for which I'm interested in sewing, and Halloween is one of them! (It's a short list: the other is obviously Christmas.) Last year, I was in London meeting up with sewing friends on Halloween and sewed myself a theme-y blouse for the occasion. I used the same pattern as my recent Bye Bye Birdie blouse, and this year, I've used the pattern again! What can ... Read more »
Plaid flannel tie-front topper
Before Mel and I went up to northern Wisconsin for a short vacation earlier this month, I had grand plans for vacation sewing (as you do), but only got a couple of items finished. The first I'm sharing is this flannel topper! I found this great Simplicity pattern from 1949 at an antique mall for just a couple of dollars! I bought it purely for the tie-front topper. I thought it would be great sewn up in a cozy plaid ... Read more »
Review: Pins for pinups DIY retro brooches ebook (and my Headless Horseman version!)
Awhile back—okay, awhiiiiillllllle back—the lovely Brittany from Va-Voom Vintage kindly sent me a copy of her DIY ebook, Pins for Pin-Ups: DIY Brooches for Retro Girls. I'm a retro girl, I love brooches, I love DIY projects, what's not to love about it?! I knew the ebook would be great, because last winter I'd purchased Brittany's Christmas project ebook, Kitschmas Crafting with Va-Voom Vintage, and I had a ton of fun ... Read more »
Bye Bye Birdie blouse
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 »