Spring Ideas

Spring is always the time of year I like to make resolutions. In New England it seems apropos to resolve to do something in the spring: people are coming out of hibernation mode, it's the time of year for spring-cleaning, there is way more daylight, which always is a motivator to me. This spring I would like to resolve to do the following:

~Make my first quilt. I've collected a bunch of vintage sheets and would like to recycle them into a simple quilt, maybe using this method.

~Finish my 3 sewing projects: a muumuu, the dress you see below on the dress form, and this skirt.

~Read voraciously.

~Learn to become more frugal. I really like the perspective on Kristen's post here re: thrifty versus frugal living.

~Redecorate the apartment in a vintage/retro vibe, which kinda flies in the face of the above resolution, I know, but I can't resist some amazing vintage curtains on sale from this sweet Esty seller:

Thrifting for silk shirts <-- lame title

I really love all the ruffly blouses this season, they're festive, stylish, and oh so girly. I can't (won't) pay the price for one of these shirts in a silk fabric, I do not want to buy a cheaper polyester-that-looks-like-silk shirt. I could just search high and low for a moderately priced one, or I could use this as an opportunity to practice my sewing skills. I found three nicer silk shirts at Goodwill the other day (one is Max Studio, which made me very happy) for under $10 total. I'm not sure what I'll do to them, maybe remove the arms and create a ruffly collar with them, or a little ruffly yoke.

A little late for a dress like this, but...

For a DIY version of the $98 Gypsy 05 dress my equation is as follows:

Vogue 8386 Pattern ($10) + Organic Fabric from Emma One Sock ($13.75 per yard x 2.75 yards) + RIT dye ($3.99 per bottle x 2 bottles- Kelly Green and Royal Blue mixed to make turquoise) = $55.79, plus or minus

The bonuses:
You now have the pattern, so you can make more of this dress in various colors
You probably have enough dye left to make a Kelly Green dress and a Royal Blue dress

So, with buying an additional 5.5 yards of the same fabric ($75.62) you get 3 dresses for $131.41 (less if you want to deviate from the higher end fabric), rather than 3 for $294.

For an even closer version, see this lovely lady's post on how to create twisted straps using Vogue 8386.

Or you could just wait for Forever21 to make a knock-off but where's the fun in that?

Too much milk and two almost-done projects

I discovered on Monday that the milk we just bought was set to "expire" that day. I generally don't pay much attention to those dates, I mean if it smells fine and tastes fine...So what to do with a gallon of milk? I made corn chowder and biscuits for supper and rice pudding for dessert, that put a major dent in it. At work, in order to meet our Carbon Challenge we switched from a 5 day week to a 4 day week (4 10-hour days). So Monday, my day off this week, was a perfect day for solving the problem of too much milk. The English Teacher suggested I stay home everyday, when asked if he would subsidize this request he replied yes, as long as I cooked that well everyday. Oh, if only!

I am inches, no, millimeters away from finishing two projects. One is a navy blue polka-dotted dress (see pattern at right) and another is the Go-Go Garter Scarf from Debbie Stoller's Stitch 'N Bitch. I ignored the pattern's request to use purple, teal, and green (I think, I can't remember) colored yarns, and used pale blue, pink, and a cocoa colored organic cotton yarn. While working on it at the In-Laws house over Memorial Day weekend, my brother-in-law saw me knitting together the blue and pink and asked me if I was "expecting" (I am not). I don't outwardly look like I'm in a state of expectancy, so I guess he deduced that knitting=pregnancy or it was the baby blue and pink that threw him. Oh well! Hopefully I will be able to post the FO by this weekend.

For the Love of Vintage

I'm obsessed with, and have always been, Old Stuff. I majored in Art History, that was an amazing four years of looking at and writing about Old Stuff. I like things that have had many owners and "seen" eras come and go. Antique or vintage or ancient I love it all.

I am fortunate enough to have some truly amazing vintages pieces via my late Great Aunt Gertie. I have her wooden ironing board, some of her tablecloths, some of her costume jewellery, her kitchen chairs, a pink dinnerware set, and some dainty teacups. I wish I had more of her Old Stuff. Perhaps this is why I love vintage stuff so much, I miss her and this Stuff reminds me of her. Her Old Stuff was the subject of an entire semester of artwork, the Gertie Series, if you will. Think Wayne Thiebaud and his cakes and pies-ah, he deserves his own post.

I'm certainly no purist, though. Anything that even looks vintage or is reminiscent of something vintage gets me too. Take for example my large collection of pink KitchenAid, not actual vintage, but that 1950s light pink...*drool*...or reproduction fabric, I dig it. Here are some of my favorites:

FabricAttic.com





FashionFabricsClub.com


And, of course, ReproDepot.com!
I'd push people out of the way for this fabric...