A simple skirt (and some more on the ugly dresses)

I've been feeling a bit bummed about sewing lately. The swing dress sew along has had some frustrating issues and working on the three ugly dresses has been a bit crazy just because of the fabrics. So yesterday, I left all of this behind and whipped up a skirt to go with my spring palette challenge (which I'm still slowly doing projects for).

This is one of the skirts from the Sew Serendipity book. It was quick and easy and I love the funky combination of prints.

I really wanted to focus on making a quality piece, so I opted for faux french seams for most of the seams. I love the way french and faux french seams. They look so much more professional than anything else I can do.

Here is where I wish I had a serger. I couldn't do a faux french seam for the ruffle on the bottom, but the zig zag will have to do.

Pocket! It was pretty easy to do too!

There was quite a bit of top and edge stitching in this pattern as there was with the chocolate coat, which came from the same book. I went with pale green for most of the stitching detailing and brown for the pocket. I felt the pocket fabric was just a bit too busy for that much contrasting thread.

Skirt: made by me
Shirt: a brown one I've had forever
Necklace: New York and Company

And I thought I'd give you an update on the three ugly dresses. The fashion show is next Saturday so I have just under a week to finish.

This is skirt that I made. I turned the bottom of the mermaid skirt in to more of a circle skirt shape, added a waistband and appliqued the vintage lace from the off white dress.

Eeek! I just love the lace!

And here is the shirt I've been working on. It's been a bit frustrating because I'm not used to working on this type of fabric and I used it inside out (so the right side is the wrong side). Hopefully it will not look so cheap. Some fabrics are just not ok outside of the prom dance floor.

I did a lace overlay on the collar. I still have to pick out buttons. *sigh*

Vintage Hairstyles for Straight Hair

Today, I debuted my new series on youtube, Vintage Hairstyles for Straight Hair. So meander on over and check it out.

The intro:



VHSH: The Snood

Life is like a box of chocolates-yummy!

I finally finished the secret project! Yay! And here it is, the chocolate coat!

When I saw these two chocolate prints next to each other, I had to make something from them! So, here it is-my very first coat!

Chocolate covered buttons. Yummy!

Chocolate tie and top stitching. There was a lot of decorative top stitching. I got lots of practice but it sure went through thread!

The sleeves are cute!

Today's hairstyle is Casey's latest tutorial. My hair is a bit short, but that's ok.


For make-up, I decided to go for a soft pink look to go with the romantic hair. I have pink, brown and gold eye shadows on with a gold/bronze eye liner, black mascara, a light pink blush and there was at some point in time pink lip gloss on too.

This hair makes me feel so pretty! What a great alternative to a pony tail!

So what's the verdict? Do you adore crazy wild prints? Should my next project be a bit more conservative?

Slipping from vintage to antique

I have to admit that I watched the entire first season of Downton Abbey today..... It was on Netflix so I couldn't resist. I did clean and do laundry and take apart a dress while watching. Now I'm going to dream about beautiful 1910s fashion.

I love the hats! So big! So bold! When are hats going to make a come back!

Isn't this divine! Gold embroidery and fur!

The jacket looks like silk. An Asian influence perhaps?

I adore the blue and white dress.

I love the plaid number with the red details. Wish I could see the frong!

This lady is just gorgeous.

I did have a difficult time finding pictures from the show of the outfits I actually liked, but here are a few.

Lady Mary's blue shirt with the cute collar. I must find a pattern I can turn into this!

Cora's coat- I do have a pattern for this, but as it is already almost March, it'll have to wait until next year. :(

Lady Sybil's purple dress. I love the collar details and the buttons.

What eras have been inspiring you lately? Have you caught the Downton Abbey bug?

Scrap Happy!

Today was my monthly scrapbooking day at a coffee shop. A bunch of ladies get together and scrapbook all day. It's super fun and I love it. I was going to be sitting and crafting all day so I needed to be cute and comfy.

Sweater and cami: New York and Company
Pants: The Limited
Shoes: I've had forever
Belt: Cassie Stephens

I also curled my hair last night and it came out ok this morning. The far side is pulled back and I just did a little curl with my bangs.

Hope you all had a good Saturday!

Snoods, Belts and .... Prom Dresses????

So I promised photos of my two new belts from Cassie Stephens! I was so excited to get this package in the mail! Then I opened it and was even more excited.

EEK! Is this not the most darling packaging you've ever seen! I felt like it was my birthday or something. So, I opened my presents.

I choose two belts from Cassie's store. After seeing Solanah sporting a kitty belt, I had to get one of those. I chose a classy black and white one. I loved the lace and the fact that the kitty itself was reversible too! I also loved the bird belt too! The buckle is a gorgeous gray color with a great texture. The belt is red velvet on one side and a cute "learning to write cursive" print on the back.

I got snoods from Arthelia's Attic in the mail today. It just must be my week for mail! (Or last week was my week for shopping....) They came wrapped in pretty tissue paper just like my last one. I opted for a navy and a black one this go around as my purple one is a bit hard to match to things. I love these snoods as they are hand crocheted and just so much nicer quality than other snoods I've seen.

I love that Naomi adds bows! So 40s!

I also signed up for a local sewing challenge hosted by my school. It's a fashion makeover/unconventional material challenge. Here's what I picked up tonight to use as my building materials.

I'm not entirely sure what I'm going to make yet, but I'm thinking separates, hence the bringing home three dresses.

The off white dress is the one I grabbed first. I loved the lace and pearl details. I figured I could salvage it. Guess I'll have to do some sketching a la Project Runway. I'm pretty excited. I'm hoping to make a vintage inspired something but we'll see. The fashion show is March 19th.

Swing Dress Sew-along Progress

I am a bit behind on the Swing Dress, but that's ok. Here's what I got finished this weekend:

The back of the dress is attached!

Pocket under construction!

Hmmm.... my poor dress looks a bit sad on the hanger. I got supplies to make a duct tape dress form, but have yet to get around to it. Must get on that.

I have one more panel to attach to the front of the skirt and then I can attach it to the dress. Overall, the project is going very well. Working with the fabric has made me realize that it's a lot thinner than I thought it was... I think I should have underlined it. Guess I can always get a slip.

The reason I am behind on the sew-along is because I worked furiously over the weekend on my secret project. Alas, I ran out of the color thread I was using. This project has a lot of decorative stitching. Nothing too complicated, but it does go through a lot of thread. I was hoping to have it finished for Monday night's dinner out with the in-laws. Oh, well.

Here's sneak peak #2.


I'm hoping to have another youtube video up by the end of the week. (But I also have a paper to write....) I've also been doing some of the administrative paperwork type stuff to get my etsy shop set up. Hopefully that will be up soon as well!