I wanted a comfortable, over-sized vintage ski pullover for winter, and now I've knit one! I have a good bit to say about the construction of this pullover, so I'm actually going to save that for a separate post on Thursday. I knit this from a pattern from a 1956 issue of Bernat Handicrafter magazine. Pretty wonderful look in the magazine, isn't it? I didn't knit the turtleneck quite long enough to double as ... Read more »
Knitting a new version of something old
I thought I'd share a little bit of details on a kind of fun project I've been working on lately! I've owned this red 1950s bolero for at last four years, and it's probably one of my most frequently worn articles of clothing. I wear it in the summer to cover up when I'm chilly or just want my shoulders covered without getting too hot, I wear it in the spring and fall, I sometimes will even wear it in winter with ... Read more »
A “before before” look at our kitchen
We love our little house, built in 1955. I've really neglected posting about the Golly Ranch (as we lovingly call it sometimes) on my blog. I do get asked questions about it and I'm totally guilty of procrastinating about taking proper photos and sharing some of the things we've done. Nothing nearly as intense as our bathroom remodel, but we've had un-blogged painting and decorating and minor fix-it projects. I thought ... Read more »
Joan C.’s flannel skirt
I've been sewing slowly so far in 2015. Thinking about my two coat projects, taking my time, and just knitting more, I guess. But I finally finished up a skirt I've had mostly done except for the hem for nearly 2 weeks! This is my first pattern for Marie and Kerry's Vintage Pledge. I pledged to sew from 5 vintage patterns this year, which should theoretically be easily do-able! This is McCall's 3853 from 1956, a nice ... Read more »
It’s going to be a queue jumping duffle coat!
Sometimes I find a pattern that tickles my fancy and suddenly I must make it nowwwww! Everything else gets put on hold. This is definitely one of those times! When I saw the new pattern from Grainline Studio this week, the Cascade duffle coat, oh my goodness, it was love at first sight. An A-line silhouette on a classic coat style, that still looks feminine. (Did you know duffle coats gained popularity due to the ... Read more »
Mary Rebecca
The first finished thing you're getting to see from me in 2015 is the last thing I finished knitting in 2014! (And I apologize that we've entered the season where you're mostly going to see me stand next to this stack of hat boxes in the guest bedroom trying to get decent lighting somewhere, since it's usually way too cold or snowy/sloppy for outside photos. Not that I don't already stand here half the time anyway, ... Read more »
Two red riding hoods and Alphonso
Over Christmas when Mel and I were at my mom and step-dad's house, I was lucky enough to get in some BFF time with Rochelle, who came to stay the first weekend of our trip with us! Uh, happy faces, anyone? This photo was taken just a few minutes after she got there. :) It was great, because other than an hour-long layover she had at O'Hare this summer, we hadn't seen each other since we hung out in March. ... Read more »
Vintage hairstyle trick to hide bangs
A little over a week ago, when I was at the salon getting my color touched up, I decided to have my stylist cut bangs. By the next day I was already regretting it! They're cute but don't feel "me" and even styling around them for a few days was making me angsty. But it's okay, because I've been there before and know how to grow them out. (Why do I never learn. Whyyy.) So my stupid move is your hair tutorial gain, and ... Read more »
Planning a 1956 swing coat
Hello my friends! I thought I'd share with you some early thoughts for probably the biggest project I'm planning this year. I'm going to sew Simplicity 1928, a swing coat pattern from 1956. The best part about this pattern? A HOOD! Hoods are a huge winner on coats and jackets in my book. I'll be doing view 1. I was looking for a swing coat pattern earlier this winter and then stumbled on this one for a good price, ... Read more »
More vintage, more embellishment, and a confession
Happy New Year! In my wrap-up of sewing and knitting in 2014, I mentioned that I had a few ideas floating around in my head for this year. And while wanting to keep it very low-key, two things keep surfacing in my brain: more vintage, more embellishment. So here I am to chat about it. And you get an added confession, to boot! More vintage Last year, I had fun knitting and sewing a lot of vintage-inspired things, but I ... Read more »
Reflections on 2014
Happy (almost) New Year, my friends! It's that time of the year, so I thought I'd do a reflections post. Instead of rounding up everything I've made (gag—not this year, I've made too much), or try to draw any conclusions or do a lot of soul-searching, I thought I'd instead just chat about the underlying themes that I noticed ran through my blog this year. The year of the dress I had no idea back in early January when I ... Read more »
Thank you, {Secret} Santa!
Well, we're off to my mom and step-dad's for the holidays tomorrow, and I'm in a particularly cheerful mood! Mostly because I'm excited to see family and friends, but also because it meant that today, I got to open my Secret Santa gift! Jessica from Chronically Vintage organized a Vintage Secret Santa swap this year. Several days ago, this amazing-looking package arrived on my doorstep. I may even have heard the slight ... Read more »
Thanksgiving weekend and holiday cards
Hello friends! I meant to do this post a couple of weeks ago, but here we are, closer to Christmas than Thanksgiving. And so it goes this over the holidays, sometimes! ;) I just wanted to share a few photos from our long weekend over Thanksgiving. As it happens, we unfortunately ended up taking pictures in several places where the lighting was less than ideal, so I apologize in advance, but hey, at we we have a little ... Read more »
The galaxy dress and a cardigan that almost was not
Some sewing and knitting today for you! You may recall that earlier in the fall, we established that I really love galaxy prints. Well, now I've had the opportunity to sew a galaxy print dress! This dress comes as a result of being generously offered to try out fabric by Funki Fabrics out of the UK. I almost said no—their fabric is a lycra and nylon blend, very well suited for swimwear or dancewear. And I'm not ... Read more »
Inspiration for planning a vintage ski pullover
If there's something I've wanted to knit for ages, it's a ski sweater! Especially when it starts to get really cold out, my thoughts always return to the idea of knitting a somewhat Scandinavian-inspired pullover, but I haven't made it happen yet. This winter, I'm already wearing my oversized pullovers a lot, so I've been in the mood for knitting something in a similar vein. Something you'd typically sit around in ... Read more »
Lounging with Linden and pink squirrels
Hey guess what, I wear sweatshirts! Well I mean, sometimes, obviously. I only have a couple, but they're both oversized with raglan sleeves... pretty much the exact shape as the Grainline Studio Linden sweatshirt, but with a crew neck. So if any pattern was ever going to get me to sew a sweatshirt, it would be Linden. And how I came to sew it was a bit roundabout. I was contacted by Organic Cotton Plus to see if ... Read more »