A New Hat

Who doesn't love a new hat? This is one I got a while back in February but I hadn't had the chance to wear it.

And the bangs looked great with it. I adore 50s hats.

I got loads of compliments on it. The green bronze combination isn't one that I have a lot of in my wardrobe. Guess I'll have to find some more things to wear with it.

Goodness! I do try to smile when I have my pictures taken but it doesn't come across very well.

1940s Peak-a-Boo Bang

Who doesn't love the 1940s peak-a-boo bang? Here's how to do it!

Updated Disney Wardrobe

Because what else do I have to think about. My original one is here.

I've got two Wearing History patterns in my "suitcase". I made the sailor playsuit last summer and have adjusted it for fit so it's ready to go. The chic ahoy! pattern is still in progress. The jacket is done and the shorts just need closures. I haven't even started on the blouse but I'm going to get cracking.

Colette Patterns are also coming along. I made a macaroon that I've had the fabric for forever. I also finished a long standing beignet UFO with pirate fabric. I had some crazy issues with bad snaps, half of which fell off and the other half wouldn't come off. Thanks to my weight loss, I just cut them off and reworked the front of the skirt from there.

I'm bringing along my polka dotted back button blouse. I'm also working on this cute 60s playsuit that the lovely Brittany of Va Voom Vintage sent me. Super cute and it's a stash busting project. Just have to get some buttons for it.

And I also have a refashion project coming along. This 30s dress from Past Patterns was just the ticket to help a 70s does 30s dress go a bit more 30s. It had some damage at the zipper because it was a jersey dress sewn with regular stitches so I needed some repairs anyways. I left the top mostly the same but changed the skirt to this one and added the belt.

Last but not least is a circle skirt because I can't not bring one of those.

Yesterday, I decided that I'd better get looking for a swimsuit if I wanted one. Now, I'm not usually a swimming kind of a gal. I don't even remember the last time I was in a pool. So my swim suits, while in good condition, are from high school. And even though I've just lost gobs of weight, I do not have that body anymore. So I did some serious etsy scouring and had no luck with vintage suits. I couldn't have one made because they wouldn't be done in time but then I stumbled upon this one:

It's from Fables by Barrie and modeled by the lovely Bernie Dexter. Super cute, retro, multi-sized and on sale. And it will be rounding out my wardrobe. Not sure why I could get by in Florida for a week without a swimsuit but now I have one.

Hide-a-Bang Hairstyles

Having modern bangs or growing out your bangs can be really frustrating when you are trying to do vintage hairstyles. Today's tutorial shows you how to do two different hairstyles that hide your bangs. The best part? Both use the same setting pattern!

Spring Stash Busting

Although life has been school, school, school lately, my brain has been thinking extra about sewing to make up for not getting to actually sew much. So here's a peak of what's been floating around in my brain and some in real life. And as a plus, it's all stash busting! Woot!

 I'm dubbing this dress the ice cream social dress. It's from this 1940s pattern:

The twill has pink and black pinstripes and makes me feel like I should have an ice cream cone in one hand.

This darling pink fabric needs to be a Wearing History Smooth Sailing blouse. So 30s!

I have this chartreuse linen/linen look fabric and I can't decide if I like it or not. I think it might look interesting in this 40s Butterick reprint but I've not decided. I need some opinions. The photo color is pretty close to the actual color of the fabric.

I've also whipped up another stash busting back button blouse and I've got another one waiting in the wings. And Wearing History's Chic Ahoy pattern is in the works. I just need a trip to Jo-Ann's for a few things. I'm super excited about my stash busting progress. There is actually starting to be a bit of space in my fabric drawers! *gasp* At this rate I'll be at a nice, reasonable sized stash in no time.

Snapshots!

 Finally got some of my hats hanging in my bedroom!

New shoes!

I was in desperate need of some black t-strap shoes.

And more shoes! These read so 40s to me!

On a side note, can feet shrink? I've been a size 9 as long as I can remember, but for the past 6 months or so I've been good with 8.5 a lot but for both of these I had to go down to an 8!

Edwardian Millinery Adventures

I couldn't pass up the opportunity for some lovely millinery adventures when I made Mary's Garden Party dress.

Mary wears two hats with this dress. One at the flower show and this one at the garden party. It has an asymmetrical brim, some decorative ribbon and felt flowers.

I picked up this hat for $15 at Charming Charlie. I really liked the asymmetric brim and it was perfect for retrimming.

The original decorations were lightly hot glued on and came off easily.

Next, I hot glued on my own ribbon.

Then I made my own felt flowers using Gertie's tutorial. I made one from 2" wide, one from 1 1/2" wide, two from 1" wide, and four from 1/2" wide (two from shorter length and two from longer).

There wasn't any particular pattern to my arrangement. I just kept moving them around till I liked them.

The roses were super easy to make. I'm usually terrible at this kind of thing but I was really happy with them.

Lady Mary's Garden Party Dress

Happy Easter! Today I premiered my version of Lady Mary's garden party dress!

I used Vogue 8648 as a starting point and then drafted away. I really wanted to capture all of the different directions of the stripes so I changed a lot! Here's what I did:

• Raised the neckline of the front
• Drafted the waist band on to the skirt
• Lengthened the skirt
• Changed the shape of the skirt from pencil to more aline
• Drafted the back bodice from 4 pieces to 2
• Moved the zipper from the center back to the side
• Made the sleeves less poofy
• Raised the back neckline
• FBA
• Added some extra space by the hips
• Adjusted the cutting layout so that my stripes lined up with Mary's dress
• back-all cut on the bias
• center front bodice-horizontal
• sleeves-horizontal
• rest of front- vertical

The only pieces that I ended up cutting straight from the original were the bodice side front and the sleeves. But I really wanted mine just like Mary's so I put in the extra effort.

 

I also bought a cloche type hat and retrimmed it to be like hers! It will be getting it's own post later this week.

I was able to use a piece of my great-grandma's lace, which was really cool!  It's not in perfect condition but it was perfect for this dress.

A better shot of the hat.

It was very pretty out today and just lovely weather for this dress.

Hey look! Matching chevrons! :)

The dress came out a bit big in the waist has more ease at the waist to give a more period shape and is therefore very comfortable and good for days when I pig out get served lunch at 12 pm and then again at 2 pm. I just wish my Astorias were here! And I need a pair of crochet gloves. It would have been perfect then.

Me-Made-May '12

It's time for another me made month! Woohoo!

I, Stephanie Lynn of The Girl with the Star-Spangled Heart, sign up as a participant of Me-Made-May '12. I endeavour to wear at least one me made garment each day for the duration of May 2012 (included while on vacation)

 I've seen loads of people signing up already and can't wait to see everyone's me made outfits! :)

Haircut and Hot Sticks

I'm still getting used to my new laptop but I successfully filmed, edited and uploaded a youtube video today! It's just a quick video to show of my new haircut and to see how my new Hot Sticks work out. The format is a bit different since I used iMovie instead of Window's Movie Maker so thoughts would be appreciated!

Because we all love shopping

Looking for some affordable 50s style high waisted jeans? Well you are in luck! After spying my Kohl's jeans I featured recently, Kohl's offered me and my readers a coupon code. Now usually I'm not big on promoting chain stores, but I think these are a really great option for retro gals on a budget. I actually went back and got another pair because I loved them so much.

The ones I got are Lee Comfort Fit just below the waist stretch straight leg and I opted for a dark wash. There are a couple things I'd change about these jeans if I was designing my perfect 50s jeans but considering that just the shipping on my repro jeans cost as much as this pair, I'm very happy. You can find all of Kohl's jeans here.

The coupon code is SPRING2SAVE and it gets you 20% off at kohls.com from April 4 to April 7.

Summer Sewing and Wardrobe Resolutions

I've been pondering summer sewing for a while now. I know it's only April but between end of term chaos and vacation sewing, the rest of my spring sewing is already booked! My school lets out for the summer in May so that's when summer officially starts for me. Not having a computer has left loads of free time to ponder sewing! (My new one should be here in the next couple of days! woot!)

My vision for the summer is 50s casual with a dash of rockabilly and country/western thrown in for good measure. Now, I usually avoid anything country or western like the plague but my day dreams are now filled with denim and gingham and french braid pigtails! I think the 40s are still my favorite decade for style but my body shape definitely lends itself to more of a 50s shape. I love glamor but simple and cute fit my lifestyle so much better. I'll be focusing on separates and work appropriate pieces with maybe a dress or two thrown in.

With all of the weight I've been losing, a lot of my me made pieces are too big! After vacation, I'm going to start working my way through my wardrobe and taking in pieces so they fit again. Some of my favorites are barely wearable anymore. :(

Last summer, I sewed like crazy and loved it! I never quite got over that go go go mentality and I've realized that putting that kind of pressure on myself makes sewing a lot less enjoyable. So, I've set up some guide lines for myself.

1. I will not set crazy deadlines for myself. If I want to wear something to a specific event, I will give myself plenty of time to work on it and have an appropriate back up ensemble just incase.
2. I will not force myself to work on something if I'm not inspired by it. I want my hobby to be fun and not a chore. I give myself leave to watch a movie, knit or even start another project if my current project is not inspiring at the moment.
3. On the other hand, I will not have more than 3 sewing and 1 knitting project going at once. I do not have space for UFOs!
4. I will start sewing through my stash again. I was doing well at the beginning of the year but kind of fell off again. I currently have two projects that will need fabric (one for vacation and one for Renaissance Festival costume improvements) but other than that I will not buy fabric until fall semester (or I run out of stash fabric!) unless I am using a piece of stash fabric in the project.
5.  I will work through the mending/refitting pile so I can wear the lovelies I've already made.
6. I will have fun sewing and blogging because it's a hobby not a job. Also, I will remind myself that not every second of my life needs to be blogged and not every outfit needs to be photographed.

So far this seems like a good list to start with. I've also been thinking about some wardrobe goals so I'm not just doing things willy nilly.

1. I want my sewing to be at least 75% work appropriate pieces. I have loads of nonwork appropriate pieces already!
2. I want to focus on collecting accessories. So often, I put together an outfit and I feel like something is missing. I want to save my spending money this summer for yummy vintage accessories like purses, necklaces, broaches and bangles. (Not spending it on fabric will be very helpful to this endeavor. lol.)
3. I want to start sewing more from my vintage pattern stash. It's quite large now and I feel like my drafting skills are good enough to be able to tackle resizing pieces.
4. I want to wear more me made pieces and more me made outfits. Wouldn't it be great if Self-Stitched September could be just another month and not a huge challenge?

Hope you all made it through this rather wordy post in one piece! Have you set any sewing or wardrobe resolutions for yourself lately? I think I'm going to print mine out and hang them somewhere visible.